Week 2, Day 005 No Funding Granted

B, B & B didn’t get ANY government funding specifically for this Tour. Particularly surprising is the toss by the Arts Victoria Touring Project – designed to support Victorian galleries – especially in regional areas – in obtaining Victorian art produced in Victoria for Victorians. It was very disheartening to be sure! There has been no explanation or feed back on this. At least this rejected application supported by the six participating Victorian galleries was a shared disappointment. But with more than two years of planning after the regional Launch by Anthony Camm at the Ararat Regional Art Gallery, B, B & B must not be allowed to come to nothing! With Ian Tully from Swan Hill Regional Gallery as the intrepid Tour Host and six keen venues, thankfully B, B & B continues – perhaps on a shoestring, but with plenty of goodwill and enthusiasm!

Hold on, I just visited the website for Arts Victoria Touring Project recipients and have some ideas as to why B, B & B did not get funding…this project is not by NETS Victoria, who like to create their own tours; it is not ‘multi-artist’ based – seen to be giving more for less; not theatre or orchestra, not Regional Arts Victoria, not Museum based, etc.…this is almost entirely about one government hand paying the other or presenting safe, widely accepted arts outcomes. My interpretation: No handouts for edgy installation art, itself a tricky medium which many outlying galleries do not have the courage to show.

We should not feel badly about not getting the grants, in the least.

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Week 1, Day 002 Blogging with a theme

So, the idea with this year-long Blog is to draw a portrait of BED, BREAKFAST & BELIEF: Seeking The Spiritual Self In Community Relationship ….Who it involves, What it delivers, Where it goes, When it connects/fails, Why it is of interest, and How it changes. Of course, creating the majority of the exhibition has already taken over ten years which will not be documented but more installations will immerge over the year.

This Victorian Tour is unique in that though it represents a large body of work, each gallery was encouraged to pick installations which suited its particular preferences, gallery space and clientele. With great enthusiasm, these choices were enacted. So what seemed like a good idea at the time is proving to be a complicated process. Effectively, each gallery chose very different work and six groupings of Peitsch art will be installed throughout the Tour. The good thing of course is that each gallery director will have exactly what she/he wants and people visiting more than one location will expand their experience of the work.