2022 Craft ACT's Annual Report

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gained an understanding of the geological history of Namadgi National Park which represents a timeframe of millions of years in the context of significant recent radical transformation. The resultant exhibition, CONFLUENCE, was presented at Craft ACT, featuring glass, textiles, and mixed media work. This exhibition demonstrated the effects of having access to a cultural institution and time and space to experiment has on a visual practice. Both artists stepped out of their comfort zone and mobilised, their rather immobile practices, to explore the Namadgi National Park landscape with a deeper understanding of what lies beneath. The displacement of their practices paved way for new methods to experiment and engage in the landscape without their usual tools at hand. This resulted in a multifaceted approach to creating work in situ and returning to their studios for further exploration. Craft ACT’s CO:LAB professional development program was run for the second time in 2022. This program is aimed at enhancing or transforming a craft practitioner’s practice through research and was supported by the generous donations from Craft ACT's Circle of Hands donor circle. Two Craft ACT members, Lisa Cahill and Peter Bollington, were selected to conduct practice-based research with architecture firm Light House Architecture & Science and their clients to develop new lighting for a residential project in Canberra. This project encouraged the artists to embrace a spirit of collaboration, work across disciplines and gain exposure to commercial environments with other designers and clients. Craft ACT actively supports practitioners in their pursuit of practice-led research facilitating collaboration, experimentation, and showcasing the result of their artistic brilliance. These exhibitions evoke viewers to ask themselves to consider their surrounds on the surface as well as in the depths. They conjured questions of the physical and cultural significance we have with fire in Australia, despite the destruction, pain, and apprehension we experienced during the 2019 fire season. Practice-led research also extended practitioners to explore and experiment, producing work that has undergone rigours analysis and interrogation. The foundation of all these successful projects is the generous support of our research partners and sponsors, whose vision and encouragement continues to inspire us. Craft ACT and DESIGN Canberra are grateful for support from the following institutions in 2022: • ACT Parks & Conservation • Geoscience Australia • Light House Architecture & Science • SKEEHAN Studios • Miko Design • Design Craft • National Museum of Australia • School of Art and Design, Australian National University • Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra • The JamFactory Residencies Craft ACT continued its partnership with ACT Parks and Conservation Service and established a research partnership with National Library of Australia for the 2022 interaction of our annual Artists-in- Residence program. The selected artists, Bev Hogg (Ceramics), Mel Robson (Ceramics) and Julie Ryder (Textiles) spent March and April researching at the National Library of Australia and living and making at Gudgenby Ready-Cut Cottage in Namadgi National Park. An exhibition of the artists’ work generated though the residency project will be held in the Craft ACT Gallery from 23 March to 13 May 2023. On Saturday May 7, we held a public open day program as part of the residency project at Gudgenby Ready-Cut Cottage in Namadgi National Park with 2021 artists Bev Hogg, Mel Robson, and Julie Ryder. The open day included artist demonstrations, workshops and talks, and a park Mel Robson, Artist-in-Residence, National Library of Australia, 2022. Photography 5foot 20
anger talk about the inspiration and interpretation of the park environment and its history. The open day was a unique chance for the public to engage with the acclaimed artists and learn directly from the Namadgi park ranger whilst immersed in beautiful Ngunawal country. We were excited to launch our first Indigenous Artists-in-Residence program in August 2022, thanks to the support of donor Phillip Kier. Selected artists Krystal Hurst and Jessika Spencer spent time conducting research at the National Library of Australia in August. Following this, Jessika Spencer stayed at Ready-Cut Cottage in Namadgi National Park from 1-15 September developing a new body of work, which will be exhibited at the Craft ACT Gallery from 23 March to 13 May 2023. Additionally, Jessika Spencer conducted two drop-in family weaving workshops as part of the DESIGN Canberra Festival City Sessions, in which she taught approximately 60 