'PROGRESSIONS' - THE EXHIBITION

Now the Retrospective.

© Terri Keck

Ozquilt Network Newsletter Issue #38 December 2000

When I was asked to write this article for Ozquilt Network Newsletter, I pondered upon the best approach to take. Ideally, I hope that reading about the Darling Downs Art Quilters (DDAQ) and our efforts to establish a Queensland based exhibition, will inspire others to form groups such as ours and take the plunge into the whirlpool that hosting an event such as this can be. I use the word 'whirlpool' as the task is indeed one that brings to the organizers a wide range of high emotions from initial anxieties to overwhelming excitement and pride as everything falls into place.

Would we do it again? Definitely. Now that the fanfare has died down after the recent success of the Progressions Exhibition, the Darling Downs Art Quilters are looking to the future. Our intention is to establish a biennial exhibition of quality, as a vehicle for art quilters throughout Australia and New Zealand to showcase their talents. We aim to promote the textile arts wherever possible and provide Queensland with a textile event of note. With this in mind, gallery space at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery has been booked for Sept/Oct 2002.

The Darling Downs Art Quilters began in early 1999, when a few of us, myself included, saw a need for such a group. Individually, we were finding ourselves moving further away from the traditional quilting arena and felt sure that there were others locally who also found that their specific needs were not being met within the traditional guild setting. With this as our catalyst, we formed a small group who meet once per month to encourage each other, promote the textile arts locally, educate ourselves in our chosen art form and provide each other with the inspiration boost that many of us need from time to time when we feel our individual progress has reached a stalemate. The group is also a wonderful sounding board for the brain-storming of ideas and constructive critiques are available to any of us, who present a work to the group for evaluation.

To this end, we felt that limiting the size of our group to fifteen will allow us to develop a good working relationship with each other and it is also a good size for any classes we wish to do with visiting tutors. We are most fortunate that the group is made up of people with a wide range of artistic talents and skills from which to draw upon. One member is an award-winning artist in oils who has also had success in the textile field. Another is an embroiderer of some note and has been very successful in the art to wear category. We also have teachers who specialize in fabric dyeing and painting as well as machine embroidery. Each member gives freely of their time and expertise and I think this is what makes our group so successful. We may be small in number but we are highly focused and are determined to bring the genre of art quilts to the forefront in Queensland.

This was the motivation behind the initial developments that eventually became the Progressions Exhibition. Group member, Pat Sloss, saw the need for an exhibition of this kind four years ago. Pat's foresight saw the optimum time of Spring 2000 booked at the Toowoomba Gallery. Some two years later, after the formation of the Darling Downs Art Quilters of which Pat is a founding member, the group took over the planning of the exhibition.

Several of the members of DDAQ have had prior experience in the running of quilt shows, which we drew upon as we put our plans into action. We felt that the task ahead was quite achievable. The benefit of hindsight has shown us that we were perhaps a little ignorant of the costs involved, and many of these were eventually borne by members of the group. The establishment of this exhibition has taken all of us on a steep learning curve - one that was by no means insurmountable, as we proved, but one that was daunting none the less.

Anyone contemplating the organization of such an event shouldn't be put off by the work involved. The skills required are those that are possessed by most people already. Following basic committee procedures is very important, by which I mean having regular meetings, sound discussion on decisions to be made followed by vote taking and efficient note keeping. All this prevents time wasting caused by the forgetting of details already discussed and accepted. It is also vitally important for all members of the group or committee to work towards the common goal. If the group has a president or chairperson, the delegation of tasks to all members prevents an over burden of work on one or two people and eventual burnout by these workers. All of this is obvious in many ways, but unless these basic factors are followed, a lot of time can be wasted going over ground already covered and the progress of the planning can be slowed.

This brings me to lessons learned and our plans for future exhibitions. We received wonderful feedback from exhibitors, jurors, gallery staff and visitors to the exhibition alike. As with all first time events, hindsight shows that there are ways of improving the processes involved. Funding will be the focus of our planning within the next two years as we prepare to again host this exhibition. We went into this first exhibition with high enthusiasm, but absolutely no funding, save what members themselves donated to the group's coffers. This time around, we realize that in order to continue to produce a first class exhibition we need to look at the provision of a colour catalogue of works, for example, so adequate funding is essential. The production of a catalogue is beyond the reach of the members' purses alone, so we plan to investigate the availability of grants and sponsorship in order to achieve these goals. Other expenses include the costs involved with the hosting of jurors, official opening expenses and communication costs.

It was gratifying to note that the most frequent and positive comment we received from entrants, was appreciation for the fact that this exhibition offered a panel of jurors with different areas of expertise. We felt that this would ensure that the exhibition would be of the highest standard possible and would provide entrants with a qualified and fair selection process. Ultimately, it is hoped that we will one day be in a position to offer a financial or other sort of prize as an incentive for future exhibitions. We are nothing if not realistic however, and realize that we need to walk before we can run. The provision of a catalogue and the ability to meet our costs without the need for financial sacrifice by group members is our goal for the next exhibition.

I would encourage other groups to consider the hosting of an exhibition such as Progressions. Developing a good relationship with the staff of your regional art gallery is also wise. The staff at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery have been hugely supportive of not only our group and our endeavours, but for the profile of textiles in general. At the close of Progressions, the gallery informed us that over 5000 people visited the gallery during the time of the exhibition. A happy outcome for all concerned.

Finally, I would like to publicly thank every one of you who entered work for consideration for Progressions. Support for endeavours such as this is vital to the continuing success of textile arts in Australia. Your faith and commitment to the promotion of art quilts is to be congratulated.

© Terri Keck 2000