Tweed River Art Gallery is inviting visitors to step back in time, as part of its current exhibition Seven Little Australians.
To complement the exhibition, TRAG has recreated a classroom for visitors to experience and participate in summer school drawing and writing activities inspired by the past and school time heritage.
Seven Little Australians is a Dromkeen travelling exhibition on display at the gallery until February 5. The exhibition brings the classic novel and perennial favourite Seven Little Australians to life through visually stunning illustrations by John Lennox.
Created for the 1994 centennial edition of Seven Little Australians, Lennox’s oil paintings faithfully and meticulously portray the period of 1894, when the first edition was written by novelist Ethel Turner. The fine, rich detail of the individual characters, settings and period clothing will captivate viewers, young and old alike, and introduce another generation to this classic Australian story.
John Lennox studied at the National Gallery and George Bell School of Art in Melbourne and later in Europe and London. His work is represented in government and private collections in Australia and overseas.
The tour is organised by the Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art based in Victoria. Dromkeen is owned and supported by Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd.
In addition to the schoolroom installation, museum artefacts from bygone school days and childhoods are on display, on loan from Tweed River Regional Museum. As part of this collaboration with the museum, teacher and Tweed River Regional Museum volunteer Bev Fairley will present hands-on insights into methods of communication and domestic tasks as they were performed more than 100 years ago. Bev, a descendant of the Tweed’s first postmaster, will also show items from her personal collection.
There will be four sessions of Life in Yesteryear with Bev Fairley (all NSW time): Saturday January 21 at 2pm. Sunday January 22 at 11am. Wednesday January 25 at 11am and 2pm.
“The gallery is delighted to be working so closely with regional museums and businesses of the area on this creative initiative,” TRAG’s Gallery Education and Audience Development Officer, Robyn Sweaney, said.
“Having these resources on loan from other institutions has helped create an authentic and engaging environment for visitors to the gallery, young and old, and complements the beautiful paintings by John Lennox in the Seven Little Australians exhibition.
“The response to this summer activity and display has already been enthusiastic and it is encouraging to see visitors and children so excited about sitting and drawing at old-style desks.”
The Scholars and Scoundrels display and associated activities at the gallery will continue until January 29.
