General News
7 April, 2023
Looking back: Warracknabeal Arts Council ends after 45 years
Submitted by Jenny Taylor Warracknabeal Arts Council had a night of reflection and nostalgia as it officially celebrated the completion of 45 years of support for and promotion of the arts in the local area. Warracknabeal Arts Council began in 1976...
Submitted by Jenny Taylor
Warracknabeal Arts Council had a night of reflection and nostalgia as it officially celebrated the completion of 45 years of support for and promotion of the arts in the local area.
Warracknabeal Arts Council began in 1976 as an initiative of the then “advisory council” of Warracknabeal High School.
The inaugural president was Ken ’Curl’ Taylor, the secretary was Pat Tickner and another 10 members made up the committee.
Over the years, more than 70 members have participated in the activities of the branch.
Due to the late Doug McColl’s involvement in the arts council, his pharmacy was used as a booking office for shows for many years.
Performances
In its first year, the arts council brought four shows to the town: ‘The Hills Family Show’ was held at the High School Hall, followed by ‘The All Australian Pub Show’ at the Palace Hotel, ‘The Trinidad Steel Cavaliers’ performed in the Assembly Hall and ‘Colonial Capers’ rounding the year off at the Agricultural Museum.
As part of the Victorian Arts Council in those days, travelling shows were fully subsidised, with local branches required only to organise publicity and the venue.
The door takings belonged to the head office’s touring department.
Warracknabeal was on the itinerary of many wonderful shows in those early years of the branch.
Some of these were touring international and now well-known artists, such as ‘The Pipers and Trumpeters of Warsaw’; Richard Stilgoe (who wrote the lyrics for ‘Cats’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’ with Lloyd Webber); ‘Flook’, an Irish musical group; and Bill Dillard & The Blue Serenaders.
Several were comedic plays such as ‘The Royal Commission into the Australian Economy’ starring Magda Szubanski, Sue Ingleton and Gerry Connelly (co-produced by John Clarke).
Some were one-person shows, such as ‘I am not a Dentist’ starring Henry Czeps of ‘Mother and Son’ television fame and Bruce Spence who performed ‘Carrboni’.
Rod Quantock (at one time Mr Snooze) performed a one-man show at the Molly Taylor Hall and, some years later, Don Burrows delighted an audience at the Town Hall.
Some shows inspired dressing up for the occasion, such as ‘Hits of the War Years’ held at the Town Hall.
The largest audience (360) turned out for ‘Lipstick Dreams’, a comedy about a small-town hairdresser starring Lorraine Bayley, who was well known for her roles in ‘The Sullivans’ and ‘Carsons Law’.
As time went by arts councils were required to buy shows from a list of offerings of travelling performances.
This proved to be challenging as some were quite expensive and audience numbers uncertain.
Warracknabeal Arts Council changed direction and went on to gradually organise its own concerts.
Gilbert & Sullivan performances, The Victorian Police Band, ‘Ye Old Time Music Hall’, ‘Tea Rose Duo’ and Kelly Auty were only some of these shows.
A number of shows were held in the Molly Taylor and others in the Assembly Hall and the Town Hall.
The Anglican Hall was also used on occasions.
The concert style evolved into Sunday concerts in 2002: a series of four concerts (inspired by member Doug McColl) during the winter which were held in the Yarriambiack Shire Council function room.
These ran from 2002 until 2019.
The first of these was presented by Deborah Sea (née Ross), who celebrated the music of her grandmother, the late Roma Ross.
Many performers with local connections were invited to take part in the series.
These included Leo Tellefson and Sandra Loats (Donald/Rupanyup), Wal Ferguson (magician from Hopetoun), Jeff Woodward (ex-Warracknabeal), Peter and Ben Gosling (Rainbow) and Peter & Denise McGinnisken (Horsham), as well as Melbourne performers such as Michael Johnson (harpist from the Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens), the Blue Tango duo and the comedy duo The Gramophonies.
The popular Ragtime Rollers jazz group included local musician Bruce Hunter, and Solead Q. featuring Bernardo Soler, a brilliant guitarist duo from Melbourne, delighted the audience.
In 2016, the arts council organised a tribute concert celebrating 70 years of contribution to music in the area by local and popular performing jazz duo Brian and Bill Powell.
