A fountain with friends

Clifton Springs fountain 

Around thirty people concerned about the state of the Clifton Springs fountain met last night and resolved to establish a working group charged with investigating the current state of the fountain and proposing options for its future.

The fountain originally marked the gateway to the then-new Clifton Springs housing estate and was a larger, grander structure than it is now. The fountain itself was switched off during the recent years-long long drought and, as a consequence,  the fountain's pipes and pumps have been damaged significantly. The City of Greater Geelong owns the fountain and is responsible for its maintenance as part of the city's collection of 'public art'.

At last night's meeting at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, a range of local residents expressed a variety of concerns about the fountain's future. Three broad options emerged from the discussion:
1. Do nothing. This was dismissed immediately - people had come to the meeting to get something done!
2. Return the fountain to its former glory. While several people supported this idea, there was general concern about a fountain splashing away beautifully when we're trying to conserve water. There was also concern about the possible cost of mending or replacing the original pipes and pumps.
3. Rework the fountain as a piece of public art.  Several people were attracted by the idea of amending the structure to turn it from a sad, unused fountain into a celebration of the area's history and future. There was broad support for integrating some form of toughened, industrial glass 'sculpture' into the structure - perhaps with an enclosed water feature using recycled water.

It was pointed out that mixing glass and water would evoke the time at the start of the 20th century when Clifton Springs was famous for its bottled mineral springs water; and it would build on the area's growing reputation as a centre for glass art and craft around the annual Festival of Glass and the planned Bellarine Glass Trail.

The meeting resolved to form a small working group to investigate the engineering and funding issues around the fountain's future and to talk to the City of Greater Geelong officers and councillors about refurbishing the fountain. Once this work was done, the working group would report back to the larger group and present some possible next steps. Local councillor Lindsay Ellis has shown some interest in the fountain's future already and he would be among the first people the group would contact.

Finally, the people at the meeting decided to call themselves 'Friends of the Fountain' - albeit a dry fountain at present!

2013 Glass Expo beats the heat!

Crowds at the 2013 Festival of Glass

Thousands of people braved 38 degree conditions to visit the Glass expo in Drysdale, Victoria on Sunday 17 February.

The Expo was the focus of the 2013 Festival of Glass, a DCSCA initiative now in its third year. Visitors strolled around the 70-plus sites, looking at glass of all shapes, sizes, colours and forms. With so much diversity, there was something for everyone to see - from leadlight to lampwork, from splashbacks to platters and from beads to bottles.

A warm welcome
The Expo's official opening started with a 'Welcome To Country' from Uncle David Tournier, of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op in Geelong. This was followed by greetings from Doug Carson, Chair of the 2013 Festival of Glass committee, local councillor Rod Macdonald and state MP Lisa Neville. Finally, Geelong Mayor Keith Fagg declared the Expo officially open!

On Twitter, Cr. Fagg wrote, '@ festival of Glass Opening. Stunning array of glass in all forms. All day Sunday at Bellarine College, Drysdale.' Thanks, Mr. Mayor!

After the opening ceremony, our guests talked with exhibitors as they walked around the Expo. They remarked on the diversity of the exhibits, the high quality of the entries in the glass-art competition and the attractiveness of the prizes in the raffle, each one donated by an exhibitor at this year's Festival.

Kind words
Since the Expo, many exhibitors have posted messages of thanks and appreciation on the Festival's Facebook page. Several exhibitors were kind enough to remark on the Festival's high degree of organisation. E.g. 'we exhibitors don't have to worry about anything other than our own tables during setup, take down and the day itself.'

The Festival Committee is basking in those kind words .... before addressing the list of suggested improvements for 2014!

We're getting talked about!

Festival of Glass exhibitor Katrina Newman has just published an article about the Festival on her blog. (http://katrinanewman.com/2013/02/07/festival-of-glass/)

The article has a great photo (reproduced here) of some of Katrina's hand-made flamework beads annealing (cooling and hardening) in her kiln.

As Katrina says, 'It's going to be a colourful day, do drop by and say hello'.

Festival of Glass an attractive investment

The Bendigo Bank has shown its confidence in the 2012 Festival of Glass by investing $2,500 in sponsorship. The money will help to pay for the costs of the Festival's infrastructure, marketing and promotion.

The Bendigo Bank’s sponsorship of the 2012 Festival builds on its support and encouragement for the inaugural Festival of Glass in 2011 and shows potential sponsors that this innovative event is gaining a positive reputation from which they can benefit.

