Our new exhibition opened on Thursday 22 November, with opening night on Friday 23rd. The exhibition includes:

• Reflections of an Era: Bill Odd

• Stanthorpe Pottery Club

• Homes of The Guardians: Louise Grayson

• Youthful Impressions: Senior Visual Arts Students Stanthorpe State High School

See images from opening night below.

From Director, Mary Findlay’s speech on opening night:

As I said our exhibitions are eclectic, Homes of the Guardians created by Louise Grayson is so poignant on the 100th year of Armistice. She shares photographs, stories and interviews from her travels between the Queensland Pikedale WWI solder settlement community, which was established around towns named after the Western Front battlefields; Pozières, Amiens, Fleurbaix, Bullecourt, Passchendaele, Bapaume and Messines, to the same places in France and Belgium. Louise shares her passion of cultural juxtapositions around the globe. Throughout her studies she was taught the philosophy that documentary photography is a tool to effect social change - they are "conscious acts of persuasion" and has spent 20 years exploring the world with this concept. An important aspect to her work is understanding cultures and how they are influenced by so many factors as we can see 100 years later. We also remember all those men and women who helped protect us and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives.

About the Pottery exhibition:

Another representation of the diversity within our own community is our local Stanthorpe Pottery Club which epitomizes the ancient practice of pottery. Their exhibition celebrates Exploration of Design. This group of dedicated artisans continue to hone their skills through workshops, the sharing of ideas and skills and building their wonderful pottery club that brings together creativity and concepts.

About the works by the high school students:

Importantly is the value of Youthful Impressions: Senior Visual Arts Students Stanthorpe State High School. This exhibition is put together by our local senior art students and is a culmination of their two year program of senior art. Youth art is exciting, often controversial and keeps the community reminded of the next generation and the mutual influence that we have and the future that happens immediately if not yesterday.

About Bill Odd:

After national service Bill returned to Sydney and studied figure drawing at East Sydney Technical College. He told his father he was going to be and artist. His father said there is no money in art (which was and unfortunately still is true) so come and work for me and he did. After 25 years in the family engineering firm, Bill found himself flooded in and couldn’t get to work, after observing his pacing and unease, his wife suggested that he paint or draw and he did and hasn’t stopped. A little twist here, when his father saw first exhibition he said “it looks like you missed your vocation”. This is a story that I have heard a few times.

In 1975, he became a full time pen and ink artist after his resignation from the family business.

1982, a collection of over 200 drawings were compiled and produced for his limited edition book called Hastings Heritage, a copy of which was placed in a time capsule by the then Deputy Prime Minister Right Honourable Doug Anthony MP. The book is over on the plinth –please take time to look at this wonderful and historical compilation.

In recent years, two of his landscapes paintings were selected to be hung with 40 Australian works in the Royal Society of British Artists Exhibition at the Mall galleries London.

He has had several one man exhibitions and his paintings have been purchased by many major city galleries. His works hang in many private collections throughout Australia, South East Asia, South Africa, Belgium, Japan, England and the USA. Bill’s work is Reflections of an Era is an opportunity to witness Bill Odd’s stunning art which has won over 22 major art awards. He has been a finalist in the James Hardie Wildlife Prize and the Doug Moran Portrait Prize.