MegaFLORA Community Sculpture Project Workshop

About the Project

The 2019 Esperance Wildflower Festival will feature some larger-than-life plant and insect sculptures with the blossoming of Esperance Community Arts (ECA) MegaFLORA Project in the lead up to, and during, the event. MegaFLORA is a multi-faceted community arts project that will celebrate the 2019 festival theme: “Bugs and the Bush.”
 
ECA Executive Officer Jane Mulcock said that Esperance Community Arts recently received a boost in the form of $48,520 project funding from Festivals Australia, which will be combined with in-kind support from many community groups and organisations to ensure that the 2019 event will be spectacular and memorable.
 
Esperance Community Arts was one of only three Western Australian organisations to secure Festivals Australia funding in this round, and one of 16 organisations nationwide.
The majority of the funding will be used to employ local artists to design and facilitate 6 weeks of free community workshops in the lead up to the Festival, and to support the involvement of three other local arts organisations.
 
The Esperance Theatre Guild, Dance Devotion, the Esperance Brass Band and the Esperance Wildflower Society are all involved in the MegaFLORA project, which will be led by professional artists Mylene van Heijster, Naomi Stanitzki and Jennell Reynolds.
Each of the species selected for the project also have specific cultural significance for the local Nyungar community. These include Banksia, Acacia and Bardi.
 
Dr Mulcock said that the project will benefit local artists and the broader community alike, strengthening relationships between different groups as they collaborate on a project that will both entertain and educate the community.
 
“The project has three primary purposes: to inspire, to educate and to encourage community engagement,” she said.
 
It will involve the creation of large-scale sculptures, costumes, dance and music elements that combine to entertain and inspire those attending the festival, while also serving to increase awareness of native plants and insects.
 
“The MegaFLORA sculptures and costumes will provide a key visual focus in our marketing and promotion of the Festival, during their creation and once they are completed and installed,” she said.
 
“Working on such a big scale, with upcycled materials, to create sculptures that will need to withstand outdoor coastal conditions, will also allow the artists to experiment with a range of new materials and techniques that will extend their technical and professional skills.”
Workshops and activities related to the project will activate and enable community involvement, with people of all ages encouraged to take part in the project and enjoy the outcome at Festival time.

 

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