The Bank's support follows an announcement by City of Greater Geelong Mayor Cr. John Mitchell that the City will invest $6,000 in the 2012 Festival of Glass, which he described as 'an innovative festival (that) is already stirring considerable interest among glassmakers and fans around Australia.'

'Ticks of approval' from these two major local funders reaffirm the vision behind the Festival and give a tremendous boost to the artists, craftspeople and business participating in it. They also show potential sponsors that the Festival of Glass has a growing positive reputation from which they can benefit.

Exhibitors investing Exhibitors at the 2012 Festival of Glass are also investing in its success. More than forty exhibitors - many of them local - have booked spaces already, three months before the Festival; and eighteen of them have donated items worth a total of $1,520 to the 2012 Festival of Glass raffle.

Doug Carson, Chairperson of the Festival Committee said, 'The Festival Committee has been (almost!) overwhelmed by the response and we really appreciate it. The number and value of items donated is a strong vote of confidence by local glass artists and craftspeople in the Festival’s potential to promote their work. It’s also clear evidence that the Festival has the potential to become a major showcase of local glass art, craft and industry, driven by the active support of local glass workers. The more that the Festival generates broad and active support such as this, the more viable it becomes. So a big "Thank you" to those exhibitors who have donated items.'
(Illustration: VA Glass)

2012 Festival of Glass 'bigger and better' - organisers

The City of Greater Geelong recently invested $6,000 in the 2012 Festival of Glass, which is close to having 40 exhibitors.

The Festival of Glass is an initiative of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) - publishers of this blog - and is organised by a DCSCA sub-committee. In February 2011, the inaugural Festival attracted 30 exhibitors and around 6,000 visitors, who crammed into Drysdale's Potato Shed. The organisers were overwhelmed with the number of visitors and immediately started to look for a bigger venue, which they found in the nearby Bellarine Basketball Stadium.

Festival organissrs are confident that the 2012 Festival of Glass will be bigger and better than the inaugural one. It will be bigger because, with four months still to go before the event, it has attracted almost 40 exhibitors, with more applications still arriving. It will be better because the exhibitors confirmed so far represent a broader selection of the multi-faceted world of glass, there will be more demonstrations, there will be classes associated with the Festival and - oh, there will be much more room in the new venue!

The City of Greater Geelong has shown its confidence in the 2012 Festival of Glass by investing $6,000 towards the costs of the Festival's infrastructure, marketing and promotion. The $6,000 is the result of an independent assessment of the 2012 Festival of Glass by the council's local experts in festival organisation. Their support reaffirms the vision behind the Festival and gives a tremendous boost to the artists, craftspeople and business who have agreed to participate in it.

The council invested a similar amount in the inaugural 2011 Festival of Glass and the Festival Committee is grateful for the continuing support and encouragement of officers in the council's Arts and Culture Department and of local councillors Rod Macdonald and John Doull.

The Festival organisers have developed a five-year Business Plan for the Festival and are seeking sponsors to broaden and diversify the Festival's funding.

Festival of Glass website: www.festivalofglass.net.au
Festival of Glass blog: http://festivalofglass.blogspot.com


Illustration: glass clock - 'Rise and Shine' - by V.A. Glass (exhibitor at 2012 Festival of Glass)

DCSCA meets Cr. Rod Macdonald (6)

On 20 May, DCSCA Committee members met Councillor Rod Macdonald. This was the sixth of the quarterly meetings that DCSCA has initiated with the two City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) Councillors whose wards coincide with DCSCA's area - the other is Councillor John Doull (whom we met on 12 May).

Local amenities We asked when the Lake Lorne Masterplan would be implemented. CoGG's 2011/12 Budget includes some money to start work on some fencing, but no support for further work. Cr. Macdonald said that there would be a final consultation meeting with stakeholders (including nearby residents) in June or July 2011, following which the Masterplan would go to a Council meeting for approval. Once the Masterplan is approved, the Council will be asked to allocate money to its implementation.

CoGG's 2011/12 Budget allocated no money to implement the Masterplan for a regional sports/recreation hub at the junction of Andersons Road and Grubb Road in Drysdale. Cr. Macdonald said that money from the 2010/11 Budget would be used to complete the design of the Masterplan. The hub is planned to develop in three stages, but it depends on matching funds from the Victorian state government, which has made no commitment at this stage. Consequently, Cr. Macdonald couldn't say whether Stage One could start without those matching funds and whether Stage One will proceed without funds for Phases Two and Three being committed.

