Winner

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

QAGOMA Learning: DESIGN TRACKS

DESIGN TRACKS: CREATIVE PATHWAYS PROGRAM is an annual student-led program developed by QAGOMA Learning and delivered in partnership with a constellation of Indigenous agencies, businesses, community organisations, academics, mentors, artists and creatives.

Led by QAGOMA’s Head of Learning, Terry Deen, DESIGN TRACKS was conceived as a micro-pilot project in 2017-2018 to close gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people across regional and remote Queensland in the critical area of secondary education.

Understanding the vital role galleries and museums play in providing students with cultural learning experiences that can complement the work of schools, the QAGOMA Learning team set about creating pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in regional and remote Queensland.

Run over several days, the program features direct engagement with some of Australia’s finest First Nations talents across art forms, and intensive residency elements including workshops, presentations, keynotes, travel, site specific research and attendance at curated events, collections and displays.

From its inception the program has flourished, and through 2022-2023 it has transitioned to become one of QAGOMA’s most impactful, remotely delivered programs in the Gallery’s history. Significantly, with the support of the Neilson Foundation, and the appointment of QAGOMA’s new Regional Liaison Officer, Georgia Walsh (a Badtjala / Wondunna, K’gari woman), DESIGN TRACKS is now proudly run by, run with, and run for, First Nations participants.

Finalists

Museum of Brisbane

Making Place – Accessibility

Over the last two years, Museum of Brisbane (MoB) has had a major focus on improving inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility. This has included significant staff training and professional development, facilitated by experts from organisations including Dementia Australia, Deaf Services Queensland, Vision Australia, Autism Australia, Spinal Life Australia and St John’s Ambulance (Mental Health First Aid).

Making Place – 100 Views of Brisbane was a major, salon hang exhibition that presented 100 depictions of Brisbane from Museum of Brisbane Collections, posing the question – what makes place?

To develop the exhibition, MoB worked with access specialists Janice Rieger, Sarah Barron and Sarah Empey, and key stakeholders including Vision Australia, Auslan Consultancy and Dementia Australia.

Making Place was the Museum’s first exhibition to implement their accessibility training across all stages of an exhibition project – from design, interpretation, delivery, and visitor engagement. It was also marked the first time Museum has provided audio descriptions and Auslan translations for key artworks.

HOTA Gallery, Home of the Arts

Postcards from the Edge

HOTA, Home of the Arts, proudly opened HOTA Gallery in May 2021 and is the heart of the City of Gold Coast’s thriving cultural precinct. HOTA Gallery facilitates and shares new ideas and experiences in visual art and draws its strength from integrated arts programming and collaborations with artists, creatives and organisational partners.

In 2021, HOTA engaged Queensland artist Martin Edge to collaborate on an immersive exhibition project aimed at families and to raise awareness of Autism in the community.

Martin, has been painting full-time since 2007. His naïve, colourful paintings joyfully reflect his view of the world as an artist with Autism.

Postcards from the Edge was HOTA Gallery’s third exhibition project presented in its dedicated Children’s Gallery. Displayed from 11 June to 30 October 2022, this exhibition placed inclusivity and accessibility at the forefront of the exhibition experience.

Martin’s Gold Coast beach paintings were used to transform HOTA’s Children’s Gallery into a 3D immersive, family-friendly holiday adventure that encouraged safe, explorative play. It included:

• A giant sandcastle for children to climb and discover hidden souvenirs from HOTA’s collection.
• Martin’s Shop, a place for imaginative retail play.
• Martin’s Souvenir Stand, where the artist displayed a curated selection of his favouritesouvenirs from HOTA’s collection and visitors displayed their own souvenir mementos createdduring their visit.
• A delightful animation video that brought Martin’s self-portrait image to life, providingwonderful insights into the artist’s lived experiences and his artistic practice.
• A downloadable Spotify playlist for visitors to listen to Martin’s favourite music.
• Hands-on art activities designed to connect audiences to memory making and shared holidayexperiences, and Edge Post where visitors could ‘post’ their souvenir postcards to Martin.