Close to 300 people, including Mayor Noel Playford and councillors, showed their support for art in Noosa last Friday at the Regional Art Gallery, with curator Nina Shadforth saying, “I believe we’re really going forward in this new Noosa area.
“I’m seeing people here I haven’t seen during the time we were under the auspices of the former amalgamated council.” Presented by Friends of Noosa Gallery, the exhibition is open until February 16 and has 142 works, featuring Emma Freeman (On the Edge), Kim Schoenberger (Expressions of Love 2) and about 70 local artists (A Taste of Art). “Emma is quite an identity in the community and a lot of people would have come to see her work. Her portraiture is quite figurative and the manner in which she paints is just as vibrant as her personality,” Nina said. “Of course, Friends of the Gallery artists would have had their supporters as well and Kim Schoenberger’s community involvement using social media to collect 10,000 tea bags would have created much interest. But it was just such a fantastic result.” Noosa Today spoke to contemporary artist Kim Schoenberger about the teabags. This is her second exhibition featuring teabags which the publicity blurb describes as “taking the mundane and disposable and transforming it to the repurposed and extraordinary.” “My first ‘Expression of Love,’ featuring the teabags was put together with the help of my mother who collected the tea bags for me. She contributed a lot to it. When she died from cancer in 2010. I decided to stage a “Biggest Morning Tea” fundraiser. I did a piece and all my artist friends contributed. It was held at a local gallery and we raised more than $7000.” “I’ve been working on this exhibition since last February. Altogether, there 10,000 teabags on display and some of the works also have a ceramic component to them.” Noosa Regional Gallery is located at (riverside) Pelican Street, Tewantin and is open free to the public from Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm. For further information about exhibitions and events, phone the Gallery on 5329 6145.
