Christmas Party 2019

Christmas is almost here and that means a wonderful time, with our family, friends, food and presents, so indulge!

Our art family and partners got together and had a little party.
If you couldn't come, you missed a wonderful, warm gathering.

Instead of little presents for each other, we put money in a jar for the Rural Fire Service, cos it seemed the right thing to do. That orange glow in the photos is of course not only the sunset, but fire and dust particulates colouring our world yellow.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday Season and please indulge yourself in feeling good   :)

a walk beyond the perimeter

Went for a walk beyond the perimeter the other day.

Our CCC Barracks building, our creative home, being once the accommodation for railway time shifters is in the railway precinct in Orange NSW. The railway precinct, long robbed of it's purpose, can be the playground of the angry ones. Powerless in this 'for profit' society but needing to scream at the injustice of it all none the less. Why else would you burn an old railway carriage?

Message from Colour City Creatives

Colour City Creatives is undergoing renovations to the studios and galleries in their Peisley Street building known as the Barracks.

Unfortunately, during this work, the Barracks building will be unavailable for exhibitions and open days.

Colour City Creatives is creating an exciting new look and facilities.
The new galleries will be launched as soon as the building works are completed.

Colour City Creatives is a non-profit artist-run initiative that encourages all creative activities in the Orange community.

Orange Waste2Art Competition awards night

We went to the awards night last night, which sounds sooo fancy! It was at our Orange library and the dress code was decidedly practical for the Orange winter evening  :)
Phil, Jola, Aileen and Jenny attended, with no expectations, as the entries this year were exceptional! So we were floored that we won 1st in the waste theme category for our "Ceativity Heals" installation as well as winning 1st in the building/sculpture category! woohoo!
Our "Creativity Heals" installation was a group project in which every single person was instrumental in our win. It is so wonderful to be rewarded for having a good time together. Besides winning a small monetary prize we also benefit from everyone who sees the exhibition learning about us. The opportunity to connect with our community was an aim that ran parallel to our concern as artists that creativity can help heal the world. It is up to individuals to make a difference, we certainly can't leave it to our politicians.

Kate Willoughby, without who Waste2Art would not be. Thank you Kate!

Our Mayor came to give prizes and made the evening very special. He has a great kindness about him.

art, nibbles, great cause, a confluence of a lovely evening

Orange Waste2Art Competition entry by CCCs is UP

We braved the arctic winds of Tuesday, tried not to get distracted by the steam train that drew lots of people to the East Fork railway station.... and here it is.

Jenny Davidson took this fantastic shot of our entry

We have positioned it near our gate and are hopeful the gods of creatives will protect it, in fact we hope this installation will make people curious.

Aileen Francis, a very happy girl, you'd never think the wind chill factor was -2ºC, but that's what creating can do to you, it lights a fire from within and brings joy to your soul.

 

On site we decided where to position and just by accident the smiley face appeared. A bit of a theme in this project, things changing during creation, as that smile on the face was going to be a crescent moon, but somehow a happy worm appeared. So it was only fitting it next metamorphosed into a beautiful smile :)

Pic showing the positioning of installation in relation to our barracks building, Photo was taken almost on Peisley St, looking at Colour City Creatives Art Gallery and Studios. We're hoping the installation, titled 'Creativity Heals' will make finding our co-op easier.

Waste2Art update

We're putting the Waste2Art work up tomorrow afternoon after participants deliver the last of the elements, these will be fixed to the frame in the morning. The photos are a rough guide for the second of the two parts. Both will be joined on-site by further woven pieces. You can come and help, if you like :)
It's been great working together, the work has so much more depth because of the combined contribution.
Thank you Lanny, Jola and Aileen, who have been the backbone of this project and Margot, Iku, Jenny, Jude and Therese who have been a fabulous supporting cast, additionally John with assistance from Phil who will be putting together the visual component for the upcoming exhibition at the Orange Library. I'll post some images of finished work when we've braved the winter weather tomorrow :)

Waste2Art projec is bubbling away

another lovely day spent with our CCC family on our latest wonderful group project
Aileen, John, Jola, Phil, Iku, Margot, Jude, Lanny and Jenny came today and made another burst of creative contribution to our Waste2Art project
it's really special working together :)

how a crescent morphed into a happy little worm.... that's a creative secret only Jude knows  :)

globe by Aileen, Australia by Jola, what a great team

eyes by Trish, peace sign by Margot, little basket by Lanny, Fantales by Cadburys :)

some of the symbols that will orbit around our blue planet

some of the connecting pieces between the major elements

our CCC logo the major element of our installation

Did you notice our new sign?