The Masterplan for the sports/recreation hub does not include a swimming pool, despite the clear - and growing - demand for one in Drysdale & Clifton Springs. We suggested that this is an issue for people not just in Drysdale & Clifton Springs but along the North Bellarine, because the Ocean Grove pool is over-subscribed and the pool in Portarlington has had an uncertain future. Cr. Macdonald said that the Portarlington pool's future was now assured and repeated the argument that there is insufficient demand to justify the $12m that it would cost to build a swimming pool in Drysdale & Clifton Springs. We said that DCSCA would persist in raising the matter, because of the strong local feeling about it. We also said that the area's expanding population meant that demand for a pool would only increase and that it takes so long to build such a facility that by the time it's finished, the demand - even on the Council's figures - would justify it. We suggested a compromise: nominate space for a pool in the Masterplan for the sports/recreation hub and then build it when the demand reaches an agreed level.

Local economic development
We said that the enormous success of the 2011 Festival of Glass (which Cr. Macdonald supported strongly) showed that people in the region are interested in glass and that there are lots of artists and craftspeople on the Bellarine who are using glass. Many of these people run small businesses already or, we suggested, would start new ones if appropriate support was available. We invited Cr. Macdonald to support DCSCA's proposal that CoGG uses the build-up to the 2012 Festival of Glass to announce a local business support program (e.g. advice and mentoring, assistance to explore new markets, rates relief) for small art and craft business on the Bellarine. Such a support program could link with the 'Made in Geelong' initiative, which offers small businesses short-term leases on empty shops in central Geelong, enabling small art and craft businesses on the Bellarine - individually or in partnerships - to test their economic viability in a town center.

Cr. Macdonald suggested that we should invite the CoGG economic development unit to have a stand at the 2012 Festival of Glass, which we shall certainly do. He discussed the possibility of creating a local business support program in the form of a web site designed explicitly to offer advice and information to people on the Bellarine who either own a small art/craft businesses or are thinking of establishing one. We said that we would develop the idea and contact him to discuss it further.

Finally, we suggested that CoGG could use its role as host of the forthcoming Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia conference to showcase some initiatives around supporting local businesses to adapt to a post-carbon economy; and we asked whether there would be any community input into the conference, which is dominated by local and regional governments and businesses. Cr. Macdonald advised us to submit a proposal for a paper to the conference outlining our ideas; the conference committee (of which he is a part) would then decide whether to include it.

DCSCA's next quarterly meeting with Cr. Macdonald will be on Friday 5 August 2011. Any residents of the Drysdale/Clifton Springs area are welcome to ask DCSCA to raise any issue of concern with Cr. Macdonald.

Massive support for Festival dream!

Around 5,000 people came to the inaugural Festival of Glass on Sunday 20 February. The figure far exceeded the Festival committee's expectations and is a massive endorsement of a dream that's taken 15 months to become reality.

Thirty stalls presented glass in all its forms, including sculpture, jewellery, mosaic, stained glass, leadlight, moulded glass, slumped glass and etched glass. There was glass at the cutting edge (ouch!) and a blast of glass from the past with antiques and collectibles.

There were demonstrations of various was of working with glass, including bead-making, glass fusing, kiln forming, beadweaving, copper foiling and leadlighting. Short videos introduced people to the economics and local history of glass and to the extraordinary 'glass harmonica' invented by Benjamin Franklin.

For visitors, there was more to do than just look and admire, browse and buy. Lots of people brought glass items to the popular Old Glass Roadshow. Voting was fierce for the titles of best glass-related story, poem, song, painting or photograph and for best glass jewellery; and the raffle prizes (glass, of course) were so attractive that the raffle tickets nearly ran out!

Visitors overwhelmed by the scale and diversity of glass on show had a variety of musical alternatives throughout the day. The Festival showcased four local acts - The Gems, Judy McGovern, Paper (the band formerly known as Steer) and a local barbershop quartet.

The Lions sizzled almost as much as their sausages, but Rotary were as cool as their drinks; and the baked potato man out of potatoes - in front of a Potato Shed! 'This has never happened before', he said and booked-up for next year!

Finally, the Festival's commitment to sustainability was evident in various ways. A public drinking fountain dispensed with the need for plastic bottles and was accompanied by tips on being water-wise; extra rubbish and recycling bins kept the whole site clean and were accompanied by tips on recycling; and each stallholder was asked to think about the amount of energy consumed in their products and the nature of their packaging.


