THE ART - Canberra 100

INTRODUCTION
The following pages will present material
for Arts teachers to use concentrating on
three existing public art works, and three
works that have been commissioned as
part of the celebrations of the Centenary
of Canberra.
THE THREE EXISTING WORKS ARE:
••
A E MacDonald’s oil painting Early
Canberra, at the Canberra Museum
and Gallery, Civic
••
Arthur Boyd’s Great Hall Tapestry in
Parliament House
••
Jan Brown’s Icarus, a bronze sculpture
in Petrie Plaza, Civic
THE THREE COMMISSIONED
WORKS ARE:
••
Eleanor Stuart-Gates’ StellrScope, an
installation based on scientific images
and data
••
Shortis and Simpson’s Prime Time,
a satirical musical production about
Australia’s prime ministers
••
Big hART’s Hipbone Sticking Out a
multi-media performance through
music, dance and theatre, about
connections between the past and
the present in the Pilbara region of
Western Australia.
When students have the opportunity
to view, explore, research and reflect
on these six works of art, they will be
enriched in their understanding of
the contribution public art makes to
the cultural life of Canberra, and the
importance of having processes for
acquiring public art.
Author: Chris Melican
Welcome to this resource for Arts teachers. Your role in the
education of children and young people is extraordinarily
important as you enable them to find their creative talents and to
participate in the wide world of artistic expression and innovation.
You teach and enable students to ‘see’ into this world.
“One only admires what one has first learnt to see”
- Ernst H Gombrich
Canberra abounds in art works, not just in well-known cultural institutions
such as the National Gallery of Australia, National Portrait Gallery,
National Museum of Australia and Australian War Memorial,
but also in smaller galleries and museums, offices, banks and restaurants,
and, of course, in outdoor public spaces. The bronze kangaroos poised
to drink at Nerang Pool in Commonwealth Park, the woolly knitted steel
sheep at the Kambah Shops, the statue of a swimmer at the entrance to
the National Sports Swimming Centre and Ethos standing outside the ACT
Legislative Assembly are just four examples of art works that people in
Canberra walk past every day.
What is public art? The ACT Government’s paper Action Statement for Public
Art (2006) says: ‘The term “public art” is used here to refer to artworks that
enrich our experience of public places.’
How does public art get to be where it is? Who makes it? Who pays for it?
Who is responsible for it? These are good questions for students of the Arts
to pursue. Some art works are produced for competitions—for example, the
famous Archibald portrait competition. Others are commissioned—but by
whom and for whom? What does the term ‘patronage’ mean? How do artists
get government grants or residencies? What is the range of processes for
acquiring public art?
This resource, The art of bringing the Arts to Canberra, is very timely.
It brings together a significant aspect of the Arts, specifically public art, with
the development of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts and the Centenary
of Canberra in 2013. For teachers of high school students, particularly years
9 – 12, there is a rich opportunity to immerse their students in the world,
not just of the production and appreciation of art works, but also how they
are acquired by a government, by galleries or by an individual, and made
accessible to the community. There is most definitely an art to bringing
the Arts to Canberra. This is a very specific aspect of the Arts’ world, and
while it is one that is not often explored, it contributes to a fundamental
understanding about what it means to be a citizen and how citizenship
and government connect.
Workspace4 by Eleanor Gates-Stuart
2 THE ART OF BRINGING THE ARTS TO CANBERRA