RESPONSE: News-worthy

Taking on the 2024 Sydney Craft Week theme of RESPONSE, Primrose Park Arts and Crafts Centre presents News, News, News, an exhibition of diverse works responding to the news in all its forms.

“News is everywhere, delivered at speed to our phones, televisions, computers, homes and workplaces. News hits our emotions, informs us, poses questions and makes us think. Whether we dive in or seek to ignore it, it is hard to escape.”

Six groups practice at the Arts and Crafts Centre in the fields of paper art, basketry, textiles, calligraphy, photography and painting – the individual responses to this theme range across many mediums. While viewing the exhibition, visitors can also find out how to join the groups and use this special community studio space.

Exhibition Friday 11 October – Sunday 20 October

Matora Lane off Young Street, Cremorne, primrosepark.com.au

ELIZABETH TAYLOR, exhibition co-curator

What kind of facility is Primrose Park Art and Craft Centre?
It’s a pretty unique facility as it’s a Community Centre designed specifically for and dedicated to Art and Craft. Many Councils run multi-functional community centres or have artist studios for solo artists but few have a studio and exhibition space made so accessible to so many. The facility is rented from North Sydney Council and run by volunteers. Members of the groups who use the facility get access to equipment, studio and exhibition space.

As we approach Sydney Craft Week we think there should be a rallying cry for more facilities like Primrose Park to be made available across Sydney – Councils keen to support the arts should sit up and take note of this novel centre.

Who uses the facility?
Groups using the centre are:

• Artists in the Park
• Basketry NSW
• Paper Arts
• Primrose Park Photography
• Textiles Sydney
• The Australian Society of Calligraphers.

Members are drawn to use the centre and attend workshops from well beyond the North Sydney Council area. The groups that create, work and teach at Primrose Park are important cultural assets not just for the North Sydney LGA but for the nation. They are keeping specific art and craft skills alive, the knowledge of which is diminishing and in some cases disappearing altogether.

Primrose Park is the base for the Australian Society of Calligraphers; the Basketry group serves all of NSW; the Papermakers operate one of the few open-access hand-papermaking facilities in Australia; the Photographers are stewards of a rare open-access dark room; the Textiles group has tapped into a latent and surprisingly robust community need for all the textile crafts; and the Artists foster a vibrant, cooperative painting group.

Do you have to be an established artist to join a group?
The groups welcome new members of all abilities from accomplished artists through to community members wanting to learn a new skill and/or simply use the studio facilities.

Many members enjoy the space to create with others. Being a solo artist at home can be lonely. Working in a studio together brings opportunities for learning, a chance to socialise and collaborate with others. The social and mental health benefits are often mentioned when we discuss the benefits of this unique facility.

About how many regulars participate in the groups?
There are over 450 members across the six groups. Some groups meet once or twice a month, others as often as once or twice a week, and some members are involved in more than one group.

How did you come up with the exhibition theme?
As with all things Primrose Park, this was a collaborative process. We asked members from across the six groups to suggest how we might interpret the Craft Week theme of RESPONSE. There were many excellent and thought-provoking suggestions, but the one that resonated most with the committee was how we respond to news. We’re surrounded by news, often overwhelmed by it. Responses vary from those who try to avoid it to those glued to television or social media whenever something ‘newsworthy’ occurs. It can be local or global; it can unite us, but also divide us.

Who is curating the exhibition?
Elizabeth Taylor, a member of the Basketry group, Lynn Pavey from Textiles Sydney and Deb Mooney from the Photography group.

What kind of materials will be included?
Materials will reflect the diversity of the groups, so all kinds of textiles, natural fibres and paper will be involved, along with paints, dyes and ink. And, unsurprisingly, we expect some newspaper.

How often do you have exhibitions?
We’re lucky to have a small exhibition space as part of the Primrose Park facility and it’s in use year-round with the various groups taking the space for a month at a time. Once or twice a year we hold a collaborative exhibition (like this one for SCW) featuring work from all our groups.

What other events do you have there?
Weekends are frequently given over to workshops run by the various groups. Once a year we hold an Open Day to showcase members’ work and skills to the community. All the groups demonstrate their craft, and have hands-on activities that visitors can participate in.

Can anyone use the centre’s facilities?
Anyone is welcome to enrol in a workshop that interests them. Most groups have a “come along and try out us before you join” approach, but the facility is largely for members. Membership costs are low and give you access to so much. Come along to our exhibition and find out how to join or jump on the website, primrosepark.com.au