Flying Arts Alliance Chair Prof John O’Toole Iconic Queensland Exhibition Opening Address

Most distinguished guests – whose identities will all be revealed shortly – and equally honoured ladies and gentlemen (or if you are a follower of Olympic ice skating, ladies and men). My name is John O’Toole, and as Chair of Flying Arts Alliance, I’m proud to welcome you to the Launch of this Year’s Queensland Regional Art Awards Exhibition. First of all, in honour of the care and curatorship, past and present, of both this country and all its arts by the original owners and their elders of the land… I invite Uncle Darby McCarthy – who may be more familiar with flying horses than Flying Arts – to give us an Acknowledgment of Country.

Uncle Darby McCarthy Acknowledgment of Country

As Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people together

Let us have a sense of the importance of the country upon which we stand

Where learning and ceremony has taken place over many thousands of years

Make us strong as we face the problems of change

We ask you to help the people of Australia to listen to us and respect our culture

Make the knowledge of you grow strong in all people, so that we can make a home for everyone in our land.

Let us sense the land beneath our feet and acknowledge to whom it belongs,

The Jarawair and Gaibal people and pay our respects to the Elders and all Elders, past, present and future

For we to are one in land, one in sprit and united in Gods love

Flying Arts Alliance Chair Prof John O’Toole Launch Remarks

Thank you Uncle Darby.

If forty-seven years ago you were alive and in Toowoomba, and happened to look up and see overhead a light plane wobbling uncertainly Westward, you were probably looking at one of Flying Arts’s first ventures, as our founder Merv Moriarty, who had just learned to fly for this very purpose, headed for the bush to teach painting and support artists to anybody out there who felt they wanted and needed it – an artistic version of the Flying Doctor Service. This crazy idea worked, and we’ve been doing it ever since. I’m proud to say that my brother-in-law was one of our earliest graduates (and you’re lucky indeed if you can get hold of one of his paintings now…). And there are no doubt others of you in the audience, or you know others. We’d like to hear about you, please.

The Queensland Regional Art Awards, our premier annual showcase, is not quite that old – this is the seventh annual award, and the first time we’ve held it outside Brisbane. You’ll be hearing lots more about it this afternoon, and about all the wonderful people and organisations who have helped to bring about this magnificent display of Queensland’s creativity (That’s the colourful stuff around us – in the gallery, but not beyond, so if you stumble across a Sidney Nolan, or David Hinchcliffe’s splendid painting of Bruce Dawe, that’s part of the USQ collection, not our exhibition (though it certainly represents Iconic Queensland!)

So first, without more ado, let’s launch it – and we’re especially thrilled to welcome the Honourable Leeanne Enoch, Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and last BUT NOT LEAST Minister for the Arts… (How on earth do you manage all of those?) Minister!

Honourable Leeanne Enoch, Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science, Minister for the Arts

“Iconic Queensland features the best of the 2017 Queensland Regional Art Awards and it is wonderful to be able to launch this here in Toowoomba,” Ms Enoch said.

“This exhibition, presented by Flying Arts Alliance, features the state’s diverse natural beauty, heritage and people.

“It is a great chance to see works by artists from the Torres Strait to the Sunshine Coast, along with 2017 Queensland Regional Art Award winners from Cooktown, Imbil, Ipswich, Gulliver, Redcliffe, Rockhampton and Woombye.

“It is amazing that we are able to share these works from right across Queensland.

“People in regional and remote areas in Queensland will also have the chance to view this wonderful art, as this exhibition will be touring through communities including Ingham, Emerald, Julia Creek, Munduberra, Childers and Warwick.”

Please read the full release here

John Introduces Jo St Baker, Art for Life Major Award Winner 2017

Thank you very much, Minister… for the Arts… and all those other things. As somebody who is proud to call your celebrated brother one of my ex-students, I can see that three things clearly run in your family: love of the arts, graciousness and the gift of the gab!

Now to the fuel that keeps Flying Arts aloft and flying – the artists themselves: to speak for them, our 2017 Art for Life Major Award winner, with still a little sand between her fingers: Jo St Baker!

Jo St Baker, Art for Life Major Award Winner 2017

I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land, past, present and emerging and say that it is a great honour to be here today.

Thank you Minister Enoch for your kind introduction and let me say that your work and dedication to the arts and environment I find particularly exciting.

I would like to warmly thank the judges of The Flying Arts Regional Art Award 2017

Sandra Conte, Michael Mitchell, and judge and curator of Iconic the Touring Exhibition, Henri Van Noordenberg.

What a great collection of diversely topical works you have selected. 
It is a privilege to be in such great company for this tour and congratulations to each and every artist represented here today. Our work reaching a broader audience through the Regional Gallery network substantiates our place in Contemporary Art in Australia, something we work so hard to achieve.

