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2020

 

 

 

April 7 - Skywalk Opening! at Kalbarri National Park. The good news - we are not rushing back from Revealed in a state of exhaustion to make the opening in the Kalbarri National Park. The bad news - there is no opening. More good news - there is time for the final elements to be installed with care, and our artwork planned for the events and visitor centres is now in the our own line store, These are "River" post card, and "Bush Tucker Series" black and white prints, which feature in stone engraving and roof stuctures.  More good news still - the National Park is open for thos of us in this region to visit and a great view of the emerging Skywalk structures can be had from Natures Window. Our Water bottles, coffee cups, scarves and fabrics designs also connect to this country. So if you can't get outside and into the bush, read the stories with our artwork. Its a work in progress, and will be updating daily across April, so worth several visits. We understand that not everyone can purchase at this time but your interest, shares and likes also make a difference.

 

April 4 Our first stockist for flasks and coffee cups is the Horrocks Beach General Store! Thanks Joelene. Like us the General Store is unique and community minded and happy to work with us meeting practical needs at this time and looking to build something for the future when all our lovely tourists return. Please think of us and the General Store for gifts for those occasions we have to miss for now... 

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APRIL ​

April Fools: The first week of April usually sees us at the Fremantle Art Centre (#FAC) for two days Revealed Aboriginal Art Markets. It's a huge gathering

from around the state of individual artists in urban centres and remote Aboriginal Art Centres. We really look forward to the connections, the development workshops for artists and art centre managers and two days of art markets. Fremantle is such a good host for this event - it's quite an amazing atmosphere and the networking that goes on is intense. Economically this is a major source of income for Aboriginal Art Centres and even for small centres like ours, it's an important connection and opportunity to access financial support from outside our own small overworked business community. The annual exhibition for emerging artists is a vital stepping stone for artists needing a first exhibition to reveal their work and find ongoing opportunities. All of this of course is no longer possible due to COVID-19 safety measures. Like many others we are holding disappointment at bay with a huge effort to get all of our market stock into our on line shop - a very new venture, for we we are driving on L Plates in social media! and We are thinking of everyone in lock down and wishing you well, hoping you are safe, and keeping your well being in our hearts.  To the amazing crew at FAC still trying to make an on line art auction possible in a few weeks, we thank you for your dedication, and to those supporters finding us on line - thank you! even shares and likes on our posts are making a difference. #kindnessrules

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March 12 2020 Kalbarri Skywalk installation!!! - counting down the days to see the project installed on site and the river in flood churning below us along the gorges.

 

February - soooo excited to have nine works from four artists selected for Revealed 2020 Exhibition in April. OPENING NIGHT APRIL 3. 

 

YCulture junior imPRESSarios in our art room kept those print skills transferring back into the youth team and made a hot summer a bit more interesting with stories on country, near water places. Thanks Regional Arts WA for support.

 

FAC Print Mentorship brought Rachel Salmon-Lomas to work with us and keep developing skills. A week that none of us will ever forget and some really beauitful artwork produced on a range of presses not tried before. No one wanted to stop!

 

2020 - sponsorship from St George Foundation! what a great start to the year, giving us the chance to work with youth on country again, in the way that we did producing Message Sticks. One of the biggest challenges with arts funding for genuine cultural projects is that at a community level, it's the coming together on country that finds the ideas to express, and to get funding the project needs to be defined up front. We're really excited to be able to support artists working in their own cultural way to see what they bring next!

 

2019

 

(2019 was a huge year for us! We haven't even managed to put half of it here)

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October - finally in contract for Kalbarri Skywalk public art elements!! and a busy time with carving, bush tucker designs and welding right through to December.

Lots of photos on fb @northamptonoldschool and insta: kuarlumangga

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July - Nov our building rennovations started! So long coming and so much work - ceilings, painting inside and out, a new kitchen in the creche. Thanks to Shire Council, MWDC and Lotterywest. It's uplifting and so nice to have a safe workplace. 

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July Our Artspiration film "Message Sticks" llaunched at Geraldton Art Gallery with Hard Pressed and Heart Walk - jsut inspiring how much is going on in the regions. Thanks to Creative Grid RAPP project for including us and giving us the opportunity.

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July school holidays got the kids on country again and produced a fabulous amout of sewing and pressing with the youth crew.

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June we start getting busy for NAIDOC, with the local schools and July was very special with Darren "Capes" Capewell from Shark Bay and his collection of musical instruments working with the students. Gerald "Jacko" Whitby gave another of his Welcomes and talked to the theme. We did five NAIDOC events this year involving 4 schools.

 

We lost an important man in May, who founded our facility and worked with the Northampton Council back in the 1990s to secure this place as a community resource opening in 1993. He had a good vision. It was a sad time, and a time to honour him.

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April saw us heading off to Revealed at Fremantle Art Centre again, andcwe got the go ahead for Kalbarri Skywalk public art elements "Message Sticks Forrest" and "Bush Tucker Stone Carvings. 

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Maru Marungga had a big year and a tiny budget, and some beaut young musicians and their friends in Perth got together and held a charity gig for us in their back yard. Just impossible to give up when something like that happens. It kept our youth bus running for the winter. Don't criticise young people around us!

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All through the year our artists met in the art room and learnt print making skills and improved on their painting. PRESSing On, helped us out for this one, working with Lizzy Robinson and her portable press after the big community project in 2018. The artists learned fast! 

 

Wigintha-Apa had a wonderful start in March filming at Kalbarri and Murchison House Station within the AACHWA RAPP collaboration for Cultural Futures. we recorded lots of knowledge about water with our artists and their elders. Unforgettable and so much more to be done. Pretty hot out there in March, but we picked our times and our shade!

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Desert River Sea at the WA Art Gallery!!! very inspiring for us. Incredible work by everyone.

We also went to In Visible Ink in Fremantle and started thinking about other ways to tell our stories, and other stories that need to be told. A lot simmering with us this year.....

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February was big for Mauretta one of our lead artists - selected for the AACHWA inaugrual Gallery Internship. A huge and well deserved experience.

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2019 International year of Indigenous Languages made us get down to using the Nhanda words that some of our team have been helping get down with the language centre in recent years. We named ourselves - the Ku'arlu Mangga (Good Nest) art team, Maru Marunggu (dusk, nightlight) the weekly night event for kids in town, and our water project Wiginthar-Apa (Talking about Water)

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2019 school holiday program got going in January and it was great to see the young crew in the art room learning with our senior artists in first imPRESSions - deadly! thanks YCulture at Country aRts WA.

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2018

 

November 2018 got even bigger with the Nhanda Native Title determination at Kalbarri November 28. A huge day with the Court sitting at Kalbarri. It was incredible and awe-inspiring to see the elders come together for this long awaited day.

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Hot off the press! Our Ku'Arlu Mangga (Good Nest) fabric range is going to the Nov 2018 Eco Fashion Week! Follow Northampton Old School on facebook for more!

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Debut at 2018 'Revealed' art exhibition and market a big success!

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The 2018 Revealed Exhibition at the Fremantle Art Centre was a big success for NOSCII with our Message Sticks installation exhibited and our first ever market stall a big hit. 

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