Monday, November 30, 2015

Farewell to 2015

2015 was a year to remember. As you can see from previous posts the Art Group has experienced a year of celebration and turmoil and has emerged strong and rejuvenated. 

We have just set up our final exhibition of the year "The Christmas Store" and although Pat and Melva's exhibitions were exemplary this one  "takes the cake"!

We are coming to grips with our new space and interpreting it in new and creative ways. The young "styling" team has really pushed the boundaries and no doubt we will see more of this.

People love the PLATFORM GALLERY and visitors stay, chat and even stop for a cuppa. 
Sales have been amazing  and although we have always encouraged local artists to join us we really do need the local product to present to our patrons. Although we have  several new members we welcome more. We also need members to volunteer to keep the gallery open. We are currently open Thursday Friday and Saturday between 10 and 4 (depending on volunteer availability) and for special openings by appointment.

We now have several affiliated ARTS groups at the gallery. The Port Augusta Writers, The Port Augusta Music Club, photographers, spinners and weavers  as well as artists so the space is being well used by the local community.

A sideline to the general gallery activities is the interest in holding planned events at the gallery. It is such a great space. We can easily accommodate special openings for groups however we ask that people interested in other kinds of events present a written submission to the group so that we can assess whether we can cope with hosting the event and whether it fits within our objectives.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported and encouraged us through our 2015 journey and invite you to pop in to THE PLATFORM before Christmas to get a sense of where we are heading.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!







Sunday, October 4, 2015

UP AND RUNNING

At last all the hard work has paid off and the PLATFORM GALLERY is open for business.
Our first Exhibitions in the new space were  by two of our long serving members Pat Carter and Melva Waterman.        " Who's Hilary", a retrospective exhibition of arts, crafts, dress design, millinery, quilting, beading and exquisite hand stitching. 
"Celebrating Melva", showcasing some of Melva's recent work with a few old treasures included.
We don't know how we would have hosted this in our previous gallery because the exhibitions takes up one large space and at the opening of Pat's exhibition we easily accommodated over 80 people to view the fashion parade.
Many people made special visits to the gallery to celebrate the work of these two icons.
Everyone commented on the light open space and we have had a few people express interest in joining so the future looks promising.
A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed towards bringing this gallery space to life. 
Everyone is now looking forward to having time to play, learn, socialise and make artworks.








Monday, September 14, 2015

Little By Little

Little by little things are coming together.
Everyone has joined in to share the work load 
and next weekend we should be able to begin 
bringing along work in preparation for hanging.
The movable walls are coming along nicely and 
the cubed storage is assembled. 
Next job is the hanging rails... to hang them 
high or hang them low is the question. ???







Monday, September 7, 2015

The BIG MOVE!!

Well at last we are in our new premises! 
After weeks of sorting, packing, selling, dumping  and colour coding items, moving day went without a hitch.

Members have rallied to do what they can. Patsy, Beth, Barb, Nat, Carly and Claire spent time cleaning out the additional rooms and the front of house at the railway station. 
Prue and Pat directed the unloading process and began visualising the gallery spaces.

Audrey, Tarla and Gloria got stuck into the kitchen;  people are beginning to see the possibilities. 

We have a couple of movable walls being built by Andrew and John which will give us additional hanging space in the main gallery.

Full Steam ahead.......




Tuesday, August 18, 2015

THE PREPARATIONS

Well the time has come to close the door of the gallery as we have known it for nearly 50 years. 
We have had a look through the new premises and although there is still some work to do on the renovation of the floors we have been assured that all will be ready for us to move on September 7.
People have been working diligently at the gallery sorting and packing. All we can say on that matter is we are really glad we had a BIG clean up prior to the 50th Birthday Celebrations.
Many of the old eclectic bits of furniture have been sold and we are planning our new sleeker look and working out where things will go in the new place. 




In the mean time painters will paint, photographers will photograph and spinners will spin so that we have plenty of pieces to delight you when we open our new doors in October.



Saturday, August 1, 2015

Curdnatta Artists' Stories

It is South Australian Living Artists week and members of the Curdnatta Art Group are
exhibiting work at the Port Augusta Cultural Centre's Yarta Purtli Gallery.

"Curdnatta Artists' Stories" had a successful opening and is now open to the public for the
month of August.

The resilience of the artists in the is group is amazing! Having spent the last month coping
with the unexpected news that they will have to move to new premises and making
preparations for the move they still managed to get their pieces and stories in for this
exhibition.

There are also a few new members who have joined and coped well with the uncertainty
of what is happening around them.. welcome aboard .. the ride will be worth it in the end.

Thanks to the Gallery staff for their efforts in hanging this exhibition, I am afraid we weren't available to help out, too busy selling furniture and packing boxes.

The colourful pieces give an indication of what people can find when they come to visit us
in our new space, we should be up and running by October.


Monday, July 20, 2015

Julie Fletcher Workshop



As part of Curdnatta's 50th Birthday celebrations we were fortunate to have Julie Fletcher hold a workshop in Port Augusta for local photographers. 

Many thanks to Country Arts SA for sponsoring the workshop.

Photographers came from Port Lincoln, Whyalla. Port Pirie and Port Augusta.

Julie is a well known and idolised photographer who is based at Maree in South Australia. Her landscapes featuring the Australian outback inspire many to get out there and have a go.





The weather was freezing but after an informative morning session photographers hit the ground running. Here are some pics taken on the day and some after the event using our newfound knowledge.

Thanks To Andrew, Jeff and Kimberly, Cheryl and Georgie for sharing their pics.


























Wednesday, July 1, 2015

NEW BEGINNINGS

After 50 Years Curdnatta Art Group is "making tracks"!
Our lease at Port Augusta's original railway station has come to an end. 
The current owner of the building, the state government, is reverting the land to crown land and the federal government department overseeing the property does not require tenants as they prepare pockets of land for eventual sale.

We were hoping we could see out our 50th birthday celebrations in the original building but unfortunately this is not possible.
On the bright side we have secured new  premises at the Port Augusta Railway Station (the newer one)............ TOOT TOOT!!!   ALL ABOARD!!!!





The next couple of months will be a bit of a roller coaster ride as we work through the moving process but we hope all of our supporters will hang in there until we are settled in the new place.

There will be quite a few items for sale at the gallery in the next month or so as we decide which pieces to take with us so watch our Facebook page for bargains.


All of the workshops and exhibitions we have organised will still go ahead but in different locations so keep an eye on our Facebook page. 


Our fabulous artworks will be available at the Gallery until the end of July and then again from September in the new gallery.