100♀ exhibition, Northcliffe - artist call for Expressions of Interest

We’re seeking Expressions Of Interest (EOI) from artists to participate in the 100♀ group exhibition, running 29th March – 12th May 2024 at the Painted Tree Gallery in Northcliffe.

Exhibition curator, Greer Marns, and Southern Forest Arts invite artists and makers to respond to the exhibition 100♀ theme – to recognise and explore the multi-dimensional creativity of women with a connection to the Northcliffe region – by submitting an online Expression of Interest (EOI) through this link here.

Artists are welcome to contact Greer to discuss any aspect of this document or the EOI process, via email or over-the-phone, prior to submission.

greermarns@gmail.com

0403 384 487

EOI DEADLINE

11.59pm Friday 15th December

OVERVIEW

Northcliffe; where the creative spirit has thrived for 100+ years.

Located in the lower Southwest region of Western Australia, Northcliffe is a small town nestled within a unique landscape of towering Karri, Marri and Jarrah forests. It has a rich history and in 2024, Northcliffe is reflecting on 100 years of settlement. The exhibition seeks to highlight women’s creativity specifically connected to the Northcliffe area: from pre-settlement to modern times.

The creative act often bequeaths our world a unique record of time, place and lived human experience. Historically, women’s roles have been less in the public realm than men’s and statistically, women’s creativity is less likely to be showcased, particularly in larger state or national art galleries.[1] Northcliffe is a small town pondering its own story and the100♀ exhibition contemplates the tale of women and women’s creative dexterity as an intricate part of this broader context.

From the traditional custodians of the Northcliffe region (Bibulmun/Piblemen/ Noongar people)[2] through one hundred years of settlement (from 1924)…. From dairy and tobacco farming, through years of logging and then protests for the end of forest destruction…. From early settlement days where necessity bred creative work through to contemporary times that attracts practising artists to studios amongst ancient trees…. Northcliffe is a place that inspires creativity.

100♀ is an exhibition seeking to uncover and showcase creative acts by women, tendering an often-untold perspective.

ARTIST’S BRIEF

Artists and makers are invited to respond to the theme through the expression of a personal experience of creativity past or present and/or a reflection of a long history of women’s creative expression within Northcliffe and surrounds.

Creativity (noun): The production of ideas and objects that are both novel or original and worthwhile or appropriate, that is, useful, attractive, meaningful, or correct. Oxford Dictionary

Creativity is a “multifaceted phenomenon”[3] that may be expressed through a myriad of processes. It can be used to communicate ideas, emotions and perspective as well as cultural and societal realities, values, concepts, issues and trends. Creative acts can produce objects of great aesthetic qualities and depict snapshots from the past. History is often preserved through the products of creativity. [4]

100♀ seeks to reflect on women’s creativity through-out the history of the Northcliffe area and to increase awareness of the lived experiences of women from pre-settlement through to contemporary epochs.

100♀will be an exposition that hopes to exhibit the full spectrum of women’s creative practice, from historical to contemporary. The brief traverses across a broad range of possibilities as varied as Northcliffe’s resourceful, creative history and its more recent and indeed current artistic culture.

THEMATIC PROMPTS

Explore a creative act by a woman from the area (sourced from an archived history) and/or an expression of a lived experience of your connection to the region. Create an artwork that responds to this act/work/experience.
First Nations artists are encouraged to create an artwork that reflects on connection to country and/or experiences as an Indigenous woman on Bibulmun/Piblemen Noongar Boodja.
Creativity is often born out of necessity, resilience and need. Early days of the Group Settlement offer many examples of this:
- Mrs Marie Louise arrived in the area in 1924. With intricate stitching, she hand-made baby clothes from scratch (available to view in the Pioneer Museum). Many women had honed dress-making skills and clothes were often hand-made (even wedding dresses.) One Northcliffe family’s memoir recalls making “wearable clothes from old clothes” and, despite widespread poverty, having “lovely clothes to wear…petticoats and everything…with croqueting around necklines and armholes”[5] Also, dance dresses from “Fuji silk purchased for sixpence a yard.” [6]
- Mrs Sarah Jane Dourne created an intricately beaded evening bag on her journey from England to Albany in 1924. Available to view at The Pioneer Museum, Northcliffe.
- The CWA were engaged to knit socks and baklavas for WW2 soldiers.[7]
- Girls and women often learnt basket weaving [8], embroidery [9] and other handicrafts such as making hooked mats from chaff bags [10].
Unconventional materials used out of necessity or pure genius can lead to new exciting, often functional expressions of creativity. Explore the use of some unconventional materials used by women to create functional and/or visually appealing items.
Artwork can be anchored in any one of the more than 10 decades of happenings in the Northcliffe area. For example:
- Northcliffe as a town was established in the 20s.
- What was happening in the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s?
- In the 1970’s there was a ‘hippy invasion’[11] of Northcliffe, with people moving into the region “seeking an alternative way of life”[12]
- The Save the Old Growth Forest Campaign that was in full swing in the 80’s and 90’s. What about counter protests by loggers and mill workers concerned about their livelihoods?
- Does any other era spark your interest? What is happening in modern day Northcliffe? How was/is women’s creativity expressed?
What are you working on right now? If you are a woman and live in the Northcliffe area your creative practice is relevant to this exhibition.

