School of Arts

The main blip for today is of our towns School of Arts hall built in 1871. Having traveled around much of Australia it is a common building in many many towns. Todays dedicated Technical and Vocational Education own their early history to such halls. The building has transitioned through many uses including a Town Hall, performance area, youth centre and more recently the Muswellbrook Regional Art Centre. The centre houses a substantial art collection and the Max Watters collection and is the venue for the galleries art prize. If you look to the left of the shot there is a portion of a mural, the art work was done as part of a competition to decorate what was a tired old building. In the early 2000's council decided to establish a dedicated art gallery which included substantial expansion and renovation. Community consultation clearly showed that the locals had an close relationship with the mural, so the construction was approved with the retention of the mural. The mural is a lasting expression of the industrial history of our town and the first extra photo is a closeup of the mural. I spotted the second extra shot this morning but it was shadowed so I knew that six hours would place it in mid afternoon sun. I am impress how many of you are on first name and in some cases speaking terms with  the plants in your gardens. The saying "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like" applies to me in addition to plants. My sister in law tested me some years ago when she pointed to a plant and said "whats this one called" I replied "rose". She re phrased, "no, what's it's proper name". I replied "yellow rose". Hope you have a great day!