I would like to thank The Flying Arts Alliance for this wonderful opportunity. To Kerryanne and team, your insight, hard work and generous efforts are appreciated by us all.

To Karri McPherson and Artworx Gallery. Congratulations.

What a magnificent venue for the Iconic Touring Exhibition to commence its journey.

When I first arrived in The Moreton Bay Region to squalls of rain and flooding, I knew then that my experience here would be extreme, possibly challenging, yet uniquely sensual.

My works speak of links, lineage, journeys and place. They are stories of engagements with where I live or travel, how I live and the lives of those around me.

I am a wanderer connected with Australia and Queensland through a dialogue of culture and deeply rooted respect for the land and it’s people. Of late this is reflected in the integrated flotsam of natural bits that have made their way in to my toolbox and modes of mark making and construction.

Using sand as a code of information I have enjoyed bringing childhood senses flooding back and allude to the very spiritual aspects of a material we give very little thought to regardless of our Iconic golden shores.

Something I read the other day was, that when we walk along the beach or coastal land we are actually strolling atop millions of years of biological and geological history.

Information and connections to and from all over the world. Tiny fragments, that when placed under a microscope can divulge distant places, plants, bones, sea life and points in time.

It is a unified platform.

I like this pondering and hope you enjoy my interpretations.

Thank you 

John Introduces Henri van Noordenburg, Curator of the Touring Exhibition

Thank you Jo. You artists are the ones who do the hardest task of course, that of creation… or are you?  Who has put this magnificent display of your works together, and even tougher, who had to decide which of the two hundred plus entries for Iconic Queensland are the worthiest to include, and honour with the special awards? I don’t know of a harder job than being a member of this kind of judging panel, who deserve the undying thanks of all of us, not just the winners: Mike Mitchell from Mitchell Fine Art,… Sandra Conte from Moreton Bay Regional Council… and especially the hero who also curated this whole touring exhibition: Henri van Noordenburg from QAGOMA!

Henri van Noordenburg, Judge and Guest Curator for Iconic QLD 2017

Thank you 

Ladies and Gentlemen

A week ago I was told story about yellow butterflies which flew over the Toowoomba region inviting the Jagera, Gaibal and Jarowair peoples to the upcoming Bunya gathering. The Indigenous peoples of this region could have ignored the butterflies, therefore missing out on the festivities of the bunya nut — missing out on the cultural knowledge of a place that holds a magnitude of history and spirituality. It is through cultural knowledge that we can embrace the past and map our future.

Artists like Sally Gabori, Ray Crooke and Robert MacPherson are among the many exceptional artists from Queensland whose work continues to share cultural knowledge and emphasise the impact of regional living.

The artworks featured in the 2017 Queensland Regional Art Award respond to the theme Iconic Queensland, with a pictorial journey from coastal blue waters to deep red earth. They prompt us to contemplate many aspects of Queensland culture, people, locations, lifestyles, Indigenous culture, our social wellbeing and the political and economic pressures of contemporary life.

The themes explored are not necessarily new, suggesting that some things just don’t change and that we still have lessons to learn. While most artworks celebrate life in regional Queensland, there are some that dare to hint at dystopia.

The winning work The Sandmen by Jo Baker is a work that carries childhood memories of creating sandcastles, yet the slouching figures further remind us of the fragile mangroves.

Universal pulse 1 by Barbara Cheshire continues the environmental quest. As viewers we are floating on the water and possibly trapped under the mangrove branches lost in the intrinsic detail of the work.

Alan Tulloch’s video work Float plays with the viewers mind. At first we might not know where this playful narrative will take us, it is towards the end that the viewer realises that the memories of the backyard pool are replaced with coal.

All three works are beautifully constructed, and exceptional in their research and experimentation. Conceptually they remind us of global warming, one of the most contentious issues of our current times.

Many artists have continued the legacy of sharing cultural knowledge and the impact of regional Queensland lifestyles. As artists, arts workers and arts educators it might seem that your voice in regional Queensland is not heard, especially when those around you pack up and move to what seem at times a ‘utopia’.

The regional artists in this exhibition have not moved away. Instead they are facing challenges and sharing their surroundings, embracing the past, contemplating the present and projecting their thoughts in this exhibition for you to embrace and contemplate.

Like the butterflies, the artworks in this exhibition invite us to  consider our surroundings and expose us to topics that might be unfamiliar. We too could ignore their stories, their calls for help and remain ignorant about what they have to offer, or we could open our minds and learn.

John Introduces Barbara de la Harpe

Thank you Henri.

As well as Aboriginal country, we’re standing on hallowed academic turf here. Can’t you feel the vibes? In case you hadn’t noticed, this is the University of Southern Queensland, one of Flying Arts’ longest and most generous sponsors, so it gives me great pleasure to welcome to the stand USQ’s representative, Barbara de la Harpe, the Executive Dean of Business, Education, Law and the Arts – how on earth do you manage all those? Barbara!

