Creativity and connections on the West Coast

The talent and creativity of women living on the West Coast will be celebrated in an art exhibition hosted by Anglicare Tasmania to mark International Women’s Day.

The exhibition—featuring paintings, sculpture, collage, textiles and much more—will be held in the hall at Strahan Primary School on Monday 8 March and everybody is invited to attend.

Entrant Annette Whitehouse, of Zeehan, has made dolls’ furniture since she was a child and is always on the lookout for items she can use in her creations. She also enjoys painting and handcrafting.

“Creating is my therapy, an exercise in mindfulness and a constructive way to spend our winters on the West Coast.   I like to turn things that no-one wants anymore into objects that would delight a child’s heart,” she says.

Fellow entrant and Zeehan resident Maggie Crossman will showcase her talents in bear-making and bead creations. They are skills she first learned in Western Australia and Scotland respectively and has honed while living on the West Coast.

“I enjoy sharing ideas, projects and stories at our local community craft group,” she says. “Here the real treasure is in community connection and sharing a few pearls of wisdom.”

Anglicare has a strong presence on the West Coast, with a team of two practitioners based in Zeehan and living locally. They are supported by staff and programs that are run out of offices in Burnie and Devonport. It’s a free, confidential and flexible service that covers parenting, children’s mental health and supporting women who are in domestic and family violence situations. Anglicare can also connect West Coast residents with counselling services where there is financial hardship or harm caused by alcohol and other drugs and gambling.

Anglicare community services worker Rachel Biddle said the exhibition would also share the diversity of experience, strength and resilience of women living on the West Coast.

“Whether you’re a local resident or you are venturing West for the long weekend, we’d love you to drop into Strahan Primary School to see what talent we have in our community; everyone will be warmly welcomed,” Rachel said.

There will be an official opening at 11.00 a.m. followed by a community lunch courtesy of the Strahan Country Women’s Association. The exhibition will close at 4.00 p.m.

Main photo:  Anglicare’s Rachel Biddle (centre) with Zeehan artists Maggie Crossman (left) and Annette Whitehouse (right). 

Photo below: beadwork and bears made by Zeehan artist Maggie Crossman.