SUMMER PROGRAM 2000-2001

HERRING ISLAND ENVIRONMENTAL SCULPTURE PARK

SUMMER PROGRAM 2000-2001

A ferry will run from Como Landing to the island during opening times. Ferry charges will be $2.00 for adults, $5.00 per family, children under 12 - free.

Illusion and Reality by John Neeson

5 - 29 October, Thurs - Sun 12 noon to 5 pm

John Neeson's exhibition of paintings records the changes of light and colour of Herring Island's landscape over an extended period of time. These works bring the outdoors into the gallery, highlighting the island's majestic native gardens and revealing art's ability to enhance and extend the natural world.

Botanical Art Group Show

2-26 November, Thurs - Sun 12 noon to 5 pm

Botanical artist Judy Cameron assembles and participates in an exhibition of botanical works on paper focussing on the exquisite detail of Australian flora. These works come alive when placed in the midst of prime examples of such flora.

Mud People by Jill Orr

30 November - 24 December, Thurs - Sun 12 noon to 5 pm

Over the period of her exhibition, renowned performance artist Jill Orr works on the island, sculpting life size mud people. These sculptures grow in numbers to form a community particular to Herring Island. At the end of the exhibition they are either returned to their composite elements in the water, or are left to slowly decompose. Visitors to the island can witness Jill working and may even be able to participate in the creative process.

Art, by Gum; painted gum leaves by contemporary Australian artists

4 January - 4 February. Thurs - Sun 12 noon to 5 pm

The University of Melbourne's School of Botany presents an exhibition and subsequent auction of art works painted on gum leaves, thus reviving a singularly Australian tradition dating back to 1915, when painted leaves were sold for sixpence to raise funds for soldiers returning from World War 1. Including the work of renowned artists Prue Acton, Tim Bass, Adam Cullen, Hilary Jackman, William Kelly, Martin King, Charles McCubbin, Allan Mitelman, Mirka Mora, John Scurry, John Truscott and John young amongst many others, the success of this exhibition in the highly suitable environment of Herring Island is guaranteed. Professor Pauline Ladiges from the School of Botany and esteemed colleagues will present Botany for Beginners, a series of workshops for all the family on the first four Sundays in January, These workshops will combine art and botany in an exploration of the flora of Herring Island.

Interactive Workshops for adults and children.

2.30pm-4pm Sunday, 7 January:
Gum Trees of the Yarra River, Professor Pauline Ladiges with artist Maggie May

2.30pm-4pm, Sunday, 14 January:
How people, koalas and other animals use gum trees, Associate Professor Andrew Drinnan with artist Kathy Mackey

2.30pm-4pm, Sunday, 21 January:
The ecology of Melbourne's gum trees Associate Professor Mark McoDonnell and Nick Williams with Kathey Mackey

Phone to book 8344 5067 (weekdays and 0419 103 795 (weekends.)

Art, by Gum Auction:

Sunday 4 February 2001, 4.30 pm - 7.30pm at Herring Island Gallery, $22 per person. Funds from the sale of painted gum leaves will support the research and traning of future plant scientists in the School of Botany.

Verdant by Lauren Berkowitz

8 - 25 February, Thurs - Sun 12 noon to 5 pm

Lauren Berkowitz uses materials found on the island to create Verdant, an installation that responds to the illusive mystery of Herring Island. Berkowitz recently demonstrated her individualistic response to the environment in a work entitled Strata at McClelland Gallery, which suggested that landscape is a repository of memory - 'Before it can ever be a repose for the senses, landscape is the work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rocks.'

Minefields by Anne Riggs

1 March - 1 April, Thurs - Sun 12 noon to 5 pm

Minefields uses two and three dimensional works of art to compare land devastation and cultivation as practised in Europe and the Antipodes. Herring island's various incarnations as a man-made landform created to stem the Yarra's flooding; a quarry; Scout Camp, and most recently a Sculpture park are evoked in this exploration of the impact made by humans on the environment.