Fivebough at the Heart of Leeton

When Leeton artist Jason Richardson started discussing a collaboration with the Community Op Shop in 2019, they could not predict that 2020 would have other plans

After a delay, the result will be a display during July in the Shop’s main street windows on the theme of Fivebough Wetlands.

“A lot of people know Fivebough as a swamp and I get the impression that relatively few locals have visited it,” said Jason Richardson.

“It’s a beaut place to walk around and you can usually spot majestic pelicans and graceful black swans, as well as a variety of other birds.”

“The significance of the site is actually incredible and the Wetlands should be seen as a jewel in the Riverina’s crown. This project aims to raise the profile of the site and hopefully help Leeton find greater pride in Fivebough.”

That site has a global significance recognised by the United Nations’ Ramsar Convention.

In a comparison of 360 wetlands as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Waterbird Project, Fivebough recorded the highest number of waterbird species and it ranked second for the total number of species recorded in a single survey.

The display notes the Wetland is a “popular international travel destination” for the migratory birds it hosts and the human admirers who visit to see them.

“Back in 2019 when we began discussing developing an art project, we arrived at using the community at Fivebough as a metaphor for the role the Op Shop plays in the Leeton,” said Jason Richardson.

“There’s a proverb ‘Birds of a feather flock together’ and it prompted me to think how the Shop take pride in being a place for everyone in Leeton. In a similar way Fivebough hosts a diverse community too, with over one hundred bird species.”

Leeton Community Op Shop make their windows available for displays to promote our town and welcome contract via Facebook or phone 6953 5664.

Originally the Fivebough project planned to develop a display during the Easter school holidays to coincide with the street parade, but that idea had to be reworked for social-distancing after the emergence of Covid-19.

While the scale of the installation has shrunk, it will have a longer lifespan.

“As I was planning activities to coincide with the project, Kathy Tenison from Landcare asked if I’d considered using the display at Fivebough after it had been exhibited in Leeton.

“It shifted my medium from paste-ups to designing a banner that will be installed at the Wetlands and, when I liked the look of that, I ordered stickers to be printed as well.”

The vinyl bumper stickers will be available for sale at locations in Leeton for $2 each or you can contact Jason Richardson to order three for $5, including postage.

“It’d be great to see Leeton displaying their Fivebough pride because each sticker purchased will also be assisting with the development on local arts projects.”

Fivebough at the Heart of Leeton is supported by Create NSW’s Country Arts Support Program, a devolved funding program administered by Regional Arts NSW and Western Riverina Arts on behalf of the NSW Government.

Matong Park after Red Earth Ecology

One year on from Red Earth Ecology’s urban regeneration weekend in Matong village and the park is thriving

In June 2019 Burners from Matong, the Riverina and interstate came together to revegetate private and public spaces using plants endemic to the area.

Here are recent images of the garden at Matong Park, which looks fantastic.

Thanks to the locals who watered and weeded to ensure the seedlings survived their first tough summer with very little loss of life.

The watering system installed by Coolamon Shire Council will benefit the area.

While Red Earth Ecology has had to postpone all activities for 2020, we will be back planting together in 2021.

Everyone deserves an arts degree

The other day I recognised a woman at the supermarket and decided to tell her how much I enjoyed a poetry event she'd run a while back

"Are you thinking about another?"

"I'm finishing year 12," she replied and I've been thinking about her since.

When I finished year 12 it was in the middle of a recession and uni courses were difficult to access. I ended up repeating the year and improved my tertiary entrance score by around 30% and got into an arts degree.

This year will see a similar increase in demand for degrees with the rise in unemployment and the Coalition Government have decided to raise fees, rather than invest in more university places.

I recall reading a piece that suggested that the state of the job market when you enter full-time employment shapes your earnings over your life.

It brings into focus that the current year 12 students might be battling to start a degree, saddled with increased debt for their studies, and will then continue to see those annual letters reminding them of how much they owe on their qualifications for decades to come.

I hope she continues to find some solace in poetry.

Remember

Hypnosis and The Lighthouse

Hypnosis (1904) by Sascha Schneider, which came to my attention from watching The Lighthouse (2019)

Robert Eggers, writer and director, has experience as a production designer and it was interesting to learn how much the artwork represented in the film also reflects other themes.

That's kinda satisfying for a former film studies major.

Here's a poster for the film showing how Schneider's image was interpreted for the story of two lonely men maintaining a large phallic symbol.

Painting with light

My youngest swirled a red and a blue torch under the full moon

I like the way the blue seems outside of the landscape, as well as the purple where they combine.

Image by Vadim Solovyov

Arteparties.art

Have you heard about http://arteparties.art?

It's a beaut online exhibition curated by Dubbo artist Kim Goldsmith that includes a music video for 'Ghostly Melody' from my recent album SING, as well as a zine of machine-learning-generated poetry that I produced earlier this year.

Edit: After two weeks, Arteparties has now finished.