Interaction/cooperation with local groups
The arts council cooperated with many local groups in presenting performances over many years.
‘No Time On’, a comedy on Aussie rules, was held in conjunction with the local football club; several local talent quests and other performances were held in cooperation with the then music club.
Northwest Health collaborated in performances on prostate cancer (‘For Better for Worse’) and breast cancer (’Tit Bits’).
The arts council also organised street entertainers for the Christmas carnival and Y Fest on several occasions and assisted with costumes for street parades.
Working in cooperation with Woodbine, the Geelong Players’ Back to Back Theatre presented the play ‘I don’t want to live in Lara anymore’ in 1991.
This group has gone on to become a well-known drama group.
The arts council also took part in Y Fest, introducing the annual art show supporting a local prize in the busking competition.
Art collection
Warracknabeal Arts Council established an Australian print collection initially to allow VCE students to have some original works to study.
Secondary college art teacher Peter Bowden purchased prints regularly for the branch, which built up into what is now a valuable collection housed at the Yarriambiack Shire offices.
It is registered with the Horsham Art Gallery and will become the property of the Warracknabeal community, with a custodian group to oversee it.
More than 30 works comprise the collection.
Art shows
Art shows organised by the arts council, held in the Yarriambiack Shire function room, commenced in 1994 and became a successful feature of the annual Easter Y Fest.
The opening preview night became the traditional launch of the festival.
Once again, local connections to artists were encouraged.
The first two art shows featured a former resident, Bob Landt, while others such as Jill Hansberry (Rowe), Alison Parkinson, Michael Schriever ( sculptor), Viv McDermott, John Everard, Joanne Pearce, Joan Goad and Ron Penrose also had local connections.
The display boards which were made for the art shows have now been donated to the local Rotary Club to be made available to the community.
Festivals
Warracknabeal Arts Council held two town festivals in its early years.
Participate ‘78 and Participate ‘80 each ran over a weekend and featured a street parade, workshops and art/craft demonstrations.
Literary events
The arts council endeavoured to provide an opportunity over the years for those in the community who had an interest in writing.
A number of poetry nights were held at Danny Johnson’s early restaurant.
With titles like ‘Leap into Lyrics’ and ‘Compose Yourself’, several local would-be writers came along and recited poetry and prose.
John Reid from the ABC conducted a literary night on one occasion held at the Anglican church hall.
As time went on poets were brought in to present their own literary show.
These included Bob Mager, comedy poet well known to travelling grey nomads, and Geoffrey Graham, who presented several professional shows at the golf club, including “Voices of War’ and ‘The Sentimental Bloke’.
Travelling exhibitions
Being a member of the Victorian Arts Council (now Regional Arts Victoria), several travelling exhibitions were available as part of the Victorian itinerary.
Some wonderful exhibitions featured in Warracknabeal including ‘Arts of Asia’, ‘Great Craft Tour’, ‘Women’s Writers’ Train’, ‘The Arts Train’, ‘Rug Event’, ‘Tribal & Traditional Textile Exhibition’ and ‘Coloured Crafts Metal Exhibition’.
A photographic exhibition commemorating Federation titled ‘Federation 100-001' visited the town in 2001 and included a photo of local girl Elizabeth Liersch.
Community projects/workshops
Over the years, the arts council participated in several community arts projects, some of which persist as permanent features of the town.
The Textile Mural Banner featured the three farming seasons and has been a feature of the Town Hall supper room and shire function room.
It currently hangs in the library at the Creekside Hotel and is to be returned to the supper room when the renovations at the Town Hall are completed.
Another community project resulted in the painting of the stage backdrop at the Molly Taylor Hall.
The Mosaic Federation Tiling Project involved schools as well as the local community and the results of that project can still be seen on the four corners of the Scott/Woolcock streets intersection as well as in front of the Town Hall and shire offices.
The stained-glass window community arts project overseen by Gerry Cummins in 1988 resulted in three stained-glass windows which featured the history of the area and were a feature of the library for many years.
These have been removed and will be a feature of the interior of the newly renovated Tourist Information Centre.
The town’s 150th anniversary was supported by the arts council with a celebration of Yarriambiack Creek involving the history of the settlement along the creek and Indigenous district dancers.
