ART FANS SWARM INTO PUBLIC GALLERIES

Corrie Perkin
National arts writer

The Australian
14/10/08

THE figures speak for themselves: art is hot and more people go to galleries than to football’s home-and-away season.

The Council of Australian Art Museum Directors has found that more than 6.6 million Australians visited a leading public art gallery in 2007-08.

The number exceeds the 6.51 million who attended the 2008 AFL’s home-and-away season, and blitzes the NRL’s 2.9 million attendances.
“Australians love art and there’s a great deal of interest in visiting art and writing collections,” said CAAMD chairman Christopher Menz, who is also director of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

The report cites attendance figures at Australia’s 10 leading state and national institutions, including the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. It is the first time CAAMD members have collated their attendances.

The most popular ticketed exhibitions were Andy Warhol at the Queensland Art Gallery (232,389 visitors), Turner to Monet at the NGA (180,701) and Guggenheim Collection: 1940s to Now at the National Gallery of Victoria (180,173).

Free entry to the major art galleries is one reason for the large crowds. New buildings such as Queensland Art Gallery’s Gallery of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Victoria’s Federation Square site have also helped attract visitors.

But Mr Menz said Australia’s major art museums would always be popular because they had free entry. “In times of financial hardship people want to do things at home, in their own city,” he said. “They want to see great works of art and things that give them pleasure.”

If attendances to Monet and the Impressionists at the Art Gallery of NSW are an indication, the good news will continue. More than 5000 people have seen the show since it opened at the weekend.

Federal Arts Minister Peter Garret said, “this groundswell of activity is a clear demonstration of both the growing interest in art and culture generally, and the quality and accessibility of the exhibitions being shown around the country by many of our innovative and passionate gallery directors and administrators.”

CRAFT REVIEW
by
Meredith Hinchliffe
October 1, 2008

Grant VaughanSIGNATURES – 25th Anniversary Exhibition 1983-2008, Bungendore Wood Works Gallery, Kings Highway, Bungendore, until November 19, 2008. Open daily 9am to 5pm.

A signature is defined as a person’s name or initials, as a mark or significant appearance. The title of this exhibition has been chosen deliberately – eleven fine woodworkers, most of whom who have been associated with Bungendore Wood Works Gallery throughout its existence, make significant and exceptional work – and generally it is recognisable.

Bungendore Wood Works has a strong altruistic streak to its commercial activities. All those who work there are committed to bringing the narrative of the making of a piece – small or

Craft Australia 716 craft·design ISSN:1835-1832 Issue 029 April 2008

Studio Furniture 2008 was initiated by David MacLaren, Artistic Director of Bungendore Wood Works Gallery, as a way to foster the production of unique pieces of furniture by makers and to highlight the important role of commercial galleries. Stan d'Argeavel presents an overview of the competition and exhibition with images of the winning works.

Articles - 31 March 2008
Studio Furniture 2008

Studio Furniture 2008 opened at Bungendore Wood Works Gallery on Australia Day, 26th January. The exhibition was initiated by David MacLaren, Artistic Director of the Gallery, as a way to foster the production of unique pieces of furniture by makers. The criteria for the exhibition was that the work be

Canberra Times, Times 2, Friday 25th January, 2008

by Ron Cerabona

Furniture can be regarded as simply functional: somewhere to, literally, hang your hat, or put up your feet, or eat dinner, or just sink down in front of the television after a hard day at work. But the best of it is more than that. It can also be a work of art, something to admire in and of itself.

Bungendore Wood Works Gallery wanted to do something to encourage this latter perception and to give craftspeople a chance to display their talents, with the opening exhibition in their 25th anniversary year, Studio Furniture 2008, which opens tomorrow.

Exhibition coordinator Stan d'Argeavel says, "It's a bit of special exhibition. We decided to encourage makers to do some furniture slightly on the edge of the envelope... Furniture can be slightly straightforward. In Studio Furniture, we wanted to go on the edge on the line, on the cutting edge of design ... a little bit different, something you don't see often."

Craft Arts International Magazine #60 2004

by Terry Martin

In 1977 a young furniture maker named David Mac Laren arrived in Australia from New York. He had a fulfilling life as a furniture maker in America, but he became disillusioned with pervasive materialism and came to Australia to try to establish a more meaningful life. Like many at that time, he dreamt of self-sufficiency, so he bought rural land near the village of Bungendore, 30 minutes from Canberra, and set up his workshop. Eventually Mac Laren decided to open a gallery because he wanted a place to display his furniture and pieces by other furniture makers. It was a simple desire that gave no hint of the success and expansion of the coming years.

In September, 1983 Mac Laren rented the old Bungendore General Store and shortly afterwards opened Bungendore Wood Works Gallery (BWWG) with the first exhibition, "Perspectives in American Black Walnut". It featured furniture by local makers who used timber he had brought from the US. It was a modest start, but the gallery grew steadily, both in reputation and in the range of work it presented.

Canberra Review/Canberra Times, February 12, 2000

by Stan d'Argeavel

Its a long, long way from the Off-Broadway theatre stage to the quiet, secluded streets and lanes of Bungendore village and an even further distance from successful playwright to fine wood worker and gallery director. Bungendore Wood Works Gallery owner and artistic director David Mac Laren revels in just that.

“When I moved from New York City to Bungendore I wanted a place to display my furniture as well as the work of other furniture makers in the region.” says David.

And it’s this relationship with his designer/makers that David now finds the most challenging and enjoyable facet of running one of this country’s finest mixed media galleries - all in a sleepy little village in the Southern Tablelands of NSW.

“Its a very fragile set of circumstances that controls the lives of the makers and artists that provides the life-blood of the commercial gallery,” says Mac Laren “and I am extremely proud of achieving a special working relationship with makers.”

Capital Magazine Issue Twenty Five November - December 2006

by Stan d'Argeavel

A brief look around the walls of Australian jazz musician Don Burrows' studio reveals an impressive portrait of success and recognition in the music business. Looking further reveals the fact that a second artistic medium pervades his creative life.

Burrows is equally at home in the photographic darkroom as he is on the stage. To be blessed with a talent at a level few artists attain is one thing, to carry that talent to a second artistic medium is reserved for a few gifted individuals.

Don Burrows has been treading the boards as a professional musician for 65 years. In 1973 the twice-named Australian Living Treasure received the first Gold Record ever awarded to an Australian jazz musician, instigated the first Jazz studies program in the Southern Hemisphere at the NSW Conservatorium of Music and was awarded an MBE.

In 1987 he was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) and in 2000 received the coveted Sir Bernard Heinze Award for service to Australia, a rare honour for a musician. In the same year he was awarded the first of his three honorary doctorates.