By Luke Voogt
Sculptor Cinnamon Stephens will join a new online series exploring the art of some of the Surf Coast’s most creative people next month.
The Anglesea local looked forward to appearing on the virtual incarnation of the Surf Coast Arts Trail, which has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
“I think the series has been fabulous,” Stephens said.
“It’s really good – even people that I know and have known for years – hearing them talk about how they’ve gotten where they are, it’s fascinating.
“They’ve chosen some incredible topics and people from the Surf Coast.”
Stephens has sculptured metal for a living for most of her adult life and has been part of the Surf Coast Arts Trail since it began in 2012.
She joins event founders Julie Dyer and Pat McKenzie, and councillor Margot Smith, in The Making of the Surf Coast Arts Trail next Sunday, August 9.
“We’re going to talk about how the arts trail began,” she said.
The concept started with Pat McKenzie, who came across a similar event in an outer Melbourne shire, Stephens explained.
“She thought it was such a wonderful idea, why don’t we do it here,” she said.
“I think it took a few years of pestering to get the event running. That was just as I moved to the Surf Coast, so that was very lucky for me.”
The August series kicks off this Sunday with an episode featuring Rowena Martinich, who has created public artworks around Australia and commercial projects across the globe.
“Public art can invigorate communities and activate a sense of place,” Martinich said.
“We have internationally-recognised artists living here that should be embraced and showcased.”
Martinich joins artists Julie Shiels, Grant Fincke and Glenn Romanis in discussing the role public art plays in creating a sense of place.
On August 16 playwright Janet Brown joins Janine McKenzie, Nicky Watson, Maryanne Doolen and Michael Baker to discuss why theatre matters.
The next Sunday, Stacie Bobele, Deirdre Carmichael, Richy Bennett, John Foss and Peter Day explore Art, Activism and Place.
On August 30, Harriet Gaffney, Stewart Guthrie, Geoffrey Carran, Helen Gibbins, Daniela Rodriguez and Mark Trinham take a look at the future of Surf Coast arts.
Surf Coast Shire councillor David Bell said the sessions, which began in July, had received “a huge response”.
People across the region and even overseas had tuned in to local artists discussing their work and big picture issues, he said.
More information: surfcoast.vic.gov.au/PORTAL.
