The Moree community will have the opportunity to purchase prints created by close to 20 Moree artists, and as a result, help send a local Kamilaroi student to university, during Bank Art Museum Moree’s (BAMM) latest exhibition.
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The 50 Years exhibition, featuring more than 130 prints created by 19 Moree artists, is set to open at BAMM this Friday, July 6 in conjunction with NAIDOC Week celebrations.
The exhibition came about as a result of a visit to Moree in 2015 by one of the original freedom riders, artist Machteld Hali, during the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides.
“She wanted to give something back and got talking with mayor Katrina Humphries and they came up with the idea for a scholarship to send a local Kamilaroi person to study at the University of NSW,” BAMM director Vivien Clyne said.
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Hali then volunteered to run a series of collagraph printmaking workshops for Moree artists to learn new skills.
“Collagraph printing is quite a labour-intensive process,” Ms Clyne said.
“It’s different to average printmaking.”
The artists – including Cate Bailey, Jenni Birch, Janelle Boyd, Cindy Duncan, Nicole Fitzgerald, Harold French, Darlene Gillon, Elle Girard, Jennifer Greentree, Audrea Harwood, George Madden, Bev Mansfield, Liz Munro, Christine Partridge, Yvonne Rice, Lola Skehan and Cassandra Turton – have since generously donated some of their finished prints to be sold to raise money to establish the Moree Freedom Ride Scholarship.
More than 130 prints will be on exhibition as part of 50 Years, with all works for sale at $200 and under.
“If we sell every work, we’ll raise enough money to send a Kamilaroi person to university for three years,” Ms Clyne said.
“It’s really exciting.”
The prints range from abstract pieces, to landscapes, still life, indigenous designs and more, with no two works identical.
“There’ll be a few that look similar but they’re all quite individual because of the technique itself,” Ms Clyne said.
“All the prints are really affordable – the cheapest ones are $80 – so everyone can get involved and support the initiative. It would be nice for businesses to purchase a bunch of works to hang in their offices.
“It’s amazing we’ve got these lovely products that we can sell for a great cause.
“It’s a lovely thing for the artists to have their work available like this.”
Following the exhibition, Hali will work with Moree schools, TAFE and UNSW to establish a selection panel for the scholarship.
“It will be a relatively rigorous process – we’re looking for someone dedicated to pursuing their studies,” Ms Clyne said.
“It’s not dictated by a particular field, but [the successful candidate] has got to be a local Kamilaroi person.”
The 50 Years exhibition will open at BAMM at 6pm on Friday, July 6 and will run until August 18.
