FOGS

THE FRIENDS OF THE GALLERY EXTEND THEIR CONGRATULATIONS TO MIKE COLLINS AND THE WINTER FESTIVAL COMMITTEE FOR A MOST SUCCESSFUL AND VERY EVENTFUL WEEK OF FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES SHOWCASING OUR COMMUNITY.

On Friday 4th June the official opening of the Manning Winter Festival was held at the Manning Regional Gallery.  The event was officially opened by the Festival Patron, Patricia Amphlett, perhaps better known as 'Little Pattie' who performed several numbers accompanied by pianist Mark Allardyce.

Once again the Manning Art Gallery was showcased at its best - a wonderfully versatile community facility capable of hosting a wide range of events including music and performance, as well as excelling in its role as our regional art gallery.

Newsletter 29th May 2010

The last month or so have seen exciting events and happenings at the Gallery.  The new casual weekend staffing arrangements have proven to be extremely effective, with volunteer staff very appreciative of the support that they are receiving from the presence of trained gallery staff on weekends.

The winner of the FOGS raffle of the beautiful colourful plate is Robyn Woodward of Burleigh Heads.

Welcome to our first newsletter of the 2010.  How did you all go with your New Year resolutions?  Good luck on that front - I've never managed to keep any of mine in the past, so I made none this year!

GALLERY NEWS

The Frank Saxby Bequest Acquisitive Prize 2009, currently on display at the Gallery, continues to attract considerable interest from visitors. Our gallery directors, assisted by independent selectors including Richard Holloway from Arts Mid North Coast, have selected three outstanding works for possible acquisition.  As negotions to purchase these works are not yet complete I cannot name the three selected works, but all involved in the selection process agree that they will be very significant additions to the Greater Taree City Art Collection. I hope to be able to present details and images of these works in our next newsletter.

If you haven't yet viewed this current exhibition, there is still time to come and enjoy these exciting works from outstanding contemporary Australian artists.

What an exciting year 2009 has been for both the Gallery and FOGS, with the latest Gallery extension now complete, the long awaited power upgrade commenced, a most successful series of exhibitions and openings held by the Gallery including arguably the best ever Manning Art Prize and several funding application successes by FOGS itself.

Gallery Extensions -Professional Services Area

The current extensions are well underway with the roofing completed this week.  Work is within budget, and FOGS recently presented the Gallery and GTCC with its $25,000 contribution towards the cost of the work.  When completed later this year, the professional services area area will provide a much needed resource to the further improve gallery activities, as well as a secure and environment controlled art storage area.

This newsletter is to recognise the achievements of the six artists who were awarded Highly Commended for their entries into the Manning Art Prize.  To be one of only 12 artists from a total of  300 entries whose work received recognition by judge Reg Richardson AM is, to my way of thinking, quite an achievement.

HIGHLY COMMENDED 2D WORKS.

John Lodington's work titled 'Reworking Blue Poles' is shown below. John lives at Manning Point and has a second work, 'Shotgun Wedding' in the exhibition.

WINNERS OF THE MANNING ART PRIZE ANNOUNCED

The judge of the 2009 Manning Art prize, Reg Richardson AM, announced the winners of the $15,000 prize money at the gala opening of the Art Prize at the Gallery on Saturday night, 19th September.

The Art Prize Exhibition was officially opened by the Mayor of Greater Taree City Council, Councillor Paul Hogan, as he addressed a crowd of 200 artists, families and friends, as well as art prize sponsors and gallery supporters.  Catering at the event was organised by the Friends of the Gallery, with finger food and drinks being donated by a wide range of members and other gallery supporters.  A great night was had by all, with many complimentary comments made about both the very high quality of the selected works and the organisation of the evening itself.

Exhibition September 17 to October 18. The exhibition showcases the 115 works, including the prizewinners, selected from a total of 300 entries from all around Australia and includes both 2D and 3D contemporary artworks considered by selectors and the judge to be of a very high standard. All works are for sale.  The work attracting the $10,000 major prize, 'Chickentown', a 2D mixed media work by artist Robert Mitchell from the Great Lakes area, has been donated to the Greater Taree City Art Collection by the Friends of the Gallery.

