It’s been gratifying to see the Arts moving ahead in Yea. We’ve always had significant events such as the Rotary Club’s annual Art Show,and their Music Hall event,but now artistic endeavours are popping up everywhere.

Gallery 34 celebrated the snow season with their incredibly successful Beanie Competition,as well as some great exhibitions –kudos to Olivia Lawson for her continuing good work and much-deserved success. When the Great Victorian Bike Ride came through town late last year,riders were greeted by a field of virtual flowers –each one hand-made and adorned with a photo of its maker. Suzie Bates of Berry Street co-ordinated the project with kids in the local schools,and the result was fantastic. The flowers also formed a maze at Dindi Fest ’11. The Yea Country Market features solo performers each month,while local crafts do a fine trade at the stalls. Local artist Meg Heres has been presenting her exhibition each Easter at the Goods Shed Gallery,and this year is expanding to have an open day at her home studio.

Meanwhile the revitalised Community House has started monthly acoustic nights on the first Friday of each month,which are very well attended and sound great. That’s complemented by the new 3-chord Wonders session at the House,where fledgling players are encouraged to learn simple songs that will help them feel comfortable playing along with others. Last year’s SkiteFest,run by the Friends of the Railway,featured Kites As Art workshops for kids and adults;this year that’s being extended to a scarecrow exhibition. Community groups are encouraged to make their own themed scarecrows for display –and the Community House is running a number of workshops to help that process along. Last year also saw Christmas lanterns decorated by local kids make their way into shop windows;this year organiser Bridget Clarke is extending the program to include a lantern parade.

For our part,100k North Arts have been running the successful Sing It Yourself program,which sees people dressing up to attend the Butter Factory for a sing-along night of classic musicals. We’ve done Pirates of Penzance,My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music so far. The karaoke environment and the fun factor makes it easy to participate and have a good time. Our next event is on Friday 23 September,when we’ll sing along to a karaoke version of the film “Mamma Mia”. It’ll be easy,fun,and probably silly …accessible to everyone,whether they can sing or not.

And that’s the thing about the Arts in Yea:it’s not for the highfalutin’crowd,it’s for absolutely everyone. Come to our town and get involved!

It was only February 2010 –just over a year ago –that we launched 100k North @ Marmalades,our community art gallery within one of Yea’s most beloved cafés. Ingrid and Lindsay have been wonderful hosts,letting us have the run of the place, convene Artists Conversation evenings,and even take over the main rooms in their entirety in October for the dove/tales exhibition. April 4th –less than a month away –will see the Knights hand the keys over to the Webbs,David and Stephanie. As they strive to make the café their own,we’ll be working alongside them,finding our feet under new circumstances. It’s both an opportunity and a challenge. Stay tuned,I’ll tell you how it goes.

The diligent among you may be asking what we’ve been up to. For myself,the last few months of 2010 were a whirlwind of Arts activities –we ran three separate exhibitions,continued to curate the café,organised a Vocal Nosh out at the Cheviot Tunnel,and …well,had lives. On top of everything else I had some personal health issues,and sometimes one must heed the message to slow down. But things are heating up once again. We’ll complete the transition to the new Marmalades ownership,then re-engage with our members and work out a program for the rest of the year.

If you’ve got a burning idea that you absolutely must unburden yourself of,pop on over to our Contact page and drop us a line. We would be only too happy to engage with you.