Author // Shannon Edwards, Place New Farm
It all started with one man, a vision and a plane.
Colourist, artist and teacher, Mervyn Moriaty, spent many years flying around Queensland, teaching art to every corner of the state.
His legacy is still felt across Queensland today through the Flying Arts - an arts and cultural development organisation, founded by Mervyn in 1971.
The association plays a significant role in inspiring artists and communities with their annual Queensland Regional Art Awards, a visual arts exhibition for established and emerging artists.
Celebrating its milestone 45th year, this year’s exhibition, ‘Colours of Queensland’ is currently housed in Fortitude Valley’s own Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts.
We had the privilege of viewing the exhibition and sitting down with Flying Arts’ CEO, Kerryanne Farrer, who shared with us the great things that the organisation does for the local art community.
Tell us about ‘Colours of Queensland’?
The award focuses on artists living in regional and remote Queensland.
The program aims to highlight the wealth of creative talent located outside of the capital city and to provide a platform to further professional development for emerging artists.
This year’s theme asks artists to consider what brings colour, vibrancy and life to their local community.
What do you think the award offers Queensland artists?
It gives them a unique voice and helps build the eco-system that is the Queensland art sector.
Someone once said to me, if you were to divide Queensland up, the seven areas would be as diverse as the seven states of Australia.
The artistic voice is a visual voice and we are constantly surprised with the different interpretations of the theme coming from artists across the state.
For us at the Flying Arts, the exhibition gives our regional artists a profile in Brisbane, helping them develop their careers – that’s invaluable.
What do you think the exhibition brings to the local community?
The exhibition displayed in the Judith Wright Centre - in the heart of Fortitude Valley.
The suburb is home to many other fantastic galleries so the exhibition is another layer of experience for people living in the local area.
Whether exhibition visitors are members of the Brisbane art scene or the local neighbourhood, the Colours of Queensland exhibition exposes them to a different perspective of art.
It gives locals a platform to see something a little different and authentic to Queensland.
The Judith Wright Centre is an excellent spot for those passing by to come in off the street, enjoy a coffee and browse the gallery.
What has this year’s theme brought?
Its given the artists a wonderful platform to share the colours and stories from their life.
We’ve received a diversity of voices with the theme interpreted in significantly different ways.
From the micro look at a piece of mango to a flock of budgerigars flying across the field, the variety in the artworks really gets you thinking.
Every time I look at the exhibition collections, a new thought comes to me.
It’s not just the colours that you would expect to ‘see’ in Queensland - it’s more than that.
The exhibition features colours that depict how people feel.
The winning piece from this year by Karen Stephens does that really well.
The exhibition will be in the Judith Wright Centre until Sunday the March 19 before it commences a tour around Queensland.