A Great Start to 2016.

The new Platform Gallery is off to a great start in 2016. 

The first big event was a collaboration with the Test Kitchen.
Originally Matt Haren came looking for some art work to make the Cooinda Club more appealing for the luncheon events he organises but instead he found us in the middle of moving to our new gallery space and after a quick look around asked if we would host a luncheon at the gallery itself.

This was all rather new to us and some of us were a bit uncertain about going down this path. 
We thought we would wait until we were established and consider the proposal then.

Not long after we opened the doors we were approached by Fil and Maurice Nistico who proposed holding a bit of an end of year gathering for their clients with the intent of introducing them to the new gallery. We decided that people wanting to use the gallery in this way would have to put forward a written proposal for us to consider. We would have to have members present and it would depend on the availability of members for an event to go ahead.

The Christmas show was a success and the TEST KITCHEN came up with their proposal.

The Test Kitchen is about bringing rich social and sensory dining experiences into the lives of older people who too often experience mealtimes alone. Eating alone as an older person can contribute to undernutrition whereas positive social interaction with dining companions increases food intake and overall wellbeing.

One of its  dining concepts is ‘Community Hosted Meals’, where prominent community places that offer a unique and rich sensory or social ambience are transformed into dining rooms for the hosting of meal events. The custodian of the place (group or organisation) is promoted as Host.
These events are also open to the general public.

There were 36 people in attendance at the event at THE PLATFORM and students from Port Augusta Secondary school assisted with setting up the tables, plating and service.The food provided By Matt and Julie-Anne was exemplary.

The Music Club provided some music and Melva, Pat and Georgie acted as hosts on behalf of Curdnatta Art Group.

It was also great to have an exhibition by Fibrespace Inc. on display at the gallery to add a bit of "texture".

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!!!

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.

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. ???

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.......

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.

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.