IF you are driving along RSL Drive in Kerang, you might notice a new art piece installed in the median strip. This is the first art installation as part of the Kerang Arts Project.
“It all started with an idea,” Kerang Progress Association President Angela Teasdale said.
“Kerang has got nothing, we’ve got lots of beautiful talented local artists around here, but nothing to show for it so to speak, no murals, no anything,” she said.
“We just got thinking and thought wouldn’t it be lovely to showcase some of the local artists and some of their brilliant artwork around.”
The first local artist to be showcased in the town is Pam Moore with her painting of the iconic Kerang Hotel before it was partially destroyed by fire in 2013.
“I think it’s nice to see people of the town represented in some way, it’s just wonderful, and I am very privileged to be the first one,” Ms Moore said.
Having painted her artwork of the original Kerang Hotel quite a few years ago, Ms Moore said she was quite honoured to be involved in the “wonderful idea”.
“I felt overwhelmed,” Ms Moore said.
“You always put a bit of yourself out there when you do something, they [the paintings] are like your babies.”
Ms Moore says art has always been something she has been passionate about, even from her state school days.
“It’s always been there, and you always enjoy life with art I think, at my age at any rate,” she said.
The first installation was funded by a grant that the Progress Association applied for through the Gannawarra Shire.
Working in conjunction with the Gannawarra Shire, plans are currently underway for the Stage 2 of the Kerang Arts Trail, acquiring an artwork an old Kerang building from back in 1981. This next installation will be funded by the Progress Association.
While they are not exactly sure how many artworks will eventually be in the trail, Ms Teasdale says it is something the Progress Association hopes they can continue develop over the coming years.
“We’ve got to start slowly and then we will build up to it.”
