Art Business

Taking on the role of DVA chair during "Arts in the Time of Corona", much like "Love in the Time of Cholera" has been an epic story with many twists and turns. Members of the committee and the larger arts community have had to adapt to changes in our organisation in response to the pandemic, which has seen us distancing, closing the physical gallery space, re-opening and moving exhibitions online. Having been part of the Darwin and wider NT community now for over 25 years, I see the role of the whole arts community as essential to how we view ourselves. Advocating for the arts is entwined in the personal, community and economic structure of every well-developed society and the NT is no exception. In amongst the aforementioned twists and turns experienced so far in my tenure as Chair, have emerged the following highlights; Since re-opening in May, the support we [DVA] have received from the public has been fabulous and for that I thank you. Openings have been well attended and we had a hugely successful screening of Priscilla Queen of the Desert at Deckchair Cinemas recently. All donations received from the night will be matched by Plus1 funding from Creative Partnerships Australia, making the event not only a great social undertaking for the organisation but also a great financial one. The recent addition of the online exhibition space has resulted in sales continuing long after exhibitions have closed, providing an excellent opportunity for our exhibiting artists to not only broaden awareness of their work, but also the potential of sales. Our new(ish) staff Shauna and Lynda are finding rhythm and routine now that the gallery is back up and running on the ground floor of Harbour View Plaza. They can be contacted via 0477 886 070, 8981 9351 or by visiting the gallery space Thursday & Friday from 10am-5pm. As an Artist Run Initiative, our purpose is to support artists in all phases of their careers. I look forward to talking with any artist who would like to make contact and those who want the opportunity to exhibit work or provide workshops.

Holy Guacamole…. What a year thus far! Let’s get into it! Our new General Manager at DVA, Lynda McCaffery, has begun and brought with her a passion for the arts, a skill set that is enviable of most and an attitude to tackle anything and everything that is thrown DVA’s way! Please, if you haven’t already, check in on Facebook or Instagram to see her lovely smiling face… NOW… Is anyone else COVID-19’d out? I am. I stopped reading papers and I rarely watch the news. Not because I don’t care or am not concerned, but because it is all consuming! It does, however, mean that I have been able to concentrate on my arts practise. It means I can reconnect with my family (and my garden), and it means at DVA we can reinterpret the way we approach our ‘new normal’. We have ventured into online exhibition creation and as a result we are now offering our exhibition program, shortened a little, but with an added online element to enable a wider reach and point of sale option. Our first public exhibition that will be opened is on the 29th of MAY! Quick, stick it in your calendar… I’ll wait ;) We of course will be adhering to social distancing for the health and safety of all of our attendees at the opening, but won’t it be so nice to have an opening that is well attended and shows the thriving artistic heart of Darwin that continues to pump. We have an advantage over the rest of Australia, we can do this, we are allowed, so come and support the opening of our members and magnificent artists Rebecca Smyth, Amber Reid and Heather Whybrow. I don’t want to bang on too much in this blog but I wanted to make sure everyone is aware that the DVA AGM is happening on Tuesday May 26th, at DVA (Ground Floor, Harbour View Plaza), from 6pm. Please, if you are keen to support this wonderful organisation and volunteer your time on the board as an executive member or as general member, come on down and join us. Get in touch with Lynda or Shauna and get a nomination form ready to go and endorsed. There will be a few positions up for grabs. I myself will be stepping away from DVA as Chair, not because I don’t love or believe wholeheartedly in this ARI, but because I am facing personal matters that won’t go away anytime soon and will not allow me to be the best Chair I can be for this worthwhile Arts Space. I will however, remain on the board as a General Member. If you are interested in joining me on the board… GET INVOLVED! DVA is a great place that is looking to the future of Visual Arts in the Territory. Keep creative and see you in May at the AGM and at our opening… Leash

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and in line with the advice from Australia’s government and public health officials, the Darwin Visual Arts Association has closed our Harbour View Plaza gallery space for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, this means the DVA Exhibition Program for 2020 will no longer take place within our physical gallery space, as originally planned. Instead, DVA proposes to ‘migrate’ all of our artists’ exhibitions into the online space, and exhibit virtually. As soon as it is possible, of course, we will reopen the DVA Gallery. We understand that this news may come as yet another blow to you, our amazing artists, who are no doubt already being affected by the postponement or cancellation of events, closure of public spaces and wide-spread loss of income being experienced by the Top End art community. The DVA staff and Board members are working hard to find a solution so that we may continue to support you and the visual arts community throughout this trying period. We understand the need for additional support from your artist-run-initiative during this uncertain time and look forward to diversifying our offerings for you, our members. Any feedback, suggestions and ideas are most welcome, please email us or call the gallery to discuss any thoughts you might have. We look forward to stepping into the realm of online exhibitions to continue to provide a platform to showcase the amazing artistic talent of the Top End. Please look after yourselves and each other as we navigate this strange new world, and stay connected to us through phone calls, emails and social media. Everyone at DVA hopes to be able to see you all, face-to-face, soon.

Whoa already the year is disappearing! March is here! What a great start we have had to the year. Our climate exhibition was a great success and we are so glad that it gave our DVA members an opportunity to be involved in the Darwin City Council’s CITYIFE Lightbox project.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Wait! What! Christmas time already? Where has this year gone? BUT what a year it’s been!

