June 2003The big news item for this winter edition of the Megalo News is that our long awaited relocation is underway - see full details below. Unfortunately to prepare for the big event Megalo will need to close both the Fyshwick and Hackett workshops during July and possibly into early August. We trust Members will bear with us during the shutdown and be ready to get ready to get back into the workshops as soon as we can reopen them. Coming - Going - GoneMuch has been happening at Megalo over the past few months. Artists involved in the residency programs have been working to finish projects prior to the relocation. Members have been equally busy in anticipation of the move and no doubt keen to complete access activity before the onset of winter in the unheated workshop at Fyshwick. Those undertaking residencies have included David Sequeira who worked closely with Megalo's artistic manager Paul Piesley to experiment with various screen-printing processes. David completed in late April after which we were able to let Paul take his well-earned long-service leave - in recognition of more than 10 years committed service to Megalo. We very much look forward to Paul’s 4return in time for the move to Watson. Applications for the 2004 Printmaker in residence Program will be invited in September this year.
Site and Soul Print FolioThe exhibition of the Site and Soul Print Folio at Canberra Museum and Gallery in conjunction with the Heritage Festival was a very successful exercise. We received positive feed back about the prints and the presentation of the exhibition - thanks to the excellent job done by staff at CMAG. Quite a few prints have been sold and enquiries are still being received. Members interested to participate in the next Site and Soul Folio, celebrating significant sites in the ACT are invited to submit an expression of interest. Business PlanThe Management Committee has developed a new three year Business Plan in association with our funding submission to artsACT. The key objectives of the plan are to maintain and strengthen the Artist In Residence Program and develop new Editioning and Commission Projects that complement Members Access Programs. Priority will be given to the development of the Megalo Gallery as a facility for hire and as a point of sale for prints made in the Megalo Workshops. One of the important initiatives for the Gallery Program will be the reintroduction of an annual exhibition of members prints. The first of these exhibitions is planned for mid November this year, so please start planning your contribution now. Megalo Workshop RelocationMegalo will relocate
its workshops to the ground floor of D Block, at 49 Phillip Ave
Watson. The site is now known as Canberra Technology Park but was
previously the Watson Campus of CIT and before that the Watson High
School. A three year lease with an option for a further two years
has been secured on the premises. The Watson building will provide
sufficient space for both the Fyshwick and Hackett workshops to
be relocated there. Instead of being separated by many kilometres
the Screen Printing and the Press Workshop will be divided by a
mere ten metres with the Megalo Gallery being located in a central
atrium between the workshops. The refurbishment process will commence in the next few weeks. artsACT our partner in the relocation has appointed a Project Manager to oversee the fit-out. It is anticipated that the works will take about eight weeks to complete and it is hoped that the workshops will be back in operation by the beginning of August but our reopening will depend on how the fit-out progresses. The refurbished workshops will provide a safer and more comfortable working environment than was available at Kingston or Fyshwick, both workshops will have heating in winter and running water. Facilities such as the Lithography equipment which has been in storage at Fyshwick will be recommissioned. Services such as plumbing and ventilation will be upgraded to meet current regulations. New facilities for screen-printing with dyes and for fixing of colours with steam treatments will be established in the fabric printing area. This will bring the workshop into line with services available at The National Institute of the Arts, from where many Megalo members are drawn. Importantly for members, printing with dyes will provide greater opportunities for experimentation with fabric treatments and textiles. The budget for the refurbishment
has come under a lot of pressure as building costs in the ACT have
risen significantly in the last 12 months. A number of the benches
and fittings which were part of the Studio One Workshop at Kingston
will be recycled into the fit-out, the measure will avoid unnecessary
expenditure and allow the workshops to retain a strong sense of
their previous identity. Workshop ClosureThe workshops will close for access during July to allow staff to prepare for the relocation. Members are asked to remove all personal property from the workshops by 30 June. There will be a clean-up and shedding of unwanted material from both workshops so as to lighten the load for the removalists. Unlimited AccessMembers with Unlimited Access will be given an extension commensurate with any down time associated with the workshop closure for relocation. |