Did you notice our new sign?
Our visitors sure did, about an hour after Phil and John (super men team) put up one of a series of signs planned for our building, we had a Sydney family visit. It was so delightful as they were effusive in their praise and admiration of our galleries and studios and said the sign was what made them find us

.

Waste2Art project is on the GO!

The Orange Waste2Art competition is here again! Tavia Lyons gave a few years of her life to organising this event for Orange and when she could not we were saved by Kate Willoughby who stepped into the breach.
So Lanny, Jola, Aileen got together and started the ball rolling by entering our group in the Orange Waste2Art Competition which will be exhibited at our local library. But as usual the mere whiff of a creative idea and our ranks were swelled by Margot, Jude, Iku, Therese and Trish. I don't know what it is, but our CCC family can bubble with enthusiasm at a drop of a palette :)
The project is BIG.
We're creating something special for our fence, which means we can't exhibit with the rest of the entrants. But our ranks of creatives hides many gems. John, Phil and Jenny have willingly joined us to document the project and John will stitch it all into a movie, Jenny will photograph the final piece and get it printed, this then will be what will be exhibited at the Library. Of course we'll provide maps with our entry so keen art and earth lovers can visit the work in situ.
You know, there's something very special in working together. Particularly when Colour City Creatives like other locals in this beautiful area, love where we live. For many reasons, our Earth is in trouble, our rubbish is everywhere. We must try and save the world, heal our planet Earth and inspire people to think about the waste they produce daily. Lets be creative in recycling because putting it in land fill is not the answer.

as it says, this is our proposed design, just a rough guide :)

orientation, day one

the cutting of our grid, Lanny realised early on that doing it directly on the fence with temperatures nearing 0ºC was not going to work well :)

Aileen and Lanny in a contemplative mood

Therese and Aileen working out some of the practicalities

while Jenny took a break from documenting the project to help sort the materials

our working space during the premature winter

unbridled creativity

creatives are irrepressible producers of art and our bunch just can't sit still, they are forever creating another wonderous expression of the working of their mind :)
love, love, love it!

 that's our Maggie Rosso, painting a beautiful Babushka while waiting for art to be submitted to our next group exhibition, with David Nolan's art looking on, over her shoulder. The Babushka painting is now for sale in our shop :)

and Lanny Mackenzie above, who is an unstoppable weaver, she's just done the most amazing horse's head for the Sculpture in the Gardens..... gosh..... it's just too gorgeous!

Seems like just yesterday

Seems like just yesterday that Banjo Paterson Festival finished and here we are, about to get our FOOD festival exhibition hung.
"Places Spaces and Faces" will be one of our best exhibitions, a fitting showcase of the local talent and beautifully timed for this special year.
It has been 10 years since Colour City Creatives was created. It took another year before we moved into the Barracks building and found a home at the East Fork railway precinct.

Look at us now, from a handful of members to 47. With 3 major exhibitions, monthly open days and for those who love to create together, we have a "Paint In A Day" Wednesday for all CCC members. So come any or every Wednesday to the Barracks, and let's paint together.
If you're not a member, there's an application form you can download here, if you would like to join CCC. The only self run, self-funded, art co-operative in Orange. We welcome all creatives, poets, video artists, painters, sculptors, potters, glass artists..... how do you express yourself?

3 exhibitions all at once in the one building

Our three exhibitions are on, opening night was a great success and here's a taste of what you will see, but this is only one of our 3 galleries, so this is just a taster :)

Opening Night - Tonight!

Festival starts tomorrow but our opening is tonight, starting 5.30 pm today!
Come and meet the artists, taste some arty food, drink in an arty way and enjoy a preview of what will be exhibited during the Banjo Paterson Poetry Festival 17 - 24 Feb.

'Poetry to Paintings' Exhibition and Group Exhibition is coming!

We're getting ready for the Colour City Creatives 'Poetry to Paintings' Exhibition and Group Exhibition during Banjo Paterson Festival and it's been so exciting seeing some of the work that we will be showing.

Just made a little taster gif to give you a poetic peak: