The Art of Being Here opens tonight Friday, July 15 and the story it tells about our history, the colonial past, the evolving change is something worth placing your eyes upon.
The exhibition, featuring the work of Singleton artist Vivien Dwyer opens tonight at 6pm and will remain open until September but it is tonight that has Vivien holding her breath.
How does she feel? She is humbled, she is in awe of the talent of gallery director Dr Faye Nelson and is definitely overwhelmed by the community generosity from people who have purchased her paintings over many years and have loaned them for the exhibition so that others can fully appreciate this lifetime
of work.
You will see Vivien often expressing her amazing artistic talent in her sketchbooks and
these too are part of the exhibition.
There are 40 but only a few will feature in the exhibition and Vivien is impressed with the way in which they have been incorporated and she acknowledges the experience of Faye to have achieved this with such imagination.
From the historic Baroona mansion at Whittingham, to army cadet training and simple still-life moments, the exhibition celebrates Vivien’s observations of the world around her over the last four decades.
Since moving to Singleton in the 1970s, Vivien has recorded her experiences through a prolific series of 46 sketchbooks, many of which focus on the heritage buildings and gardens of the local Singleton area, as well as changing land use in the Hunter Valley.
Singleton Council’s Acting Director Organisation and Community Capacity Sean Britton said the stories behind Vivien’s works, which include watercolours, paintings and prints developed during the sketchbook
process, reveal layers of history that connect our local community.
“This exhibition showcases and celebrates Vivien’s unending curiosity, her sketchbooks are unedited personal diaries of her own experiences, providing a truly unique snapshot of a place in time which raise the ordinary to extraordinary,” he said.
At selected times during the exhibition, Vivien will be available in the Singleton Arts and Cultural Centre as artist-in-residence, providing visitors with a unique opportunity to directly observe her skills and hear more about the many projects she has undertaken.
The Art of Being Here exhibition will be unveiled at the Singleton Arts and Cultural Centre with a special free opening night from 6pm on Friday, July 15, 2022.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
The exhibition will be available for viewing until Sunday, September 25, 2022.
Entry to the exhibitions at the Singleton Arts and Cultural Centre is free.
For more information on upcoming exhibitions and the opening event, visit www.singleton.nsw.gov.au/artsandculturalcentre.
