Start dreaming BIG

Who better to tell you about what’s local and special than local people?

Councils and cultural organisations will hear about how to engage with their community and attract new audiences at this year’s Dream Big conference – hosted by Eastern Riverina Arts and Western Riverina Arts – in Narrandera this coming August.

Register now for Dream Big

Dream Big will be held at the CRC Plaza Theatre, Bolton St Narrandera, on Friday, 22 August 2014 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST).

Jacquie Riddell from the Art Gallery of NSW, will bring her experience of promoting and attracting new audiences to cultural initiatives.  Riddell’s 25-year marketing career extends across organisations such as SBS and Triple J.
“Anyone who is interested in community enhancement and development should attend Dream Big; whether you’re part of local council, a local community group, or have a great idea that needs support,” said Scott Howie, Regional Arts Development Officer for Eastern Riverina Arts. “This event will give you real take-away ideas to implement in order to engage better with your community.”

Registrations for Dream Big are now open!


Dream Big will be held at the CRC Plaza Theatre, Bolton St Narrandera, on Friday, 22 August 2014 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST).

Banksy, NYC AIR

Painting from the heart

Leeton-based artist Ivanka Jakopec joins the Western Riverina Arts Trail this month.

The painter finds inspiration everywhere, from nature and architecture as well as her imagination.

She has said her paintings reflect "places, times, stages, fascinations and feelings".

Since moving to the Riverina from Melbourne in 2010, Mrs Jakopec has exhibited regularly and entered the Penny Panniz Art Prize each year.

She currently tutors art in a range of styles and mediums on Monday mornings at the Leeton Visitor Information Centre. Classes cover topics including composition, colour and various mediums.

Mrs Jakopec suffered a fall in 2002 and it was during her recovery that she started painting, after recalling her childhood passion for art.

In the years since she has developed skills using oils and says she loves to paint buildings and people, including celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor.

Other works feature Mrs Jakopec's daughter and grandson, emphasising the importance of family to her.

Revealing colours

An exhibition by painter Linda Kopilow opens at The Roxy Gallery on Saturday 17 May.

Her work explores the subjectivity of perspective and follows an automatic approach to composition.

"It's all imaginary stuff. I just doodle until I see a concept," Ms Kopilow said.

"I don't sit down and think this is what I'm going to do. I just work with it and see it form."

Vibrant colours are a feature and many of the works show expressive use of shapes. Viewers are rewarded as they cast their eyes across contrasting shades and discover animals and other features lurking within the paintings.

"I love abstract," Linda Kopilow agreed. "I like more mysterious work, it's a challenge. I like the natural world and I'm into colour. I like experimenting."

The results are playful. "That's what I want, I want art to be fun. If it's not, forget it! I want to express in a fun way. I don't want to grow up!"

Documenting the familiar

Selections from Griffith-based photographer Marissa Lico's 'Familiar Strangers' series are currently on display in Western Riverina Arts' windows.

The 2012 series of photographs capture scenes of people using mobile devices in public. "My intention was to capture and document a common contemporary gesture with mobile phones in public spaces," Lico said.

"While a few of the general public were fairly attentive and anxious when they realised they were captured in a photograph, the majority were so engrossed and preoccupied with their devices that they were entirely unaware of their gesture being the prime focus."

Art reflects society and documentary photography is one medium where this role is central, particularly when identifying a trend. Marissa Lico has a passion for documenting gesture and body language among aspects of ordinary life.

"What I admire most about photography is the beauty of irreplaceable time, where unique moments are captured and will never occur again. That spontaneous connection that transpires then and there, between the eye, lens and subject, is a gift I don't take for granted."

Lico developed her photographic practise through studies at the Australian National University School of Art. She cites the work of a number of photographers as inspiring 'Familiar Strangers', including Anne Zahalka, Martyn Jolly, Beat Streuli and Henry Cartier Bresson.

See Marissa Lico's photographs in the windows of Western Riverina Arts.

A lifetime's work for Kopilow

Adlethan-based artist Peter Kopilow's history with Leeton Shire led him to enter the 2014 Penny Paniz Arts Memorial Competition. He ran a gallery in Yanco for a few years and it was a painting showing this time that won him the open category.

"It's my first impressionist work," says Kopilow. "I've done a lot of expressionistic work but this was my first attempt. The painting shows the view out the front yard of where I lived in Yanco. I took a photo of it and this is my impression of it."

The winning work 'Canal and Palm Trees in Yanco' is currently on display in Griffith, one of a dozen of Kopilow's paintings showing as part of the Western Riverina Art Trail. It's a distinctly recognisable scene among abstract works showing the play of light in different settings -- a series is called 'Elemental Studies'.

"All those works are subconscious," explains Peter Kopilow. "It's not about reality, as we know it. It's what comes from the subconscious mind. It's an automatic process, I start painting and see where it leads. The paintings were a complete surprise. They started as a doodle but I was pleased with the result."

Likewise Kopilow's career has taken shape through reflection and incremental steps. "It's taken 50 years to get to this point," he says. "I chose a career in window-dressing then taught myself sign-writing, which led into painting."

Peter Kopilow wonders whether he should have pursued painting earlier, having won awards in 1973 but waited 20 years before joining the Queanbeyan Art Society and then the Fairfield City Arts Society on moving to Sydney in 1997. "I taught myself sign-writing and ran a business for 25 years. I can afford the luxury of painting now that I'm on a pension."

As a self-taught artist he experiments with styles and materials to explore painting. "I'm now experimenting in oils again after working with acrylics," says Kopilow. "It's like I'm continually experimenting with myself."

The effort is clearly rewarding for painter Peter Kopilow, both personally and now financially through winning the Western Riverina Arts' sponsored open category in the 2014 Penny Paniz Arts Memorial Competition.