SWAN Hill was abuzz with vibrant creativity as the inaugural Go North Arts Festival was held as the weekend.
The festival officially kicked off on Friday evening with the launch of the 2022 Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery National Print and Drawing Awards. With more than 300 entries, the exhibition was narrowed down to 50 finalists whose works were on display. Attendees were also able to enjoy music from the River Boat Quintet.
Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery director Ian Tully believes the turnout on Friday night was indicative of the community response to the whole festival.
“From the very word go with the Print and Drawing Awards, we had a big crowd for the opening which was great,” Mr Tully said.
The judges of the awards Vanessa Gerrans and Dr Thomas Middlemost hosted a walkthrough of the exhibition on Saturday morning, which Mr Tully said was “really interesting, insightful and well-attended”.
Then on Saturday afternoon, more than 450 people came out for the festival’s major event at Riverside Park.
Clare Bowditch headlined the spectacular live music and art event, launched with a welcome to country, smoking ceremony and dance by The Wiran Dance Group followed by performances by Freya Josephine Hollick and The Northern Folk.
Concert goers were also able to get their creative juices flowing by trying something new at workshops for people of all ages and skill – screen printing with Adelaide-based screenprinter Jake Holmes; drumming with Melbourne-based Dave Houston; mosaic making with Moulamein artist Sandy Peeters; simple clay making with Lake Boga artist Damien Thomas; spray paint and stencil with Kerang artist Kerryn Finch; relief printing on fabric with Kerang artist Paul Oswin; drawing/painting with Swan Hill artist Shirley Pinchen and Aboriginal learning with Swan Hill artist Kenita Lee McCartney.
“From the very beginning to the very end of those workshops – there was people just buzzing around, making work, looking over shoulders, young and old and all genders,” Mr Tully said.
“It was just terrific.”
The weekend concluded with an artist talk by printmaker Peter Jacobs and a demonstration on lithography.
While nothing has officially been decided about the future of the festival, Mr Tully is optimistic Go North has a bright future in Swan Hill.
“Why wouldn’t you want to have more of this,” he said.
