December 2023

Welcome to Creative Catch Up

We recognise the rich Aboriginal heritage of this country and acknowledge the Wurundjeri Willum Clan and Taungurung People as the Traditional Owners of lands within the City of Whittlesea.

Welcome to the December edition of Creative Catch Up.

The end of the year is here!
In this issue we celebrate the artists who received awards at the Annual Art exhibition, including our feature artist Jacquelyn Haverson who was awarded the 2023 Annual Art Exhibition Award.
If you haven't been able to visit the exhibition in person, the online gallery is now live. 

This month's Creative Catch Up also includes Carols by Candlelight and an exciting new youth engagement project that is being installed in December. at the Y Leisure City. 

We will be taking a break in January and Creative Catch Up will return in February 2024.
The ACE (arts culture and events) team wish you all the best for the upcoming summer season and safe, kind and creative new year. 

Kind regards
the ACE (Arts, Culture and Events) Team

Feature Artist:  Jacquelyn Haverson 

This month we would like to introduce Jacquelyn Haverson, Winner of the 2023 Annual Art Exhibition Award.

With a background in design, Jacquelyn has a long-term appreciation and dedication to enjoying a diverse range of creative ventures. After the rolling lockdowns in Melbourne, Jacquelyn spent some time purposefully exploring different avenues of mindfulness. It was through this process that her love of painting was reignited. Appreciating the transience of momentary experience, painting forms a vital flow experience that grounds the artist and enhances her connection with both herself and her surrounds.

Choosing watercolour as her preferred medium, Jacquelyn enjoys the fluid, challenging and at many times unpredictable nature of this practice. Her watercolour pieces bring to life the detail in the imperfect beauty that surrounds us each day in the animals we meet, and the paths that we traverse. As a part time artist, Harverson takes inspiration from nature and works to highlight the delicacy of her subjects.

Jacquelyn enjoys having the chance to paint what inspires her at the time and took inspiration from topography to create a more abstract piece than her usual realist style to enter into the 2023 Whittlesea council exhibition, The Webs we Weave. “A city intersected” explores the interplay between the more rigid geometry of the world we humans create with the undulating fluidity of the natural world within which we are intertwined.

Image: A City Intersected, Jacquelyn Haverson, 2023 (detail)

Annual Art Exhibition - The Webs We Weave 

The 2023 Annual Art Exhibition opened on the 17 November to a full house of artists and families. It was fabulous to feel the Great Hall buzzing again after the silence of the COVID years. This year a record number of works adorn the gallery walls, and it looks truly fabulous.
Open until the 15 December. Do make sure you drop in to experience the fantastic work created by our local artists.

Many of the works are for sale and you are invited to vote for the People's Choice Award.

Each year we select a number of works to receive prizes donated by the City of Whittlesea.
This year's Prize winners are:

City of Whittlesea Award:
Jacquelyn Haverson ‘A City Intersected.’
Highly commended: Jillian Evans Bromley ‘Entanglement’

Award of Excellence – Innovative use of materials:
Iaki Vallejo “De la tierra vengo y a la tierra volvere (I come from the earth, and to the earth I shall return)”
Highly commended: Nicola Waters ‘Pearls and Hearts’

Award of Excellence – Creative expression:
Soo Chua ‘Portrait of Life’
Highly Commended: Ildiko Kormanyos ‘Fairy Tale’

Llma Duncan Award
Selekha Rani, 'Crochet Patterns Photo Frame'

Youth Award
Renita ‘My Web Galaxy'
Highly Commended: Raven ‘Web of Love’

Dates: Friday 17 November – Friday 15 December 2023
Time:  Weekdays 10am-4pm
Venue: Great Hall, Civic Centre, 25 Ferres Boulevard, South Morang
Cost: Free

Image: The threads that bind us, Alexandra Letti, (detail) 

The Webs We Weave Online Gallery is Live 

The Webs We Weave Annual Art Exhibition online gallery is now live.

Each year we create an online gallery to support the physical exhibition in the Great Hall at the Civic Centre. This is a great opportunity to have a closer look at your favorite pieces, share the exhibition with those who couldn't make it in person and to display the works after the exhibition closes on Friday 15 December.

Carols by Candlelight

Grab your picnic blankets and get into the Christmas spirit with a sing along! We’re looking forward to celebrating this great time of year with a welcoming and festive event, Carols by Candlelight.

Carols by Candlelight is a jam-packed with fun and exciting activities like face painting, roving performances, art & craft activities, lots of singing and Santa himself will make a special appearance.

AUSLAN interpreters will be present ensuring everyone can join in the fun!

And don't forget to do your part for the environment. Bring along your own reusable coffee cup, bag, water bottle, and picnic blanket. We'll supply the candles to set the festive mood!

When: Friday 15 December, 6pm-9pm
Where: Civic Centre Lawns, 25 Ferres Boulevard, South Morang

We encourage residents to leave their cars at home and consider taking public transport, walking or riding to the event.

New Murals at the Epping Y Leisure City 

Over the last six months, students from the Wollert & Epping North Epping area have been working on a community arts project aimed at strengthening connections to local sports and recreation spaces and showcasing their innovation and talent.

Council's Youth Development Officer for Wollert & Epping North collaborated with the City of Whittlesea Arts, Culture and Events team, Y Leisure City, Epping Sports and Recreation, Lendlease, the Koori Academy and well know Melbourne's street artist Baby Guerrilla to support students from Wollert Secondary College, Al Siraat College and Edgars Creek Secondary to develop the art works.

The students have co-designed the paste-up walls, reflecting on the Y Leisure Epping’s four pillars of Community wellbeing, Community contribution, Sustainability and Justice incorporating also their respective schools' values in their artwork.

You can view the Mural from 20 December at the Y Leisure City, 41-53 Miller St, Epping

 To discover further opportunities for young people within the City of Whittlesea, visit whittlesea.vic.gov.au/youth.

Coming up at PRACC 

PRACC in December is finishing up with the end of year school concerts and beginning to wind down for Christmas.

However, coming soon!....
Joe Camilleri and The Black Sorrows for one show only in February.

Joe Camilleri has been at the forefront of the Australian music scene for decades as the leader of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows, and as writer of radio anthems Hit & Run, Shape I’m In, Chained to the Wheel, Harley & Rose and Never Let Me Go. He is the consummate entertainer constantly honing his craft, an ARIA Hall of Famer and a rock’n’roll lifer. Joe’s band, The Black Sorrows, are one of Australia’s most prolific and enduringly popular bands, renowned for their high-energy live shows, musicianship and infectious, roots-soaked blues rock. They’ve sold more than two million albums to date and won an ARIA Award for Best Group.

The joy of live music, the excitement of watching great performers and the thrill of that old The Black Sorrows’ magic is what these gigs are all about!

Don't miss your chance to see The Black Sorrows.

Date: Saturday 17 February 2024

Time: 8pm

Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre, 35 Ferres Blvd, South Morang

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