Jour101 Post Five: Wollongong’s annual art’s festival brings everyone together

Hannah Klomp | Tues, October 23, 2012, 11:44 AM

Photograph taken from Viva La Gong Website

WOLLONGONG is currently getting ready to celebrate the creativity and cultural identity that is so abundant in the city with its annual arts festival, Viva la Gong being held this year on Saturday, 10th November.

The event will be held at the MacCabe Park and will feature a range of different acts occurring from circus acts, food and a community street parade.

Nina Kourea, a freelance artist and the project manager of Viva la Gong in 2011 is one of the many residents who are excited about what the festival will feature this year and really agreed that this festival was an important tradition.

“It is the one time of the year where the community can get together and celebrate the cultural diversity of this great town” Kourea said.

The Viva La Gong Festival caters to all types of people, from young children to elderly people all having a reason to come together and celebrate not only the multicultural diversity that has been perpetuated through students coming into Wollongong to study at the TAFE and University mentioned John Monteleone, the gallery director at the Wollongong City Gallery, but the festival is also effective in creating a community through the love of art, music and other creative disciplines.

Leah Ellis, a student from the University of Wollongong with interests in music and drama also commented, “I think the festival is really effective in the way that it pulls together so many Wollongong families through music. Adding to that, the fact that the music and festivities are wonderful, it’s a great event for the whole community.”

The festival will be free entry and is held on Saturday 10th November 2012 at the MacCabe Park running from 11 AM to 9 PM. Make sure you come down and check it out. For more information check out these links.

Viva La Gong Festival

Wollongong City Council

Advertisement of Viva La Gong found on Burelli Street, Wollonong | Photograph taken by Hannah Klomp

Jour101 Post Four: The New “Buzz” in Wollongong Brightening Your Future ?

Hannah Klomp  | Mon, October 15 2012, 2:19 PM

Wollongong City Gallery | Photos taken by Hannah Klomp

WITH new art galleries, studios and design spaces opening in Wollongong City, it is inevitable that a new culture and atmosphere has emerged attracting more and more people into the city and according to John Monteleone, the gallery director at the Wollongong City Gallery, “has generated a broader sense of community as well as a more positive future for the city.”

Since January this year, art and design influenced shops and cafes within the Crown Street Mall such as Milk Thieves, Terrarium Gallery and Yours and Owls have become an important part of the local community where people of all ages have been able to utilize these spaces to interact with art and design as well as “attract alternative people into the city to continually turn [Wollongong] into a buzzing community.”

The council of Wollongong has also created a “buzz” in the city with its funding for the Wollongong City Gallery and also by the use of public art around the city. This public art is frequently distributed from local artists and their works are publicly displayed throughout Wollongong.

“There has also been talk about even more public art in the near future to be displayed within the city centre” Monteleone said.

With all this hype in the city, Monteleone questioned the ways that Wollongong can “stay alive” and emphasized his opinion that the city had great potential to grow and do great things in relation to this new culture emerging, with his comparison to the diverse and unique atmosphere in Sydney’s Newtown stating that “people go there regardless and that’s what we have to create in Wollongong.”

“It is really important that Wollongong differentiated itself from its surrounding areas and continues to provide access to artistic spaces including cafes, galleries and spaces, and by doing so they will feed off each other and this will create major growth in Wollongong”

Check out these links for further details..

Wollongong City Gallery

Wollongong Public Art

Jour101 Photostory: Studio 19 Drawing Session

Hannah Klomp | Tues October 16 2012, 10:12 PM

The “staircase to heaven”.. well not quite, but it is the staircase to Wollongong’s Studio 19..

The red door of Studio 19 gives off a “funky vibe” to all who visits this great studio!

Will Massey, a singer and guitarist based in Wollongong was the model for the evening of drawing whilst gracing us all with some great tunes!

Overall a great Tuesday night spent at Studio 19 filled with drawing, music and laughter!

Studio 19 runs drawing sessions every second Tuesday night from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM on 19/57 Crown Street Wollongong. Make sure you check it out, and for more information check out this link.

Jour101 Post Two: That “Funky Vibe’s” Got People Talking at Studio 19

Hannah Klomp | Wed, October 17 2012, 8:27 PM

Photograph taken by Exposure Arts and Media 2012

TUESDAY night’s in Wollongong have become much more entertaining since the Exposure Arts and Media opened Studio 19, with drawing sessions being run by creative minds Carolyn Nowaczyk and Nina Kourea, capturing the attention of local residents every second Tuesday night.

“Anything can happen at a Tuesday night drawing session! It really is dictated by the performer and the audience reaction and/or participation. We’ve had such a diverse range of performers modeling for us that each night is different from the others.” Nowaczyk said.

Studio 19 has a “somewhat funky vibe,” noted a local resident who had been attending the classes regularly.

The sessions are different to what a person might expect from a drawing session, with live models who have backgrounds in circus, theatre, dance, music and other disciplines held in a new urban studio space which results in an entertaining night no matter who the person.

We [have] created a unique work opportunity for those performers and a unique drawing experience for the creative community – and what a fun process it has been.” Nowaczyk said passionately.

“We’ve had circus performers who have held upside-down positions up on crates, hula-hoopers and musicians. These sessions feel incredibly special – we have an intimate performance and often hear stories from the performers that they wouldn’t normally tell at a large-scale gig, plus we get to ask them questions – all whilst drawing them and documenting the evening from a really special perspective.”

The unique atmosphere that is vibrant within these drawing sessions significantly push the communal feeling that is alive in Wollongong and a place where the arts and design can be celebrated and enjoyed.

The night runs from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM every second Tuesday night at Studio 19, situated in the Central Chambers above Hideaway Café , 157 Crown Street Wollongong. For further information and bookings to one of these great sessions, check out this link.

Photographs taken by Hannah Klomp

Jour101 Post One: Wollongong, a place for artists.

Hannah Klomp | Mon, October 1 2012, 2:25 PM

Milk Thieves Store | Photograph by Milk Thieves 2012

WHEN taking a walk around Wollongong City during the day, an individual is bombarded with all different kinds of sights but it is not hard to notice the strong sense of community that is abundant and alive within the town. Emma-Lee Crane, a freelance designer and owner of indie store, Milk Thieves, agreed that the community atmosphere in Wollongong really perpetuates the culture of art and design and is a great place for artists to be.

“We all help each other out here. If someone comes into my store, I let them know about the other art spaces, and [the other stores] do the same for me. It really helps everybody out” said Crane.

Crane, who used her hands excitedly to communicate, mentioned that her store, Milk Thieves which is situated in the Crown Street Central Chambers, supports local art and design with pieces in her store “ranging from works from stay at home mums to professional artist with some of the supplies coming directly from Wollongong.”

Milk Thieves, an indie store that embraces the “homemade revolution” invites many people from all different backgrounds to participate in the art and design culture in Wollongong, inviting people to not only use art in their everyday lives but as Crane mentioned “anybody can approach the store and asked to be featured.”

“I think this shop works really well in Wollongong and can only really exist here because it is not so competitive” stated Crane who compared her store to what she had seen in major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne.

Crane concluded, “I think the appreciation of art in Wollongong is evolving. Art is becoming something of purpose with more of a celebrating element of the usefulness, especially in my Milk Thieves where there are many one off pieces.”

For more information about Emma-Lee Crane and her store, Milk Thieves, check out this Link.