This project for Bloom involves students from schools all over the Snowy Valleys, with workshops being completed at local schools throughout the term to help construct and formulate sculptures which will be displayed at Bloom.
The sculptures will celebrate the joy of the garden, highlighting the agricultural nature of our local environment. The sculptures are made mostly from recycled and repurposed materials, with the larger pieces referencing the shapes of modernism and semi abstraction. The smaller pieces are an imitation of some of the world’s great floral gardens.
Students will be assisted by artist Robyn Veneer Sweeney and the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail team who will facilitate and bring the project together.
Come along to Bloom and witness the creativity of our Snowy Valleys students and participate in the formation of the sculptures with an onsite workshop visitors can create small pieces to contribute to the larger creative project.
Artist: Robyn Veneer-Sweeney
Robyn studied sculpture and painting at Wollongong University, where she later tutored in Art Theory.
She then resided in Far North Queensland where her arts practice was focused on environmental and social issues. Seven years ago, Robyn moved to the Snowy Valleys and continued her artistic pursuits. In 2020, she established a non-profit Artist Run Initiative Open Studio and Gallery as part of a post-Black Summer Recovery Project.
Robyn’s major land art piece ‘Containment Lines’ is included in the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail at the Pilot Hill Arboretum in the Bago State Forest. Robyn has exhibited her work in Regional Galleries in Queensland and New South Wales, with her most recent gallery exhibition at Canberra Contemporary in late 2023.
Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail
The Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail is a 150 kilometre permanent public collection of nearly 60 sculptures in 12 locations across the Snowy Valleys. Sculptures by artists from 14 countries can be discovered in the towns of Adelong, Batlow, Talbingo, Tumbarumba, Tumut, the hamlet of Tooma, the Tumbarumba wine region cellar doors at Courabyra Wines, Johansen Wines and Obsession Wines. The latest addition to the trail are 3 sites within the Bago State Forest including Laurel Hill and Pilot Hill.
Image of Robyn Veneer Sweeney applying goldleaf to trees for the first installation of Containment Lines, at Arbour Festival 2021, Pilot Hill Arboretum, Bago State Forest, Snowy Valleys. Courtesy of Eastern Riverina Arts. Image by Jack of Hearts Studio.
FIND IT: Pioneer Park