A PERSONAL REFLECTION FROM THE CURATOR – GREER MARNS

When I was first invited to curate a show at the Painted Tree Gallery, I was interested and excited, but I felt removed and disconnected from a town that I had not visited for around 18 years! I was given a broad thematic framework centred around the 2024 recognition of 100 years of settlement. I sat in Perth attempting to draft this EOI (Expression Of Interest) document and to narrow the scope of the exhibition; What did I want this show to convey? I floundered. I needed to be in Northcliffe and, as an outsider, to throw myself into my own research about the town. At the first opportunity I hit the road for one of many expeditions to get acquainted with the township, history and some of the residents of Northcliffe…

It was suggested that I spend some time at the Pioneer’s Museum. It is a treasure trove filled with memories, memoirs, photographs, artifacts, stories and creativity. I learnt a lot. I wandered through the displays reading about the Group Settlement Scheme, dairy farming, logging and timber milling, tobacco farming, the old school room and the hospital. I got quite lost in the stories!

At some point I noticed many of the articles and headlines featured men and referred to the women as (insert mans name)’s ‘wife’ and it got me thinking about how women’s lives often centred around domestic and less public spaces and how reporting, particularly from the past, often unintentionally foreground men’s experiences. I am not saying that women’s stories don’t feature in the Pioneer’s Museum! They are there; I just felt I needed to dig a little deeper to find them. I loved reading little descriptions such as “One eyed Mrs Brown of Tasmania” who made dolly pegs out of willow and sold them far and wide” [13]. She sounds like a character I thought! One headline “Behind every battler there’s WIVES” had me contemplating how women’s work, experiences and stories tend to lurk behind the scenes and the history of women is often found within the shadows of men’s lives (as ‘the wife of’ rather than an identity in her own right).

I got chatting to one of the volunteer guides one day and he told me about a diary that he reads when the museum is quiet. He described an entry that recounted the experience of a young 20-year-old woman who gave birth to her first child, quite unprepared, alone in a tent with only sand for a floor. He said “You know, the men were tough in those days, BUT THE WOMEN!…..” Again, my thoughts drifted to imagining women’s lives and how creativity plays a part in the stories of women, not just in the era of the early settlers but throughout the 100 years of settlement, before settlement and also in modern times. The idea of focusing the exhibition on lesser told stories percolated, and the more I researched, the more determined I became to profile the creativity of women.

After reading the Contessa report, a research paper into the gendered statistics of artists and finding that, despite being 70% of tertiary level Visual Art course graduates, women are less likely to be exhibited in larger and National art galleries [14], my interest grew. I discovered that local and regional galleries exhibit a higher percentage of female artists and that, over time, these numbers are shown to influence the larger galleries to also exhibit more work by women. So who and what regional galleries exhibit is an important conversation that influences a broader context of Australian art.

I was sold. I am passionate about profiling female artists and exploring historical and contemporary stories of women’s creativity. I am so excited for 100♀ and I can’t wait to meet contributing artists and makers.

Greer Marns, BA Visual Art, curator.

EVERYTHING ARTISTS NEED TO KNOW

Up to 16 artworks will be considered for exhibition. The exhibition may also include artefacts, such as artefacts on loan from the Pioneer Museum and/or private collection. If you have any relevant artefacts in your possession or know someone who might, please contact the curator.

Applicants may submit the EOI for artwork currently in development as well as work still at concept phase. Artwork from a previous body of work will also be considered as long as the work reflects the theme Creativity in Northcliffe and surrounds from a women’s perspective.

Any 2D, 3D and/or audio artwork will be considered. This includes, but is not limited to: painting, prints, drawing, papercraft, sculpture, ceramics, jewellery, woodwork, videography or photography.

Large scale works are encouraged however, works larger than 1.5m2 may not be accepted due to space restrictions.

