Art and environment program
Light Walk, Mackay Highlands. Photo: Marian Drew.
Great Walks of Queensland is a Queensland Government initiative administered by the department creating a series of six world-class walking tracks through some of the state's most beautiful natural areas. The walks are: Gold Coast Hinterland, Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Fraser Island, Mackay Highlands, the Whitsunday area, and the Wet Tropics.
An innovative Art and Environment Program was carried out in association with the Great Walks of Queensland. The Great Walks Art and Environment Program was a creative response to the Government's Art Built-In Policy under which public art by Queensland artists and designers is incorporated into major state-funded building programs.
In 2002 the department commissioned an 'Integrated Cultural Opportunities Assessment Report' to set the direction for this project. This report recommended that the department implement an innovative program very different from the existing Art Built-In model. Instead of art and design being 'built-in' to the Great Walk track systems, a regional arts development program was developed.
In each Great Walk region, the Art and Environment Program sponsored residencies by seven nationally and internationally recognised Queensland artists who created artworks in response to that environment, and conducted art and environment workshops for local professional artists. The program was informed by the curatorial rationale 'Habitus-Habitat' as the guiding principle for all involved. Artworks created from each regional program will be exhibited locally in public art galleries. Find out more about the Habitus-Habitat touring exhibition.
In some instances the program included art and environment workshops for local aspiring artists and children in addition to the exhibitions.
In another innovative interpretation of the Art Built-In Policy, Powerlink Queensland, the government-owned corporation responsible for the state's electricity transmission network, directed its Art Built-In contribution to the Great Walks Art and Environment Program.
The Great Walks Art and Environment Program was managed across the state as a co-operative venture between the department, Powerlink and the regional galleries, facilitated by Arcimix, a consultancy specialising in public art project management.
Great Walks Art and Environment Program proudly supported by
Last updated: 10 June 2009