News from the sector

Craft Australia Annual General Meeting
Craft Australia's 2005 Annual General Meeting is scheduled for 15 April at 1.00pm in the Craft Australia boardroom. Under the Craft Australia Consititution the Craft Australia board consists of seven people being four Directors elected by the members of Craft Australia and three Directors appointed by the Board.

This AGM will see Margaret Kirkwood, the immediate past President, step down from the Board. Margaret was the President of Craft Australia during its restructure and relocation from Sydney to Canberra. The Board sincerely thanks her for ably guiding the organisation through this period of change. Professor Kay Lawrence was elected President at the last AGM in April 2004 and will continue in that role for 2005.

Visual Arts/Craft board members announced
Australia Council for the Arts has announced the new Visual Arts/Craft board members Lesley Alway (Chair), Liz Williamson (Deputy Chair), Karen Mills, Martin Walch, Barbara Heath, Peter Churcher and Peter Bowles.

Cool Glass Hot Art '05
Visiting Artists 24 April -3 May
Public Program 4 - 5 May
The Glass Workshop at the School of Art will host an intensive 10 day visiting artist and curator workshop and 2 day public forum in Canberra. These activities are being held as a precursor to the GAS Conference in Adelaide.

As a pre Conference event, the Glass Workshop has invited national and international curators of significant professional standing along with highly accomplished glass artists from Australia and overseas to Canberra to work collaboratively at the School of Art Glass Workshop.

Visit the Australian Glass website for program details throughout April and May.
See Exhibitions for what's on during the conference

Raw Heat Hot Clay
Raw Heat Hot Clay is a celebration of ceramics across Canberra. It is being held in association with Gundaroo Wood-fire '05 and comprises exhibitions presented by Craft ACT, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Canberra Potters' Society, ANCA Gallery and the Gundaroo Wood-fire '05 conference.
Download the program details from Craft ACT website
See Exhibitions for what's on during the conference

fuel4artists
A sister site of fuel4arts.com and has been developed to serve the unique needs of visual arts and craft artists. A must visit fuel4artists

artThrob Living Artists WA
It's official Living Artists WA is due to commence this year in October with the energetic title of artThrob and will direct the spotlight on WA's visual arts talents with the goal of widening awareness of the wealth of creativity residing in WA. Register your interest by emailing Carola Akindele-Obe

New tapestry to commemorate Sir Rupert Hamer's contribution to the arts
On the first anniversary of Sir Rupert Hamer's death, two Victorian arts organisations have joined forces to commemorate the former Premier's and Arts Minister's immense contribution to the arts in Victoria. The Victorian Tapestry Workshop will work with the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) to create a tapestry celebrating the impact of Sir Rupert's lifelong dedication to the arts.

Community Cultural Development Research
Carey Lai has been awarded a CCDB Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts and is researching how we can better support artists working in Community Cultural Development. A call to Australian artists to get involved by participating in a simple online survey. Visit http://isisproductions.com.au/

The Vodafone Digital Art Awards
Worth over $40,000 in cash prizes the new Vodafone awards were vied for by both established and emerging digital artists. Judges Tobias Berger, Susan Ballard and Steve Russell sorted through hundreds of entries to find the finalists in each category. Results on the Vodafone Digital Art Award website. Review Art Awards For The Digital Age by Scoop Independent News

Congratulations
Congratulations to Cowra Art Award recipients Meg Buchanan the 2005 recipient of the Calleen Acquisition Award, Rachel Meek the 2005 Local Artist Award, Highly Commended Awards to Christine Lanham and to Greg Daly and the three Merit Awards Jane Canfield, Anita McIntyre and Marzena Wasikowska. Congratulations also to to Ms Alison McShanang who has been invited by the Australian Embassy in Cambodia to exhibit on behalf of the Darwin Patchworkers and Quilters as part of their 50 years in Cambodia Celebrations.

Victorian College of the Arts   Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Arts Management
This course suits artists, arts workers, managers and Indigenous cultural workers and is run in partnership with The Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts & Cultural Development. The centre is looking at delivering the course as Block Release - 1week blocks 4 times throughout the year on campus. Email Meg Roche for course details

South Australian School of Art workshops   April and May
Coinciding with the 35th GAS conference Matters of Substance two unique workshops.
Harumi Yukutake Building Ideas 25 - 29 April
Richard Marquis and Nick Mount Granulare 2 - 6 May
Visit the University of South Australia website for details or email Gabriella Bisetto to register.

Jacquard course - Italy
The two week course presented by Jennifer Robertson will focus on the integration between traditional hand loom set-up and computer assisted design. Email for details. Visit to the Fondazione Arte della Seta Lisio website to see the Foundation which is based in the beautiful hills which surround the city of Florence.

Articles

• Sydney Morning Herald   A louder knock on government's door   Lauren Martin
• The Age   Mind over matter for arts statesman   Ashley Crawford
• Online Opinion   Profit no longer a dirty word in education   Julie Novak
• Fairfax Digital   Orchestra, dance woes tip of the iceberg   Sharon Verghis
• Science meets Parliament   Dr Brendan Nelson

Craft Australia gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance it receives from the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian government's arts funding and advisory body.