Thanks to our sponsors, including the City of Greater Geelong (Arts & Culture) and the Bendigo Bank for their support.

And now ... the organising starts for the 2012 Festival of Glass!

Festival of Glass web site goes 'live'!

The web site of the inaugural annual Festival of Glass has just gone 'live', to cheers and merry-making across the wonderful world of glass!

The Festival - an initiative of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association - happens at Drysdale's Potato Shed on February 20 2011 from 10.00 - 5.00. (For the background to the Festival, please use this blog's 'Search' function to look for [you guessed!] 'Festival of Glass'.)

Until now, the Festival's online presence has taken the form of a blog, which keeps people up-to-date with the preparations for the Festival:
http://festivalofglass.blogspot.com

The web site address is:
https://sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass/
The Festival web site complements the blog, because it draws together all the information that exhibitors and visitors need. It also includes a rolling gallery of some of the exhibits from the Festival, giving a taste of the extraordinary diversity - and the amazing skills - that will be on display on the day. It's worth visiting the gallery more than once, because as new exhibitors sign-up to the Festival, samples of their work will be added to the gallery.

Festival of Glass attracts council support

The City of Greater Geelong has shown its confidence in the Festival of Glass by investing $6,000 in it. The money will help to pay for the costs of infrastructure, marketing and promotion associated with this unique event. Imagine the celebrations at the Festival Committee!

DCSCA initiated the Festival of Glass earlier this year and we are very pleased indeed that it has attracted the council's support. The $6,000 is the result of an independent assessment of the Festival of Glass by the council's local experts in conference organisation. Their support reaffirms the vision behind the Festival and recognises the Committee's hard work to bring that vision to life. It also gives a tremendous boost to the artists, craftspeople and business who have expressed their confidence in the Festival by agreeing to participate in it.

The Festival Committee had asked the council for its support via its Community Festival grant scheme, which is run by the council's Arts & Culture department. In September this year, the Committee submitted to the council a detailed description of the Festival's aims, of its planned outcomes for participants and of its planned benefits for local people and visitors, together with a detailed budget and marketing proposal. In early November, the Committee heard that its application had been successful.

For more information about the Festival of Glass, please visit the Festival's blog:
www.festivalofglass.blogspot.com

The Festival of Glass is online!

The Festival of Glass has entered the blogosphere! The Festival's blog is up and running and would love a visit from you!

To access the blog, just type its address (festivalofglass.blogspot.com/) in the title bar of your search engine. Once the blog starts to get significant numbers of visitors, it will be possible to access it just by typing 'festivalofglass' into the search bar of your search engine (e.g. Google).

The Festival of Glass is an initiative of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA), but the Festival committee is autonomous of the DCSCA Committee. With the establishment of its own blog, the Festival now has its own public profile online. You might consider becoming a 'Follower' of the 'festivalofglass' blog - just click on 'Followers' and follow the instructions.

Congratulations to festivalofglass from drycliftdays and a very warm welcome to the blogosphere!

It's definite - February 20 2011!

The inaugural Festival of Glass in Drysdale now has a confirmed date: Sunday 20 February 2011, 10.00 - 5.00 at the Potato Shed in Drysdale. There will be a pre-Festival 'starter' event on Saturday 19 February, also at the Potato Shed.

Work on the Festival continues apace and the Festival Committee is starting to receive inquiries from people and organizations interested in participating. These have included a local winery, a glass artisan currently overseas who's coming home next year ... and a glass factory in China that hopes we can have a nice relationship!

Arranging the venue and inviting exhibitors are two major jobs for the organisers, but so is ensuring that as many people as possible know about the Festival well in advance. The Committee now has a comprehensive and sophisticated database of potential outlets for Festival news, marketing and advertising and is considering launching a dedicated website or blog. Watch this space for more.

Having attracted people to the venue, you need to keep them happy and safe to enjoy themselves, so the Committee is organizing permits, security, car parking, insurance, food and drink - oh, and some local music, too!

Finally, the Committee has started to invite commercial sponsorship and is discussing with various local clubs and societies how they can be involved. It's not quite 'bigger than Ben Hur' (well, not yet!), but the Committee is very keen to have as many people involved as possible. Could that include you? If you'd like to be involved in this unique community event, do please contact the Festival Committee c/o DCSCA at P. O. Box 581, Drysdale 3222; or dryclift@bigpond.com

Festival news - March 2010

The 2011 Drysdale Festival of Glass organising group held its second meeting on March 30 at Drysdale's SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre. The general idea of the Festival is now clear in people's minds, so the main business of the meeting was practicalities.

