Thriving arts scene in east Gippsland fosters community connection
Artists from the FLOAT collective create lanterns for a winter festival parade in East Gippsland. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
Regional Australians are well practised at mitigating their rural isolation with hobbies, community events, social clubs and committees.
And now an influx of sea changers, tree changers, and returned regional expats is inspiring a new era of community arts groups that foster connection in cities and towns.
In the fishing and tourism village of Lakes Entrance, east of Melbourne, FLOAT arts collective founder Andrea Lane and her husband artist Gary Yelen have run hundreds of community arts projects in East Gippsland.
Weaving, chatting and laughing together on weekend mornings at Slipway in Lakes Entrance. (Supplied: FLOAT)
FLOAT's Slipway Shed is a workshop, performance and exhibition space, and drop-in centre for visitors. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
After years of searching for a prominent space to operate from, the group was able to reactivate the dormant, historic Slipway Sheds where they now run exhibitions, performances, workshops and community gatherings.
One of those is a weavers group called FLAX.
It began when local business owner Deb Hall set up a chair on the open-air deck at the sheds armed with a handful of flax.
Weaving away, while soaking in the ambient waterfront views, other people soon joined in on her craft meditation, and a group formed.
Creativity and social connection abound at the weavers group's casual meetings. (Supplied: FLOAT)
Ms Lane says participants and spectators come and go as they please, weaving, watching and chatting over coffee on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Decorative fish created by the weavers group, a nod to Lakes Entrance's fishing heritage. (Supplied: FLOAT)
"There is no grand plan, no feasibility study and no cost to anyone, just 'doing' in a very welcoming and visible space surrounded by a lot of laughing," she said.
Ms Lane said the key to running a successful community arts project was to encourage beginners while celebrating the excellence of more established artists.
"We have lost the arts department at TAFE and Federation University here in Gippsland, so we have started our own art school," she said.
Two to tango
Further west in the Princes Highway town of Yarragon, each Wednesday night, Argentine tango enthusiasts gather from as far as Glengarry and Narre Warren to dance under the guidance of Melbourne-based, Buenos Aires-born teacher Fabio Robles.
Naomi Brittain joined the Gippsland tango group six years ago after seeing the dance performed on Dancing With the Stars.
Gippsland tango dancers can dress up and showcase their moves at monthly social events. (Supplied: Gippsland Tango)
She describes the Argentine tango as a walking dance of different speeds, based around forward, back, side, diagonal and pivot steps.
"You'll never dance the tango the same way twice," she said.
Ms Brittain says the progression of the dance depends on the ambience of the room, your partner's mood, the interpretation of the music, and the way in which both bodies anticipate their partner's next move.
Naomi Brittain says learning the tango has improved her fitness and kept her socially connected. (Supplied: Gippsland Tango)
"I'm a single mum, I haven't had a man in my life for over 30 years, so to be able to hug someone and dance is a beautiful thing," she said.
"The friendships we form, we call our tango family."
Despite popular belief, she said the tango was more about the communication of human touch than seduction or sexual intimacy and that most participants aged between 50 and 90 years old came along for fitness and social connection.
"Feeling the music, moving to the music you're getting the exercise, social connection, you're getting a hug, it's just beautiful," Ms Brittain said.
Art circle connections
At Sale, two-and-a-half hours east of Melbourne, artist Sandy Martin has created an Art Circle where people can gather quietly to work on paintings in the company of others.
The Sale Art Circle paints animals, birds, portraits and scenery from photographs. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
The doors fling open on a Wednesday night as retirees, part-time workers, young mums and people with disabilities trade the isolation of working alone at home for a supportive and encouraging atmosphere.
Art and craft groups provide social and creative activities for people with disabilities. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
"It's actually really good for mental health because we come in and there's so many different personalities and different sense of humours and everything, we all get on really well," president Annette Walker said.
Beginners rub shoulders with professional painters to exchange ideas, advice and motivate each other, in a calming, leafy, light-filled glass pavilion at the local showgrounds.
Annette Walker says the group brings together people who would otherwise work in isolation. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
With personal creativity pushed to the backburner as people scramble to make a living, Ms Walker said the group reacquainted participants with the tactile art of focusing on a task, and gave them the confidence to put their artwork on display.
The artists say painting together helps them focus on the task at hand. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
"When you're at home you have housework and washing and everything else that can distract you and you want to do that first, where as you come here and it's my time to do this," she said.
The artists can work towards presenting their work at a biannual show. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
Cast and crew camaraderie
At The Forge Theatre in Bairnsdale, Judy Taylor is directing the Bairnsdale Production Line Theatre Company's season of Death of a Salesman.
She says people are still going to see theatre, despite the now-ingrained couch culture of people staying at home to watch streaming services like Netflix, Stan and Binge.
Judy Taylor says theatre is cleansing and cathartic. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
"There's nothing like going out and experiencing something with a group of people, with strangers or people that you know, especially in a situation where you might be crying or laughing or gasping."
Ms Taylor said it was important to revisit the classics and she believes audiences would see their lives in Arthur Miller's tale about the treadmill of middle-class existence.
The cast rehearses a scene at the Forge Theatre in Bairnsdale. (Supplied: Susan Hawton, Bairnsdale Production Line Theatre Company)
"Theatre is cathartic, you can sit there, and you can watch a story unfold, and you can go through all the emotions of the characters and in a way it's cleansing," she said.
For the volunteer cast and crew, Ms Taylor said the appeal of the theatre came down to the opportunity to be creative, make friends and feel part of a community.
Back stage at the Forge Theatre, Jean Russell and Matt Evans get ready to perform. (ABC Gippsland: Rachael Lucas)
"That ability to work together and have each other's back, you don't experience that a lot in life, so certainly being in the theatre provides you with an avenue for that," she said.