AFTER floods and restoration, Seymour and District Art Society managed to save their annual art show and stage Art Beyond the Divide Show this weekend.
The annual art show promotes regional work and offers artwork for sale plus cash prizes was re-scheduled to repair the heavily-affected artwork.
President Terri MacDonald said when she was notified about the floods, most artwork was sitting at Wine by Sam, which is hosting the show, however the Old Courthouse gallery, the society’s home, was underwater.
“The silver lining is the fact we were actually at Wine by Sam hanging works for the big show [which] meant that we didn’t know that the waters were coming through,” she said.
“The gallery at Seymour have gone underwater, they had about two feet of water throughout the place.
“Council who manage the building, they came through, they had all the experts come through like the toxicology reports and everything done, they have organised for removal to take out the furniture that we wanted to save.”
The society reached out to the Grimwade Conservation team at the University of Melbourne to clean flood affected artworks in Seymour for the show, which will deliver more than 200 works.
Ms MacDonald said despite the floods, the show would proceed with the artworks being examined by high-calibre judges.
The public is welcome to attend opening night, which will feature live entertainment and catering.
This year, the show will feature a photography section for artists to compete for a cash prize.
“We get some high-quality work that comes through … there’s something in there for everybody, “Ms MacDonald said.
“There are pieces in there you sort of look at, and you think ‘oh my goodness’ and like I said everything’s for sale, so we’re encouraging the public to come, we’re hoping it to be the weekend of the state election so people will be out and about.”
Ms MacDonald said she was mindful for future events due to the gallery’s condition, however through the society’s art stands, pop-up art shows were a possibility.
“We’re trying to work out what we’re going to be able to do, we’ve got these art stands that we invested in during COVID, and that’s essentially a God-send because it means that we can actually have what we call pop-up shows,” she said.
Art Beyond the Divide is at Wine by Sam, 59-71 Anzac Avenue, Seymour from Friday to Sunday.
Opening night entry is $25 for adults and free for children under 12, while entry on Saturday and Sunday is via gold coin donation.
For more information, visit www.seymourartsociety.org.au/2022-art-beyond-the-divide.