FOGS BACK TO THE 60's - 80's DINNER DANCE.

This was held at the Waterfront Function Room, Exchange Hotel, and was attended by over 100 people.  The venue was donated by licencee Gary Rollings and the 'Band With No Name' also donated their services to FOGS. The event was a huge success, the costumes fantastic and the atmosphere overwhelming. Everyone had a great time and many were still dancing when it was time to leave. Support for FOGS and the Gallery came from everywhere, and I was very pleasantly surprised to be able to welcome four Councillors from Greater Taree City to the event - Eddy Loftus, Mave Richardson, Alan Tickle and David Keegan.  Dusty Walkom is to be congratulated for her organisation of this event which has raised more than $2,500 for FOGS, money that will be put to good use to support the gallery and develop the visual arts in our community.

The images shown are from John Scope, who donated his services. The proofs of all of the images taken by John on the night will be available for viewing at the Gallery Fiday next and orders can be placed as desired.

The first image is 'Fred and Ginger' and the second is the 'The Four Hippies'.

Hello again to all of our readers.  According to our statistics, the FOGS newsletter now reaches 300 subscribers, an amazing result in so short a time. We are pleased that we are reaching such a wide audience which includes not only a large percentage of our members but also many others with an interest in our Gallery and the visual arts generally.

THE COMMITTEE OF THE FRIENDS OF THE MANNING REGIONAL ART GALLERY

SUBMISSION TO

GREATER TAREE CITY COUNCIL

'BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE' COMMUNITY CONSULTATION STAGE 1

The full text of our submission is given below.  Stage one of the community consultation process is now complete and the time for lodging of initial submissions has elapsed, but further submissions may be made during stage two of this process, due to commence during July.

We urge all FOGS members and others who have an interest in the continuing growth and development of the arts and culture within the Manning Valley to engage in the second stage of this community consultative process lest our mutual interests be lost in the process.

The release of this document is authorised by Barry Schlenker, Secretary, FOGS.

Well, here goes with our second monthly newsletter.  FOGS website statistics show that the first newsletter was read by well over 100 members and this one should reach an audience of about 265 members, artists, other interested people, as well as several supportive corporate groups.  The increase  in number of subscribers includes about 30 additional FOGS members, the balance made up of individuals who have either supplied me with their email details or subscribed directly through our website.  New features of our newsletter include a click on button to allow you to forward the newsletter to friends, who may if interested, browse our website  www.fogsmanningvalley.com.au and subscribe through the subscription function on the home page.

NEWS FROM THE GALLERY

About 65 people attended the the Opening Night for the latest Gallery exhibition, 'Break in the Clouds', which features solo exhibitions from four very talented local artists, Tania Geale, Gina Simon Varagnolo, Alison Higgs and Marie Crofts. Images from the Opening Night, courtesy of Ashley Cleaver and Julie Slavin,  should soon appear in the Gallery blog section of our website.

Welcome to the first edition of the monthly FOGS Newsletter which will be emailed to FOGS members who have supplied us with their email addresses, as well as to other individuals and organisations who register their interest through our website. I will be contacting members who have not as yet supplied an email address,as these monthly newsletters will only be available through email or on the website as the FOGS News blog.  A printed copy will be held at the Reception Desk at the gallery for reference only. The aim of the newsletter is to keep as many members as possible in touch with recent news and events as they are happening; however this newsletter will not replace 'Mosaic'.

Its been almost a year in planning and construction but today our new and exciting website went live.  Our website aims to promote FOGS and our activities including The Manning Art Prize, The Manning Regional Art Gallery together with all of its exciting exhibitions and other programs, our many talented local artists and the local artist organisations within the Manning/Great Lakes region. There are many people to thank for their assistance and support in bring this project to fruition.  First and foremost, sincere thanks go to my fellow FOGS Committee Members, led by President Anke de Reuver, for their support over the time taken to develop this website.  In particular, very sincere thanks to Rachael Piercy for her ideas and enthusiasm - Rachael has bravely agreed to take on the task of Webmaster and be responsible for further updating and development of our website.