March 2003Megalo AGMMegalo’s Annual General Meeting will take place at 6.00pm on Monday 24th March at the Hackett workshop. Items on the Agenda include the tabling of the 2002 Annual Report and Financial Statement, election of Committee Members and Office Bearers and a Members Forum through which questions can be put to the Board and Staff. Interested members are encouraged to attend. All financial
members are eligible to nominate for a position on the Management
Committee. Copies of the Megalo Constitution and Nomination Forms are available on request from the Public Officer 6249 6086. Nominations should be received prior to the commencement of the AGM. Red Spot on your envelope?It’s time
to renew your membership but no problem renewals can be done over
the phone with a credit card. Open Letter to Members from the Megalo ChairDear Members, We acknowledge that our current location in Fyshwick is not ideal and understand that there are difficulties for both our members and staff who work there and appreciate the feedback we are receiving. As you know, Megalo works in partnership with artsACT to provide the best facilities we can. To this end we are working closely with David Williams (Facilities Manager) and Lyn Allan (Acting Director artsACT), as we negotiate to relocate into D Block at the old CIT Watson Campus. Whilst we have identified this site as meeting our needs, we have had to proceed cautiously in entering a licence to lease agreement. This has proved no easy feat and Megalo has engaged a solicitor to ensure we are not compromised under this contractual agreement. We are still in negotiations but are aiming to be operating from this new site by the second half of this year. Again, we acknowledge the limited facilities and conditions and thank you for your continued patience and support in this matter. Yours sincerely, ResidenciesSuzanne Knight completed her Residency in February after producing two bodies of work through her time in the workshop. The first series was stimulated by Suzanne’s Residency in Japan last year it consists of digital and screenprinted images drawn from Japanese junkmail advertising supermarket foods and the second is a series of digital prints based on vegetable seed packets. The works provide a humourous and disturbing vision of transgenic products we might one day find on the supermarket shelf. Products part animal part vegetable made appealing by the visual tricks of advertisers and the market place. Suzanne’s work will be featured in the Megalo Residents show later this year. move to Eden on the South Coast six years ago. Over a 25 year period prior to that she had established a reputation in Melbourne as a portrait and documentary photographer but the move to the coast and comparative isolation made her focus on the sea and the landscape as the source of her art making. Eighteen months ago she was commisioned by ACT Health to make some work for the new Belconnen Health Centre. They expected a series of portraits but instead she persuaded them to let her make a series of sun prints and photograms from plants indigenous to the ACT region. That set of sunprints was the begining of a new approach for Ruth and it is that work which has flowed into the current residency. Ruth has an
exhibition of Photographic portraits opening at Stills Gallery in
Sydney on the 19th of March. A selection of her work from the Cutting
Edge residency will be exhibited at the Photo Access Gallery from
4th June - 25th. The Official Opening is 6.00pm 6th June. 2003 Emerging Artists Support Scheme Residency Awards to NITA GraduatesThe 2003 Megalo emerging artists residencies have been awarded to outstanding NITA Graduates of 2002 Rachel O'Connor and Russell Joyce. Rachel began her residency at Hackett at the begining of March we look forward to seeing where the opportunity takes her work. ProjectsSite and Soul Print Folio ExhibitionThe Site and Soul Print Folio has been undertaken as part of Megalo’s editioning program. The project has been shaped with a view to attracting a new audience and potentially a new market for prints made in the Megalo workshop. Canberra Museum and Gallery will exhibit the prints as part of the Heritage Festival, the folio theme being sites of significance within the ACT. The project was launched through an open invitation in the Megalo News last March. Ten artists responded to the invitation. They were each asked to select a site of significance to them, from those identified on the ACT Heritage Register and to develop a print based on the site. They were then offered access to the Megalo workshop and medium of their choice.
The complete folio consists of ten prints in editions of 25 made from processes including etching lino cut, wood block, screen printing and lithography. Projects artists were Peter Bitmead, Thomas Bonin, Pamela Challis, Marion East, Cecile Galiazzo, Deborah Perrow, Bob Russell, Theo Tremblay, Annie Trevillian and Peter Zanetti. The Site and Soul exhibition opens at CMAG on Friday 4 April and continues until Sunday 18th of May. Prints from the folio are available for sale as a folio set and individually. Rural Young Women’s Health Print FolioSouthern Area
Health commissioned Megalo to manage The Rural Young Women’s
Print Folio Project on their behalf in 2002. The project has focussed
on young women at risk and teenage mothers in the regional centres
of Yass, Cooma and Goulburn. A project artist was employed to work
with each group. They involved the teenagers in a series of workshops
which assisted them to find a means of communicating their ideas
and concerns through visual language. As part of this process the
groups identified a theme for a poster. The artists then designed
the poster using material generated through the workshops. The host
groups were consulted to gain final approval for the poster design
before they were printed by Megalo. The workshop process proved
to be a very positive experience for the young women. The host organizations
in Yass and Cooma are both seeking funding so that they can continue
with further art programs. AccessFree Members Orientation DayMembers are reminded to take advantage of the monthly members day on the first Saturday of each month. Its an excellent opportunity to be oriented with equipment and to revive skills. Or to practice skills acquired through one of Megalo’s classes or one to one tuition programs. The workshop coordinators are available to provide technical assistance you just need to book in advance. Rural Young Women’s Health Print FolioYass, Poster
designed by Morgan James Moving On Textile Artists exhibition at CuppacumbalongMegalo Member and 2002 EASS Residency recipient Joanne Robinson is working towards a show at Cuppacumbalong Gallery Tharwa with fellow textile artists Dianna Shores, Belinda Jessup and Melanie Olde. The group are pushing their design and textile construction skills into the area of fashion items such as bags. The exhibition opens at 11.00am on Saturday 29th March and continues through April. Megalo Textile GroupLinda Rice the Workshop Coordinator at Hackett is fostering the establishment of a textile working group to bring together printmakers who have an interest in printing on textiles. The group held its first meeting in March and those attending decided that they would hold regular meetings on the first Saturday of each month. There will be opportunities to share ideas see demonstrations and participate in discusion on technical issues and other matters of interest. There may also be visits to other workshops and exhibitions. Its all about keeping connected with the possibilities, increasing skills and improving professional practice. For further details contact Linda at the Hackett workshop. Expressions of Interest National Gallery of Australia Print Room ViewingIt has been suggested that Megalo should arrange a visit to the National Gallery print room for members. We are keen to hear from those who would be interested. For more information contact the Hackett office Megalo Opening HoursHackett Workshop Fyshwick
Workshop (at M16) Correspondence
regarding the Newsletter should be directed to Peter Zanetti at
Hackett. Classes Autumn 2003Mysteries
of Intaglio Members $55
Non Member $93.50 including Megalo membership Introduction
to Screenprinting onto Fabric with Photographic Stencils Members $109,
Non members( includes membership fees) : $147.50 Concession non
member $131 Fee includes all materials and equipment. One to One and Small Group Tuition available on request. |
