20 artists respond to the sounds of the Central West and their pandemic experiences in new touring regional exhibition
Arts OutWest will showcase some of the Central West NSW’s most exciting visual artists as they each respond to original music reflecting on the challenging and changing times over the past two years.
The first leg of a 12-month regional tour for the While the World Waits Exhibition will open 2pm on Saturday 19 March at Tremains Mill in Keppel St Bathurst.
To be opened by Tracey Callinan, CEO Regional Arts NSW, the launch includes a half hour session of original music by Kris Schubert who produced the While the World Waits album and performed one of the tracks with his band The Safety of Life at Sea.
“The last two years have been tough in the arts. Lockdowns and loss of work ran right across all artforms. Live shows took a hammering. We wanted to help by creating opportunities for those most affected,” said exhibition curator, Arts OutWest’s Steven Cavanagh.
“Last year Arts OutWest commissioned 15 Central West songwriters to each write a track reflecting their experiences of 2020. We created a compilation album of original music titled While the World Waits,” Mr Cavanagh explains. “Then we opened the conversation up to visual artists to see what they were feeling.”
In 2022, artists from across the Central West were asked to use the album of music as a jumping off point and inspiration for new work. The resulting While the World Waits Exhibition is a curated works of selected artists, each responding to one or more tracks, title or words on the album.
The exhibition will showcase work from across all mediums. You will see painting, sculpture, drawing, ceramics, moving image, animation, photography, glass and textiles.
Artists featured are: Bridget Thomas (Bathurst), Cate McCarthy (Yetholme), Gemma Clipsham (Bathurst), Gus Armstrong (Rylstone), Harrie Fasher (Portland), Heather Dunn (Bathurst), Heather Vallance (Orange), Helen Carpenter (Grenfell), Hugh McKinnon (orange), Jane Tonks (Orange), Laura Baker (Blayney), Lise Edwards (Lithgow), Henry Simmons and the River Yarners (Bathurst), Robert Hirschmann (Portland), Shani Nottingham (Cowra), Stephan de Wit (Parkes), Timothy Seager (Bathurst), Aleshia Lonsdale (Mudgee), Steven Cavanagh (Hill End), Christine McMillan (Kandos).
The Bathurst exhibition will run Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10am-4pm until April 3.
The While the World Waits Exhibition will then travel to Grenfell Art Gallery (April 20 – June 2) then onto galleries and venues across Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra, Forbes, Lachlan, Lithgow, Mid-Western Region, Oberon, Orange and Parkes local government areas.
