Artist: Jo Darbyshire Work in progress Location: Lake Grace, Western Australia Community partner: Lake Grace Regional Artspace
About the artist: Jo Darbyshire (born 1961) is a fifth generation West Australian, and grew up in Lake Grace, in the West Australian wheatbelt. She currently works as an artist and social history curator in Fremantle, WA. Jo studied Fine Arts at Curtin University (1981), a Post-Graduate Diploma at Canberra School of Art, ACT (1991) and in 2003 completed a Master of Creative Arts in Cultural Heritage, at Curtin University, WA.
While primarily a painter, Jo also has an interest in art and contemporary history. She has undertaken two year long residencies which have supported these interests. The first was artist-in-residence at the WA Museum to create a groundbreaking exhibition The Gay Museum, the history of gay and lesbian presence in Western Australia(2003). Using rigorous research skills and strategies from the visual arts (juxtaposition, found objects, text as a visual tool) alongside poetry and humour.
About the community partner: Lake Grace Regional Artspace is a thriving multi-use Arts venue located in the Southeastern Wheatbelt programming a range of arts activities including exhibitions, workshops, creative experiences and community arts projects. The Lake Grace Regional Art Space is run as a non-profit organisation and is supported by the community of Lake Grace and surrounding area. We work closely with the Lake Grace Artists’ Group and Lake Grace Creative Events to provide a place where cultural groups, artists, art supporters, arts workers, and like-minded people can come together in a creative environment.