Good morning, good afternoon or perhaps good evening, Whatever time of the day you are reading this, thank you for taking the time to read. So why are you reading this? Well, as Chair I have decided to write a blog entry every now and to give members (and those wanting to join this fab organisation), a heads up to what is going on behind the scenes at Darwin Visual Arts. It will also be emailed out for those who don’t regularly check the website. In truth, I had this blog ready to go a few weeks ago but didn’t post because as you may already know DVA has been going through some big changes of late. Our gallery manager, Belinda moved into a new role outside of DVA that is full of excitement, creativity and adventure. We THANK YOU Belinda for all your efforts over the last year and a half you were at Darwin Visual Art. Belinda was key in creating the new DVA at Harbour view and her expertise in curation will be missed. The executive committee and our board, as well as our members, I am sure, wish B every success in her new role. A few weeks ago, Alison decided to pursue her passion for consultancy work. She too has moved on from DVA. Alison did massive things for DVA. Amongst everything else Alison did for DVA, Al moved us from Frog Hollow and dealt professionally with very difficult and testing trials in between setting us up at Harbour View. Alison really supported our org by gaining several opportunities for our artists to create new work and get paid for this through public programs. She worked hard to set up workshop programs, succeeded in getting the Arts Trail funding, contributed significantly to the success of our Creative Partnerships project and was at every opening supporting DVA and our artists and was key in getting DVA back on track to a brighter future. Thank you, Alison, for all you did to keep the DVA engine running and we thank you for getting us set up at Harbour View. Best wishes for the future. So, within the movement of staff at DVA we have since recruited Shauna Upton as a program support officer, she has exceptional skills in marketing and media, organisation, support and administration. Her professionalism and experience in the arts sector is going to be of great help to us all to keep the org rolling. She is a quick learner and has great ideas for DVA in moving forward. As a board we decided to recruit an Interim General Manager; Britt Guy. Britt has a wealth of experience in the arts sector in the NT and runs her own arts-based company ACCOMPLICE. Her knowledge, networks and passion for the arts is refreshing. In her three months with us Britt in partnership with Shauna has been charged with creating our exhibition program and generating an online campaign for our Creative Partnership success. Another major part of Britt times with us will be taken up by streamlining the administrative side of DVA. As an arts org we need to make sure that all of our processes are streamlined and working in the best interest of all those associated with us. Britt will be looking at our contracts for exhibitions, our invoicing processes, our workshops agreements where any amendments/improvements will go to the exec committee and the board for approvals. Please pop in and say g’day to both Britt and Shauna, they will of course be around at our openings too and are happy to chat anytime to support our members and the public. Now, the reason that we recruited an Interim GM is because our 5-year strategic funding was put in last week and we won’t be notified till the end of November if an increase will be successful. One of the major issues of recruitment here at DVA was the amount of funding and self-generated income to support employees appropriately. We hope to amend this with the funding application that we have submitted. We have requested on behalf of our members the ability to employ a full-time General Manager, a part-time Gallery Manager, a part-time Projects Officer and a part-time Program Support Officer. We know that the Arts Sector in Australia is moving away from a heavy reliance on Government funding and to become more strategic in generating income outside of this. We have asked for an initial increase with the hopes that throughout the next five years we can increase our funding through differing agencies. Fundraising, corporate and business sponsorship, donation, sales of work and more creative ventures. For more information on our strategic plan as a member you can get a copy of it anytime by emailing our office on info@dvaa.net.au I won’t bombard you all too much more but wanted to leave you with some key dates and points; • We were successful in our application to join Creative Partnerships in our fundraising campaign, this means for EVERY DOLLAR DONATED TO DVA, Creative Partnerships will match it till MAY 2020, so get donating “pass it on” to your friends. We will be launching an online funding campaign for this soon too, so keep an eye out, jump online and get involved. • Kristen Johnson and Kelly Vains exhibitions will close soon, the 26th of October, so get in to have a look whilst you can. • OUR NEW HOURS ARE AS FOLLOWS; Tuesdays from 12pm till 5pm (volunteer-based hours) Wednesdays 10am – 5pm Thursdays 10am – 5pm Fridays 10am – 5pm Saturdays 10am - 2pm (during exhibitions) *** To double check if someone is in the office, as staff are out on meetings sometimes; please call on 08 8981 9351 • Next up we have Jane Kennedy, Fiona Collins and Rebecca Smyth opening shows on November 1st. • We are always in need of volunteers to help with openings, gallery sitting, space preparation and odd jobs. If you have time, please get in contact with Britt or Shauna to get involved. • Our exhibition proposals are due at the end of November. If you want to exhibit apply now via email to gallerymanager@dvaa.net.au and if you are able, maybe collaborate and share the space and or costs with other creative friends and aim for a group show. Keep being creative. Keep in touch. Till next month. Alicia aka Leash

DVA artist members have the opportunity to gain exposure by showcasing their body of work on our website. If you are interested in being apart of our artists community and reach a wider audience, contact us and provide your expression of interest along with the following information: Examples of your body of work (High Quality JPEG) BIO Postal Address (non compulsory) email phone number (non compulsory) Education/Experience Accolades (if applicable) Social Media (if applicable) Website (if applicable) All applications will be subject to review, limited spaces available.

· The article must be between 300 and 1200 words · DVA reserves the right to edit and/or whether or not to publish the article provided · DVA staff offer support including advice and editing of your article if required – feel free to discuss your article before writing · Articles must be suitable for public consumption without offensive material · Content must be related to the arts – either local, national or international; your own work, work you have seen; or about the arts sector or community · Our blog will also be provided to members via our member newsletter and Facebook page links · Please ensure your article includes key words such as artist, art, painting, gallery or arts related wording