The Art of Community
The Art of Community
Last column I talked about how Gladstone is a key player in producing the commodities which are the building blocks of our quality of life in the developed world. And one of the benefits our comfortable civilization gives us is the time and opportunity to express ourselves through the arts.
QER was one of the sponsors of the recently held 44th Rio
Tinto Martin Hanson Memorial Art Awards. The awards are named after Martin Hanson (1923-1976) who was a popular local business person, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Port Curtis and patron of the Gladstone Artists Club. I was fortunate enough to be able to go along to the sponsors preview event on behalf of the Company. I have always been very interested in art. Unfortunately, about the only things I can draw are the curtains, and so I was amazed at the artistic talent out there in our community.
The sponsors representatives were shown around the art works by this year’s Judge, Simon Elliott who has been Deputy Director and Assistant Director of many prestigious Galleries across Australia. Have you ever looked at something and liked it but not known why? Simon gave us some interesting insights into some of the elements that make different art objects appeal to different people. About 375 pieces of art were submitted and with more than $40,000 available in total prize money, the Awards have become one the best regarded in regional Australia.
It’s events like the Martin Hanson Awards, with the support of the many Industry and private sponsors, that give life to our community, bring everyone together and help make Gladstone the special community that it is. That’s one of the reasons that QER has been a proud sponsor of the awards for many years, and why we plan to continue our support into the future.