The STA BOX Gallery @ THE Q
The Q is the home of the STA Box Gallery in Queanbeyan Palerang. Enjoy the online gallery below and visit STA Box Gallery QPRC at the Q at 253 Crawford St, Queanbeyan.
BOX Gallery exhibitions are available to STA Members on application. Members can apply for an exhibition in one or more BOX Galleries. If you would like to register an interest in a BOX Gallery exhibition email us for more information.
Find out more about the STA Box Gallery Project
Belonging, Possum Skin Blanket
Summer 2023 & Autumn 2024
An exhibition of the Possum Skin Blanket made with Dr Matilda House and the community through a series of workshops and gatherings at the Queanbeyan Hive across 2023.
Aunty Dr Matilda House is a Ngambri/Wiradjuri Elder who led the process to share the ancient tradition of making blankets from Possum Skins with community members who participated in a series of workshops. Designing the pattern of the skins, trimming, sewing and then decorating the skin side of the cloak with poker work designs that tell rich and complex stories of belonging and connection to Country.
One of the most important stories to emerge and be incorporated into the blanket was that of Tom and his mother who are reconnecting to their First Nations heritage as part of the legacy of the Stolen Generations. Aunty Matilda named the cloak ‘Belonging’ in Tom’s honour to acknowledge this important reconnection.
The workshops were facilitated by Amanda Renolds (Stella Stories) who brought her deep knowledge of making Possum Skin blankets to support Matilda through the multi workshop process. The possum skins were sourced from New Zealand to create the cloak.
The workshops were developed by Helen Ferguson at the Queanbeyan Hive and Sue Jarvis from The Rotary Club of Jerrabomberra who were both there every step of the journey.
The project was supported by a grant through CASP (the Country Arts Support Program) administered by STA.
Previous STA Box Gallery Exhibitions at the Q
Sculptures by Walter Brecely Spring 23
Artist Walter Brecely’s diverse education, spanning Fine Arts at Illawarra Institute of Technology (1993-95) and a Bachelor of Creative Arts majoring in Sculpture from University of Wollongong (2000), complements his proficiency in engraving, stone setting, and metal casting.
His work has earned acclaim including the 2008 Goulburn Regional Art Award, and finalist positions in several art prizes including the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize and the Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Prize. His latest accolade is the 2023 BOCCA Sculpture Prize. Walter was also the Lead Illustrator for the VR project Inanimate Alice: Perpetual Nomads from 2016 to 2018, a coproduction funded by Screen Australia and the Canada Media Fund. The project secured the 2020 Reader’s Choice Prize at Woollahra Digital Literary Awards and an Honourable Mention in 2017’s Turn On Digital Literature Prize.
Contact Walter directly through his website to chat about any of the works. All are for sale. walterbrecely.com Facebook:@BrecelyStudios and Instagram:@walterbrecely
Trembler, 2014.
Wood (elm), stainless steel, recycled diesel engine filters.
Enquiries
Organically Challenged, 2013.
Recycled lawn bowls, copper, recycled goblets.
Enquiries
Lawn Weeds, 2013.
Recycled lawn bowls, copper.
Enquiries
Saplings, 2018.
Copper, stainless steel, sterling silver, recycled glass.
Enquiries
The Walkers, 2012.
Recycled cutlery, stainless steel, sterling silver.
Enquiries
Marquettes by Neil Dickinson
Winter 23
An exhibition of small-scale marquettes or models by Queanbeyan Artist Neil Dickinson.
Neil is a figurative sculptor who created these works as art of the process to larger public sculptures installed in various locations throughout the region.
Neil graduated from the Canberra School of Art in 1983 and received a Postgraduate Diploma (Sculpture) from the University of Tasmania in 1985.
‘Central to my work is a belief in the nobility of the human form and the celebration of the constant struggle with all forms of oppression – the philosophy of inner spiritual growth in the face of materialist aggression.’
With the exception of the marquette of Queen Nellie Hamilton which is still to be realised as a final work, you can find each of the final public works using the interactive map to navigate you there. Each Marquette gives us a unique insight into the Artist’s process and vision during the creation of a major piece.
Works on display are not for sale.
Neil can be contacted about commission work via his social media accounts.
Instagram – @neildickinson.sculptor and Facebook
Nellie’s story – Queen Nellie Hamilton was a Ngunnawal Elder, truth teller and community leader who was born around 1830 at Ginninderra and spent most of her life in the Queanbeyan-Braidwood area. SHe died in 1897 at the Queanbeyan Hospital and is buried outside the Riverside Cemetery. It is hoped that a statue befitting her extraordinary life will help more people hear about her and her story.
The final life size sculpture of Queen Nellie Hamilton is envisioned to be installed within Queanbeyan and will highlight Queanbeyan and the Limestone Plains as Aboriginal places with a rich and ancient history. In the marquette Queen Nellie wears a woollen rug. She is bare footed with her son Eddie and dog Jerrabung by her side.
There are several versions of the following quote of Nellie’s which captures the essence of a Queen.
I no tink much of your law. You come here and take my land, kill my possum, my kangaroo. Leave me starve. Only gib me rotten blanket. Me take calf or sheep, you been shoot me, or put me in jail. You bring your bad sickness ‘mong us.
As recorded in Canberra: Its History and Legends by John Gale, John. Published by A.M. Fallick and Sons. Queanbeyan, 1927.
Find a Neil Dickinson sculpture near you. From the spectacular Queany the Platypus on the Queanbeyan River to the larger-than-life bronze Wombats in Bowral.
Past STA Box Gallery Exhibitions
Woven works by Lisa Stevenson
Summer/Autumn 23
Lisa Stevenson is a Fibre Artist who uses locally harvested natural materials to create beautiful woven works of art.
Many of the works on display were created during Lisa’s Artist in Resindence at the Queanbeyan Hive in early 2023. Read more about Lisa.
Please contact Lisa for sales enquiries on available work.
Follow Lisa on instagram @lisa_went_wondering
Lisa is the first STA Artist in Residence at the Queanbeyan Hive in January 2023. Read more.
The STA Box Gallery is supported by our partner venue The Q Theatre a cultual serivce of Queanbeyan Palerang Shire Regional Council.
Vist the Q website for upcoming shows and ticket inforation.
[email protected]
0405 339 838
Or by appointment at one of our
Mobile Office locations
PO Box 1323 Goulburn 2580
ABN 67 208 214 681
We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the traditional custodians of the lands where we create, live & work.
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