A 21-year-old artist from Elmore has created a fantastic forest for children to explore their imaginations in the heart of Bendigo these school holidays.
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Mary Hoare expresses her art through painting, photography and drawings, but chose a different medium for her installation in the Rosalind Park Conservatory.
“I wanted to use felt so kids can pick up and play with the art,” she said.
“You don’t have to worry about them breaking it.”
Ms Hoare created dozens of animals to hide amongst the ponds, plants and rocks which make up the Felted Forest exhibtion.
“Fifteen butterflies, five caterpillars, four beetles, nine bees, a turtle, a frog, two slugs, a lizard, a snail, a bird with eggs, a spider with flies…”
Just one frog took her 22 hours of felting to create. The wings alone of a giant butterfly – which can be made to flap by pulling on four different ropes – took her an entire day.
Children are given a list of animals to find hiding among beneath lily pads or under rocks.
“I wanted to create an environment for where children could enjoy the space, touch and play with the work and also to introduce them to art through play,” Ms Hoare said.
The free exhibition was commissioned by the City of Greater Bendigo.
CoGB Arts officer Rohan Phillips said Felted Forest was the sixth children’s art installation to take place in the Rosalind Park Conservatory.
“The idea behind this children’s art program is to use art to transform the conservatory into a unique environment for imaginative play and creative inspiration,” he said.
“Each year the popularity of the program continues to grow with last year’s Strange Garden exhibition attracting over 2,000 visitors in 11 days.”
Felted Forest is open daily from 11am to 3pm from Friday September 25 to Sunday October 4.