Film festivals
During the 1980s and ‘90s several film festivals were made possible by participation of touring films shows.
These were held in the Town Hall, with the upstairs balcony becoming a theatrette with a temporary screen installed over the balcony.
The former council chambers and upstairs foyer were ideal for lunch and drinks during the festival.
The last one was held in the Molly Taylor Hall and organised by the local branch.
Artists in residence
Over the years the arts council organised several artists in residence in the community.
These were often in conjunction with a community arts project.
David Poston, a British jeweller, was the first of these, and Gerry Cummins, who led the stained-glass window project, was another.
Poets/writers were also part of this program, including author Nigel Gray and illustrator Ann James, who worked with primary students to produce a booklet ’Little Yarns’ featuring their stories and sketches.
This project was awarded ‘Event of the Year’ in 1993.
Schools’ involvement
Students and children were always high on the list of priorities of arts council members.
Due to the fact several members were teachers at the local schools, some visiting performances could sometimes be offered as evening performances and other performances and programs were deliberately targeted at school students.
These included puppet shows (Christine Hutchinson), bush dance and magician/mime performances.
Winners of the Secondary School Literary Competition were invited to read their winning pieces each year at the annual general meeting of the arts council and music students were invited to perform.
Two large projects were ‘Little Yarns’ (mentioned above) and a dance project (facilitated by Hannah Butyututu and associates) with all primary school students who then presented their performance at the Town Hall.
Several students were sponsored to attend theatre workshops during the holidays and the arts council continues to sponsor prizes for visual and performing arts at the annual secondary college presentation night for visual and performing arts.
Costumes
What was originally The Roma Ross collection was donated to the arts council in 1999 and stored at the Court House annexe for many years.
Members restored items and many more were donated to create a great collection.
When the Court House was renovated, the room was removed and the costumes were transferred to the Town Hall, where they remain today.
Costumes were lent out on a donation basis.
These have been donated to the Town Hall auxiliary, which will continue to manage the collection.
Annual meetings
Annual meetings were held in the shire function room each year and featured local school students performing their literary and musical talents as well as a guest speaker of interest.
Many Horsham ABC radio announcers were guest speakers over the years, including Bernard Lynch, Derek Guille, Dan Glover, Melissa Schilling, Dave Lennon and Angus Verley (rural reporter).
Artists Vija Harris, Annabelle Nowlan and Mary French also featured as speakers.
Support for neighbouring branches
The Warracknabeal branch endeavoured to support local branches in their performances.
Trips to Nhill, Dimboola (for play ‘Dimboola’), Minyip, Stawell and Murtoa occurred, while several members attended most of the ‘Cafe Culture’ series in Charlton.
The Horsham Arts Council reciprocated by presenting its performance of ‘Some Night in Julia Creek’ in Warracknabeal.
Creative Village townscape
The Victorian Arts Council launched a project, Creative Village, in 1996 to encourage towns to examine their appearance and plan for positive changes.
This led to a beautification plan for Warracknabeal, which in turn led to the formation of the streetscape committee.
Plans for the roundabout were the result of its work and several arts council members stayed on to steer the project and negotiate with the sculptors.
The resulting roundabouts have proved to be a successful innovation for the town, illustrating the power of cultural tourism even before the Silo Art Trail.
Recent projects
The Yarriambiack Creek sign outlining the history and geography of the creek was completed in 2021 by the arts council, supported by the historical society and Yarriambiack Shire.
The most recent project was the organisation of the community piano, which was supported by Yarriambiack Junior Council.
It continues to be a feature in Woolcock Street.
The Nick Cave Statue Committee was formed out of the arts council and grew out of the decision to lobby the shire to acknowledge Nick Cave’s birthplace on the town’s entry signs.
The committee continues to promote the Nick Cave connection and hopes that it may be possible to erect a statue which would have large drawing power to Warracknabeal, thereby giving an economic boost to the entire community.
The arts council appreciates the support of Yarriambiack Shire Council over many years, making the function room available for the annual art show and the Sunday concert series.
It has also enjoyed support from the local community.
Plans are under way to create an arts group under the WAG banner to continue to support both visual and performing arts in the local community.
Retiring arts council members hope that the arts continue to offer an alternative to sport in the local area and provide an avenue for creative talents, which are an important dimension in any community.