participants traditional Wiradjuri weaving techniques. Public programs Public programs were held for both community audiences and Craft ACT members. We presented a range of programs to diverse audiences throughout the year increasing our engagement to include children and families and interstate visitors. Craft ACT's Making by Hand workshops are at the heart of what Craft ACT delivers to our community; connecting artists to audiences, teaching people new skills, and enhancing wellbeing through making and connecting. We are proud to have involved many of our artist members in the execution of these programs: • Craft ACT at DENFAIR + Interiors Australia exhibition in Melbourne featuring members Maitlan Brown, Madeline Cardone, Louis Grant, and Sam Sheppard, 10-12 February 2022. • Artists-in-Residence Bev Hogg, Julie Ryder, and Mel Robson completed their research with our 2022 research partner the National Library of Australia and their residency at Gudgenby Ready-Cut Cottage with our program partners ACT Parks and Conservation Service and the National Library of Australia, 7-18 March 2022 and 25 April-15 May 2022 respectively. • Craft ACT at Enlighten in the City, Craft After Dark with claymaking family programs and pop-up retail stall, 10 March 2022. • Craft ACT at Winter in the City: Felt Caterpillar Beads and Found Treasure workshop in partnership with Canberra Region Feltmakers, 9 + 16 July 2022. • MAKE:OVER, a styling master class presented by Lynsey Fryers—a professional development workshops for members, 26 February 2022. The bulk of our public programs occurred as part of the DESIGN Canberra Festival in November which included over 250 programs (full DESIGN Canberra program list on page 54). Craft ACT held artists and curator talks and events to complement the exhibition program. Full details are listed in the appendix, but highlights included: • Emerging contemporaries, 6:30 Sessions, and You Get a Rhythm about It exhibition opening, 3 February 2022. • 6:30 Session's floor talk with artists Nellie Peoples and Michelle Stemm, 5 February 2022. • You Get a Rhythm about It floor talk with artist Peter Minson, 5 March 2022. • Home Grown and Tension[s]: 2020 Tamworth Textiles Triennial exhibition opening, 24 March 2022. • Home Grown floor talk with artist Jeremy Brown, 2 April 2022. • Fire Country and Collide + Divide exhibition opening ,19 May 2022. • Collide + Divide floor talk with CEO + Artistic Director, Jodie Cunningham, in conversation with artist Daria Fox and Bailey Donovan, 21 May 2022. • Fire Country floor talk with artist Rebecca Selleck, 18 June 2022. • BEEing and CONFLUENCE exhibition opening, 7 July 2022. • BEEing floor talk with artists Dr. Julie Bartholomew and Mahala Hill, 30 July 2022. • CONFLUENCE floor talk with artists Valerie Kirk AM and Harriet Schwarzrock, 23 July 2022. • Nurture: Craft ACT Annual Members Exhibition opening, 8 September 2022. • 2022 Robert Foster F!NK National Metal Prize, Home Life, and Seeing Seventies exhibition, opening, 27 October 2022. * All floor talks were lived streamed via Instagram increasing our reach to national audiences. 21
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Page 3 and 4: 2022 Annual Report Contents 2022: T
Page 5 and 6: The sensory combination of the natu
Page 7 and 8: thinking and creative enterprise to
Page 9 and 10: President’s report Retail sellers
Page 11 and 12: 40,400 attendance at Craft ACT publ
Page 13 and 14: DESIGN Canberra income generation 1
Page 15 and 16: SEPTEMBER Indigenous Artist-in-Resi
Page 17 and 18: Goal 1: Innovation Foster innovatio
Page 19: DESIGN Canberra 2022, Kayannie Deni
Page 23 and 24: Goal 2: Collaboration Ensure more l
Page 25 and 26: Culture on the Move director, Ronni
Page 27 and 28: November 2022. • Transforming Can
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Page 31 and 32: Goal 3: Value Educate the community
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Page 35 and 36: Design Thinking, Learning and Makin
Page 37 and 38: Retail sellers, F!NK, Annette Blair
Page 39 and 40: Member + staff professional develop
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Page 43 and 44: Laura Crick | Secretary and public
Page 45 and 46: Staff In addition to full-time arts
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Page 49 and 50: All Photography 5foot 49
Page 51 and 52: You get a Rhythm about It Peter Min
Page 53 and 54: objects can enhance our enjoyment o
Page 55 and 56: • BECOME, Stringworks Studio + Ga
Page 57 and 58: • From Paint & Sip to the Canberr
Page 59 and 60: 18 August 2022. • Announcement pi
Page 61 and 62: age/, 1 November 2022. • Stitchin
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2022 Craft ACT's Annual Report

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