15/09/2014PressNorth Printmakers: Wanderlust
A collaborative project between Umbrella Studio contemporary arts and PressNorth Printmakers, the exhibition PressNorth Printmakers: Wanderlust showcases the exemplary skills and talents of printmakers who are currently living and working in Townsville, North Queensland and beyond. The exhibition will explore a diverse range of themes displaying the variety of styles in the printmaking profession. PressNorth Printmakers is a not-for-profit artist-run-initiative with members actively exhibiting, teaching, sharing and earning a living from printmaking. Printmaking is widely celebrated within Australia with Townsville being one of the most vibrant and dynamic printmaking communities with artists winning awards in recognition of their skills across many mediums. Umbrella Studio has been part of the history of printmaking in North Queensland since 1986. From its inception it has provided the basis for the development, critique, facilitation and mentoring. This project was also assisted by Flying Arts Alliance. Please join us on for the Opening Launch of…
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08/09/2014LUXLUMIN – lighting up the CBD
Luxlumin is a city wide digital projection festival. On 26 and 27 September 2014 the Townsville CBD will be transformed into an outdoor gallery as buildings are covered with light, colour and moving images. International, national and local artists will create mesmerizing works to electrify our city for two spectacular nights of free entertainment in Palmer Street, Victoria Bridge, Flinders Square, Sturt and Flinders Streets. Come enjoy a stroll on one of our guided tours or walk your own path and see the city in a new light! Umbrella Studio will be contributing to the festival by partnering with ABC OPEN to project local stories produced by local film makers entitled MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS: LIFE IN NORTH QUEENSLAND. This will light up the east side wall of the Umbrella building. Since January 2011, ABC Open producer Michael Bromage has been helping residents of north Queensland develop digital storytelling skills…
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28/08/2014Grants Writing for Artists
Are you an artist? Do you need money for a project, a workshop, or to create new works? Then this is the presentation for you! Learn to to write a grant with Gerard Byrne’s tips by downloading the Grants Writing for Artists Townsville 2014 PDF document. This presentation by Gerard Byrne was given at Umbrella Studio on Sunday 24 August 2014.
30/07/2014CIAF 2014 Wrap Up
CIAF is an amazing arts event in FNQ. Umbrella has participated each year since 2009 and this year was another important opportunity to showcase artwork, artists and great projects to a national and international audience. This year Umbrella showcased new works on paper and canvas from Townsville based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island artists, as well as a selection of linocut prints created by Year 9 to Year 12 Indigenous students from Kirwan SHS, William Ross SHS, Thuringowa SHS and St. Patricks College. These prints from young artists created a super sensation with young and mature aged visitors, many commenting those were a favourite at the fair. Young Indigenous Printmakers (YIPs) is a successful partnership with Townsville City Council Gallery Services and evidence that through unifying collaborations like YIPs Townsville will continue to fortify sustainable arts ecology. Of significance is the number of works acquired by key curators from…
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24/07/2014Compact Prints 2012 @ Redland Art Gallery
Believe it or not, 2 years have gone by and Compact Prints 2012 is still touring! Its last trip before heading home to Townsville is for the exhibition to be displayed at the Redland Art Gallery, Capalaba QLD from the 21 July – 14/ September 2014. Artists in the Brisbane region are encouraged to visit if you did not catch the exhibition at the Ipswich Art Gallery last year. Download the Redland Art Gallery Compact Prints 2012 exhibition invite
17/06/2014Umbrella in Singapore
Gail Mabo’s exhibition made a big impression in Singapore and she became the first Indigenous North Queenslander to have a solo exhibition at a High Commission in Singapore on June 11. Mabo Kara Art featured 29 artworks, including works on canvas, paper and fabric. The 350 VIP guests included International Business owners, commercial art dealers, High Commissioners from various countries, investment consultants, the National Arts Council of Singapore and others with links to Australia. North Queensland and all of Australia can be proud of the significance of the “Unity” event, which was a celebration of Torres Strait Islander Culture. Umbrella Studio Director Vicki Salisbury worked for over a year in partnership with High Commission staff to ensure the professionalism of the exhibition. The positive response from the audience to Gail and her artwork highlights the power of art to connect, build relationships and establish strategic networks for arts business….
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08/06/2014Umbrella Studio heads to CIAF 2014
The Cains Indigenous Art Fair is about to launch its 2014 program with a VIP Opening extravaganza on Thursday 24 July through to Sunday 27 July. Umbrella has displayed work at all five festivals representing Umbrella member artists who have been supported to create new work by local printmakers, including Jo Lankester, Ron McBurnie and Jill O’Sullivan. CIAF is a massive city wide festival, attracting prestigious international collectors, leading museum and commercial galleries and thousands of visitors. Artist’s whose works will be exhibited by Umbrella Studio include James Billy who produced two new linocuts printed by Ron McBurnie, Umbrella Board Vice President Tommy Pau printed with Jill O’Sullivan to create new linocut prints and Gail Mabo created a suite of new mono prints with Ron McBurnie at Monsoon Publishing. Tommy and Gail will attend CIAF to assist with sales and networking at our booth over a busy four days. Torres…
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26/05/2014Compact Prints 2014 Residency & Pop Up Shop
Umbrella Studio is calling for expressions of interest for local printmakers or artists for a five week residency in the upstairs gallery space. The duration of the residency is from Sunday 17 August through 21 September. The selected resident artists will have the opportunity to create a new body of work in the Main Space of Umbrella. The resident artist will be featured in our marketing and promotions during the Compact Prints 2014 exhibition. Umbrella is also calling for expressions of interest from Umbrella Members to exhibit and retail their artwork in the glass display case during the future exhibition periods. More information about both of these can be downloaded: Call for Artists – CP Residency & Pop-Up Shop
12/05/2014Top 5 Arts Resources Websites
There are a bucket load of arts websites offering tons of useful information for creatives on everything business including, fundraising, philanthropy, opportunities, where to find dollars, and how to get them. Below are our top 5 arts-focused websites; let us know your favourites in the comments. 1. ArtsHub – www.artshub.com.au Hard-hitting reporters cover relevant topics, current issues and the serious challenges facing the arts. A great source of information for arts jobs, industry news, grants, festivals, reviews and data covering the performing and visual arts, writing, architecture and design. ArtsHub is an arts industry portal, where hundreds of contributors read, write and share their knowledge and passion for the arts. 2. Creative Foyer – www.creativefoyer.com.au Provides a free and open platform of information, advice and guidance for individuals throughout their careers catering to employees or small business owners of an arts company. They also reference other websites that contain the…
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06/05/2014Prints for Sale
Increasing retail sales is one of the strategies the Board and the Director have implemented, aimed at increasing generated revenue and decreasing reliance on Government funding. The reasoning behind this decision makes good business sense, because since 2008 Umbrella has annually published a substantial number of works on paper from Umbrella members and particularly the Murris in Ink printmakers. In years past these prints were commissioned and sold to individual clients. Then from 2009 till 2014 Umbrella facilitated workshops for MII to create prints for exhibition and sale at our booth in the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, as well as Artslink travelling exhibitions and in-house exhibitions, marketed on the Umbrella website gallery and for the occasional one-off buyer. With addition of resident printmakers and increased activites in the studio this year we have built up an inventory of exceptional work. So it is a logical step to maximise our resources…
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