02 August 2012
The University of South Australia will showcase its long history of contribution to the arts when 11 staff members and many more students and alumni participate in the South Australian Living Artists Festival (SALA) this month.
Since the establishment of the University’s antecedent institution the South Australia School of Art (SASA) in 1856, UniSA has been fostering some of state’s leading artists, including UniSA lecturer Mark Kimber, who won the prestigious SALA Monograph last year.
Kimber, whose exhibition ‘The Pale Mirror’ will coincide with the release of his self titled book, is one of the many exhibitions by UniSA staff, students and alumni taking place across the state.
The diverse exhibitions will include sculpture, glass, illustration, printing, textiles, installation, video, painting and photography, and are hosted by some of Adelaide’s leading art venues, including the Greenway Art Gallery and Hugo Michelle Gallery.
UniSA Head of School: Art, Architecture and Design, Mads Gaardboe, says the festival is a chance to celebrate the significant contribution the university makes to the cultural life of the state.
“SALA brings together the artist community in South Australia to celebrate art in all its form. At UniSA, we are proud to play a key role in this flourishing artist community by cultivating the state’s creative talent,” Gaardboe says.
“The UniSA Visual Arts program is considered the most prestigious undergraduate degree of its kind in the state. We provide a studio based education and students are taught by qualified staff, who are often practicing artists themselves.
“Staff and students are encouraged to actively share their work with the wider community and SALA is a great opportunity for that to happen.
“When you take into account our antecedent institutions, we have been leading the way in the arts culture for well over a century. The University is the backbone of the visual arts industry in South Australia.”
The UniSA Studio Head of Photography and New Media, Kimber is just one example of the talent UniSA has helped shape.
A graduate of the University’s precursor institution SASA, Kimber has enjoyed a distinguished career in both the arts and the higher education sector. His work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries such as the National Gallery of Australia and he has passed his working knowledge on to countless students as a senior lecture at UniSA.
Kimber’s contribution to the Australian visual arts industry is now permanently recorded in his self titled Monograph, which was written by fellow UniSA lecturer Jim Moss.
Winning the SALA Monograph, produced in conjunction with Arts SA and Wakefield Press, is a professional highlight for Kimber, whose career has spanned several decades.
Kimber’s exhibition ‘The Pale Mirror’ will run until August 31 at the Greenway Art Gallery and will share the gallery space with fellow UniSA lecturer Paul Hoban’s exhibition ‘Transformal’.
UniSA Honours student Madison Bycroft also took home an award, winning the Adelaide Central School of Art Professional Development Award for her involvement in the exhibition ‘Drawn In’.
Two other alumni, Susan Bruce and Meaghan Cole, were finalists for the Advertiser Business SA Contemporary Art Prize.
Further information about their exhibitions is available at www.salainc.com.au
Media Contact
Rosanna Galvin office (08) 8302 0578 email rosanna.galvin@unisa.edu.au