Some possible locations have been listed and contacts initiated. Some members of the group are investigating the availability of such things as stages, tables, trestles, bunting, and a P.A. system; others are investigating sources of funds, including commissions, grants and sponsorships; while still others are organising the formal launch, together with services associated with the Festival such as entertainment, refreshments, car parking, etc.

A crucial decision, of course, is when to hold the Festival! At this stage, a Saturday in mid to late February 2011 is the preferred option, but the group is going to list other events scheduled for February to try to avoid clashes. Assuming that the Festival will happen some time in February 2011, the group have started to list possible participants - including glass artisans, artists, companies, wholesalers - with a view to inviting them formally once the date and venue/s are decided.

It was a busy meeting, in which a lot of jobs were allocated! There is, however, plenty to do, so if you would like to join the group or offer your help in some way, do please get in touch.

The group's next meeting will be on Tuesday 13 April at 7.00 p.m. at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, Drysdale High Street. Not everyone can come to these sorts of meetings because, e.g., they have to care for family members. If this is the case for you, but you would like to be involved in the Festival, drop us a line and we'll make something happen.

CONTACT: Drysdale Festival of Glass, c/o Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association
Mail: P.O. Box 581, Drysdale 3222
E-mail: dryclift@ bigpond.com

Calling all glass enthusiasts!

A lot of 'behind the scenes' work on the Drysdale Festival of Glass is continuing and it's time now to invite anyone and everyone who would like to help make the Festival a success to get involved!

There is a wide range of ways you can become involved.

• Perhaps you'd like to be part of the organising group - for example, running the finances, organising publicity, arranging for stalls, organising an exhibition or running a competition.
• Or maybe you'd like to just participate in the Festival on the day itself. For example, would you like to run a stall, judge a competition, give lessons or presenting a display?

There are all sorts of jobs involved in organising a Festival like this, so if you'd like to get involved but you're not sure what you'd like to do, or what you'd be good at, don't worry - you'll find a place!

DCSCA invites anyone interested - in any way - in the Drysdale Festival of Glass to come to a meeting to set-up a group to organise the Festival:

TUESDAY 16 MARCH 7.00 p.m.
SPRINGDALE NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE
DRYSDALE HIGH STREET

We understand that this time won't be convenient for everyone, so if you can't come to the meeting, but want to be involved, do please contact us:
By mail: P.O. Box 581, Drysdale 3222
By e-mail: dryclift@bigpond.com

We look forward to seeing you on the night or to hearing from you; and do please tell your friends and neighbours about the Festival and about the meeting on 16 March.

A Drysdale Festival of Glass

Planning has started for a unique cultural event for the Bellarine Peninsula - the Drysdale Festival of Glass. To be held early in 2011, the Festival will combine art, craft and industry in a celebration of the beauty, usefulness and adaptability of glass.

The Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association has initiated the festival, which it sees as a community-building event. Association President Doug Carson said, 'Many towns have become associated with a cultural event such as a festival or exhibition and the Drysdale Festival Of Glass will be a unique and distinctive annual event. We think that it offers great scope for people from all walks of life to come together to create something really different and special.'

Carson said that the Association has just started the lengthy process of planning the Festival, but has a clear vision of what the event will include. 'We want to invite makers and users of glass from across the region to assemble at Drysdale and celebrate their work and their skill', he said. 'The Festival will feature stalls by local artisans and craftspeople who are making and using glass, plus demonstrations of their techniques, including glass blowing and enamelling. There will be displays of historical and contemporary glass objects, optical instruments, glass collectables … and bottle-neck guitar playing!'

The Drysdale Festival of Glass will include competitions for all ages, such as the best glass-related photograph, painting, creative writing and music; the best glass sculpture; and the best example of recycling glass. There will be special features and classes, including 'Glass in Architecture', 'Glass in Industry', 'Glass in Climate Change' and 'The Old Glass Road Show' (bring yours to be valued!). There will even be a competition to find the worst local traffic bottleneck!

'At present, we are spreading the word about the Festival as widely as we can', said Carson. 'In the New Year, we will call people together, ask them what they think of the idea and, if they like it, form a group that can plan the first Drysdale Festival of Glass.'

Anyone who is interested in participating in the Festival or who just wants to find out more about it should contact Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association - by mail at P.O. Box 581, Drysdale, or by e-mail at dryclift@bigpond.com