Barbara de la Harpe, Executive Dean of Business, Education, Law and the Arts – USQ

Good afternoon everyone, my name is Barbara de la Harpe and I am the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business Education Law and Arts.

I too would like to pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which we gather today.

I also acknowledge our very distinguished guests already mentioned, including the award winners and our wonderful minister of a number of very important areas, including the one that I am guessing is very precious and dear to all of us here today, the Arts.

I am delighted to be here and, on behalf of our Vice Chancellor, Professor Geraldine McKenzie, I welcome you

• to USQ
• to this very, very special event
• on this very very beautiful autumn afternoon

Yes, can you believe it autumn was officially heralded in on the 1^st of March!

USQ, through the work of our wonderful staff, has a very long and proud history of working with, and supporting the Flying Arts Alliance, about 20 years to be exact!

We both have a reputation for educating the visual artists of the future and share a strong commitment and focus on regional Queensland.

That includes attracting students and art activities, not only FROM but also TO regional Queensland.

Some recent examples of current Flying Arts Alliance events involving the University are:

• the wonderful Artiz Street Art residency program where young artists come and make their mark on Toowoomba, the official street art capital of Queensland!
• Exhibiting artists Jane Dennis from Cooktown who was awarded the Remote Artist Award attending the USQ Summer McGregor arts retreat thanks to sponsorship by USQ Artsworx
• And only last week the ‘Where to next? A mid career intensive for visual artists’ was conducted right here on the USQ campus
• And who will ever forget today, the launch of ‘Iconic Queensland’ the amazing touring exhibition of the 2017 Queensland regional Arts awards

Events like to today are very important to us here at USQ.

They provide a platform to raise awareness of the importance of art in our lives.

Art serves to refresh us and remind us of better things especially in a turbulent world

Art reinforces values and brings people together in ways that are memorable,

Art challenges us and our thinking.

According to Richard Florida, famous American urban theorist and author of the rise of the Creative class,

“Human beings crave physical beauty. We look for it in so many of the things that surround us, and especially in the communities and places we live.”

Well, I think we have this in spades here at the launch today.

Thank you

John’s Concluding Remarks

Thank you Barbara – we treasure our relationship with USQ… though I would suggest to your Academic Board that you should change the order of naming in your Faculty to Arts, Business, Education and Law – that would honour what the Minister said about the Arts being central to our lives… and would at least be alphabetical!

I promised I would reveal the names of all the magicians who have conjured up the wherewithal for this exhibition to take off, and for Flying Arts to keep flying:

• First, our hardworking and occasionally inspired Flying Arts Board, and our overworked and inspiring staff, led from the front by CEO extraordinaire Kerryanne Farrer.
• Next, our faithful principal supporters: The Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation – whose incredible dedication to regional culture is a constant inspiration to us. Our cultural patrons Tim and Gina are with us today as usual… and they buy the Regional Art Award paintings too!
• … and once again, USQ, with special thanks to Board member Rebecca Scollen and ArtsWorx, for the loan of this stunning gallery and all your support, the set-up and technical support led by our splendid USQ intern, Karri MacPherson, and for today’s alcoholic support too! It’s great to see so many USQ folk here today… And not forgetting the music – USQ student Jess Berwick, who when I shut up will entertain you for the rest of the afternoon…
• All the Award sponsors, whose names you will find near the front of the exhibition catalogue, and I should single out the members of our Flying Arts 500 Club, with big hearts and deep pockets, whose generosity has provided this year’s Major Award. Several of those heroes are with us today too, like me, and our Board members and others in the room! And it’s not a snooty and exclusive club, we’ll always take new members!
• Their names are also in the Exhibition catalogue – at the back this time, along with all our other valued supporters and program partners
• Now to the second most important group of people, the prizewinning and exhibiting artists, many of whom are also here today – their names are all in the catalogue of course!…
• And finally to the most important, to all of you for coming, many of you from far afield… even Brisbane!… to our very first properly Regional Launch of the Queensland Regional Art Awards – now ain’t that ironic!

All our Board, our Staff and our touring artists are wearing name badges, so do feel free to corner them and chat.

The exhibition will be on show until 11 April, when it heads off North and West to 6 other regions. Spread the word please, in person and on social media – use #flyingarts , so we can like and share your posts!

Also, please feel only too free to purchase those artworks that are for sale – those with a price tag: fill in a purchase inquiry form – it’s in your catalogue –  to get first dibs, and leave it with our staff or send/email it back to our office… Just a warning – you will have to wait to receive your purchase till everybody else all over Queensland has had time to look at it!

Please enjoy the exhibition, and our light refreshments. The exhibition may be on here till April, but the refreshments and Jess’s music are only on till 4pm, so do please enjoy and drink in the artworks, the music, and the hospitality till then.

Thank you.