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. I want to thank our judges for taking their time to select the successful works from the exhibition; Clare Armitage – Assistant Curator from MAGNT and Lina Paselli-Kruse from Malak Marketplace and Clean Living in the Tropics. All of the artists’ work showed a great amount of conceptual diversity and techniques, with a combined message of being consciously aware of the changing climate not only in the Territory but globally. Congratulations to everyone who was selected.

The latest news at DVA is that we now have an answer from Arts NT for our 5-year funding. We have been lucky enough to increase our funding by $10,000 which means we have $69,500 each year to employ staff, run and maintain the space, plus within our agreement we also have the continued use of the gallery and office at Harbor View and access in the near future (fingers crossed its soon) to art studios at Winnellie. This means that we can now confidently employ a GM and continue to employ our wonderful Programs Officer Shauna.

The GM role for applications closes on the 4th of March and we hope to have the successful candidate beginning by the middle of March. When the successful candidate begins, please be patient with them, as they are beginning a role in a new environment with a new organisation and all the support and help we can give from the board and from our members during this transition is imperative for the organisation to grow and be supported.

Currently at DVA we are in fundraising mode. Our Creative Partnerships campaign ends in May and we have a target of $15,000 to raise which will be matched dollar for dollar, but only if we reach this amount. We will be having our annual Deckchair fundraiser and our trivia night to raise funds for this campaign, and we have recently acquired a “tap and go” donation point which you can use at our openings and public events. We will be having a 50/50 exhibition where members who are so inclined can show work at the gallery where 50% of profits are donated from the sale of works to DVA to help reach our target and the other 50% is in your pocket… BUT WHY? I hear you ask.

At DVA we have a strategic plan which all of you can check out whenever you like, in that plan we have outlined a few areas for improvement. One is the engagement of young artists in the 17-25-year-old bracket. With some of the funds raised we would like to create a residency in which a young artist can come and use a studio space, create a body of work and exhibit their creations in a professional gallery, all the while learning the process of exhibiting in an inclusive and nurturing environment. 

Another project we would love to see established through DVA is a Northern Territory Contemporary Art Award, an all-inclusive award for any Territorian artists that wants to participate. TOGART was the prize many years ago and we would like to have one similar again. Awards like this create opportunity for artists and creatives to make, to participate, to grow and to be challenged. It is what we are all about at DVA. 

We are also very excited about our upcoming exhibition program for 2020, I cannot wait to see the works on the walls, and we cannot wait for more in-depth and diverse conversations to be happening in and around these exhibitions. Fernanda Dupal and I are working on getting some conversations happening at DVA to create a discourse about contemporary visual art in Darwin and surrounds. We are really keen to talk about and discuss with you all what is happening locally, nation-wide and internationally in the visual arts. We are excited to get art film nights happening and even more excited that by opening up the middle space at the gallery we have a space for more experimentation, digital works and sculptural pieces within DVA.

I would like to remind members that with our latest exhibition policy we have set deadlines for deposits and have official paper trails now in place. Invoices will be sent, and contracts are to be signed with a deposit attached. As a committee we have made the decision to take 15% commission from all works sold through a DVA exhibition and will no longer allow the facilitating of private sales, with all exhibition sales to be completed through the gallery. This is usual of NFP galleries country wide and we have chosen this small commission fee to cover the staff selling and showing work on your behalf as compensation.

You will also note that in our exhibition and workshop policies all imagery of children will need to be accompanied by permissions from consenting parents or guardians. This is in line with our ARTS NT funding agreement and with the Australia Council for the Arts. For any more information regarding this please see the Australia Council for the Arts website. I know and understand that it can be confusing as to what, as artists, we are and aren’t allowed to take artistic freedom with, but our children are amongst our most vulnerable of people and we need to make sure that due diligence is being used in the most professional of standards when it comes to using their images.

Lastly, I would like to let you all know that we have some great sponsorship this year that has been organised by the board. E-Print Darwin has come on board and are offering great support to our exhibitors and to DVA for a variety of printing needs. They are the only Illford printery in Darwin so are great for any photographic works you may have that need expert printing. 

The other sponsorship we have secured is for alcoholic beverages at our openings. Each opening will be sponsored by a different beer and or cider and we are so grateful to Lion for their support at DVA. 

See you all soon at the net opening. Keep your eyes open for trivia and movie dates and as always if you would like to discuss anything with me regarding DVA please contact me at scobiewebb@westnet.com.au

Thanks all and keep creative!

Alicia

Aka 

Leash