In 2011, when the late Hugh Waller set up an online community for creatives living and working in Bendigo, he was not sure how many people the group would attract.
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Still, he was confident there was demand for a network of artists. He even thought the effort might culminate in a visual arts festival.
Mr Waller passed away in June this year, aged 57, but not before his arts community flourished.
The Bendarts Facebook group today connects 1300 artists and audience members.
“It's a great big notifceboard, to put up their work, somneone else’s work, to ask questions,” Tony Day, one of its adminstrators and a friend of Mr Waller, said.
“That was something lacking before Hugh started: an immediate connected network of art folk.”
His late friend’s vision for a citywide arts festival will move one step closer to reality on the weekend when an exhibition of works from 26 central Victorian artists goes on show at View Street gallery space Dudley House.
Many of the artists featured in the group show shared a personal connection with Hugh.
The event is a fundraiser towards the festival, which could be held as early as next spring.
But Bendarts would not stop at a festival, Mr Day said.
The event would raise funds for a perpetual Hugh Waller art award gifted each year to a new, young artist.
Among those to show their work in Dudley House next week is Jackass Flat man Ben Dyson.
An asphalter by day, Mr Dyson is also an avid creator of what he called “abstract fluids”, mixing together different coloured paints to create cloud-like formations on his work surface.
Mr Dyson was excited to win a spot in the group show.
In another step towards making Bendigo a centre of creative activity, the council is this week continuing to consult with residents about a new arts strategy.
Residents and planners will meet at Ulumbarra Theatre tonight to discuss the future directions of art in the city, while a similar event will be held in Heathcote on Friday.
The BendArts shows opens on Sunday night at 5pm and runs for one week.
Mark Kearney
Journalist. Traveller. Pop culture connoisseur. Mark is passionate about education, the arts and social justice, especially stories affecting the LGBTI community.
Journalist. Traveller. Pop culture connoisseur. Mark is passionate about education, the arts and social justice, especially stories affecting the LGBTI community.
