We caught up with Dianne Franks from Grenfell Artists Inc on how they’ve used their Arts OutWest Cultural Fund Microgrant and what the group is up to.
“Grenfell Artists is an Art group that has been going for around 40years. We stand on the shoulders of many dedicated past members; many now not with us but have laid a fabulous foundation for the current group. Founding members Neva Napier and Pam Pearce now both in their 90’s still support the group and Neva attends when she is able.
We are currently at 25 active members and we began an evening group some 4 years ago to encourage both people who work and younger artists to have access to our group.
Our newer artists have developed their artistic wings under the guidance of Di Franks who is now able to step back and see these emerging artists develop their own artistic path.
We meet in our local Community Arts Centre, where we have two rooms. One room is now our “Little Gallery” thanks to a previous micro grant from AOW which helped us to purchase hanging materials. The other room is very dilapidated and needs some maintenance and repairs. We have applied for grants in various sectors to fund this but so far have not been successful. We will chip away at getting the essentials done as we can. Having another room provides us with a space to work or bigger projects or messy work.
Some of our artists have been experimenting with print making and the micro grant from AOW which we were recently successful in gaining has allowed us to develop these skills further with mixed media tutor Ruth Durose.
Living in a small, country town limits our access to quality tutors and artists. It also makes holding workshops expensive . The micro grant meant that we could reduce the cost of the workshop to our members, allowing more participants to attend.
We have access to a large hall and stage area in the Community Arts Centre which we share with our local drama group. The workshop was held here and we are so grateful to have access to this space.
On 25th and 26th July, Ruth arrived in Grenfell with her car “stacked to the gunnel “ with all sorts of goodies and materials for us to play and experiment with. Ruth was so generous with her time and expertise. We had two different groups of participants. One group who had been experimenting with print making, collage and developing textures and the other group were just beginning their print making journey. Ruth developed two different workshops to cater for both groups. Some of the topics covered were colour theory, botanical prints using the gel plate, developing textures with various types of paper, using pan pastels, crayons, baby oil and alcohol on the gel plate and image transfer. We had a ball and learnt some fabulous techniques!
Our local community will benefit from the skills developed in the workshop. Our local community health team runs art workshops that encourage social engagement. We collaborate with our social worker to provide art activities for those who attend. Our Local Weddin Landcare group is holding an exhibition at the local gallery celebrating the iconic eucalyptus tree and products. Grenfell Artists will be contributing to the display with works based on the theme of eucalyptus. I am sure our botanical print making will come in handy for this exhibition which will be held in March 2027. Our “Little Gallery” will also benefit from the artworks inspired by Ruth’s amazing workshop.
We were also able to purchase a teeny tiny printing press with our funds. We have been experimenting with both Lino cuts and tetra pack prints. We are very much still in learner mode. One evening not long after the new press arrived we were all expectantly looking on as Dan rolled our very first print through …..and the big reveal showed….nothing. It was one of those moments where everyone just burst out laughing.
That’s what arts about, isn’t it….Adventures shared both successful as well as problems that are still to be solved.
The micro grant scheme is a wonderful opportunity for small, local projects to get some help and support. On behalf of Grenfell Artists Incorporated I want to give a big shout out and thank you to all the AOW team who not only run on the “smell of an oil rag” but make applying for a grant such as this a little less daunting.