EOIs are accepted from artists at all career levels. Emerging artists and collaborative projects are especially encouraged. Artists of all ages (including children) are welcome to apply. Southern Forest Arts welcomes applications from artists of any gender, intergenerational, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, First Nations peoples, LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals and people with a lived experience of disability.

Artists are not required to live in the Northcliffe area to submit an EOI. The Painted Tree Gallery is located within the Northcliffe & Visitor Centre.

Information about the gallery is available here.

Southern Forest Arts retains the right to invite individual artists to create an artwork for the exhibition outside the EOI process.

Artists are responsible for insuring their artwork during development, transit and throughout the exhibition. Whilst all care will be taken in handling and exhibiting of artworks, Southern Forest Arts takes no responsibility for damage or misadventure incurred.

Artists must coordinate delivery to and from the gallery. Transportation and shipping costs are to be incurred by the artist. Special accommodations may be arranged for artists with disabilities who are unable to ship or deliver works to site.

Work can be made available for sale, but this is not compulsory.

Artists are encouraged to contact Greer Marns for support and/or clarification on the EOI document.

SITE-SPECIFIC WORKS

As part of the 100♀ exhibition, artists are invited to submit a work for temporary installation into the renowned Understory Art & Nature Trail. Please note, that visitors to the Painted Tree Gallery will need to pay admission to see artworks along the Trail. Artists that have work accepted into Understory are responsible for transport, insurance, and installation of the work.

COLLABORATION

Collaboration between artists, and artforms is encouraged.

SUPPORT

Artists participating in 100♀ will be supported in the following ways:

Access to curator, Greer Marns, to support the development of work
Consultation during the EOI process.
Curated installation of artworks
Social media marketing for exhibition and inclusion in monthly newsletter
Artwork sales handling (please note, a commission of 30%, including GST will apply)

AVAILABLE EQUIPMENT & FIXTURES

2 x walls suitable for pinning work
Plinths:
- 2 x 800mmsquare x 20mm high
- 2 x 400mm square x 400mm high
- 1 x 400mm square x 800mm high
- 2 x 500mm square x 800mm high,
- 2 x 400mm square x 1200mm high
- 2 x 700mm hexagonal x 800mm high
- 1 x 590mm hexagonal x 1200mm high Hanging system (100+ hooks and steel droppers)
35 m of wall space for hanging/displaying artworks
7m of window space
AV Equipment: Mobile wall with embedded smart screen and computer.
PA: Bluetooth speaker
Access to power & wifi

EVALUATION CRITERIA

EVALUATION CRITERIA EOIs will be assessed by:

Greer Marns (Curator)
Fiona Sinclair (Artistic Director/ General Manager of Southern Forest Arts) EOIs will be evaluated using the following criteria: Artistic Merit

Quality of the proposal in terms of strength of concept. Specifically: evidence of vision, originality, creativity, experimentation, innovation and inquisitiveness.
Clear articulation of concept.
Calibre of the applicant as evidenced by their relevant experience and in the quality of their previous work.
Viability – Suitability and viability of the artist’s proposed approach to the brief and their capacity to professionally manage and deliver the project. This may include:
Realistic and achievable planning and resource needs.
Relevance and timeliness of proposed activity.
Role of any partners, including confirmation of involvement.
Audience –
- Evidence of considered consultation and engagement with proposed partners, participants, audiences and communities.
- Adherence to relevant cultural protocols
- Contribution to diverse cultural expression.
- Level of deliverable benefits for community audiences and participants.
- Increased and diversified participation in arts and culture, particularly among diverse cultural groups.

All selection decisions are final. Conversations about selection will not be entered into.

INDICATIVE TIMELINE

24th November 2023 EOI advertised.
15th December 2023 EOI Deadline
16th December 2023 Artwork selection
17th December Shortlisted artists & unsuccessful artists notified.
15th January 2024 Initial briefing sessions for shortlisted artists
January, February, March 2024; Creative development and production of artworks (Inc. ongoing consultation with curator)
March 25th; Delivery and receipt of artwork at Painted Tree Gallery
Opening night; Friday 29th March (Good Friday)
May 13th and 14th 2024 Exhibition is disassembled, unsold artworks collected.

FEES

There is no cost to submit an EOI or participate in the exhibition.
There is no cost to exhibit artwork for 100♀
Artwork transportation costs are to be incurred by the artist.
Artists will not be paid an exhibition loan fee for artworks selected for 100♀

CONTACT FOR ENQUIRIES

Greer Marns, Curator