TWIG Project (ACRE)

ACRE stands for Australia’s Creative Rural Economy, and it is an initiative based in the communities of northern Victoria and southern NSW. The ACRE Team is headed by Ian Tully, Director of the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery and supported by artists, farmers, community development workers and arts workers.

In June 2012 we were part of the innovative ‘Twig’ project initiated by the ACRE team.
Artist Trevor Flynn from Dunkeld stayed with us, as well as three other farming families across the Mallee and southern Riverina throughout 2012.

Trevor lived with us for a week and at the completion of his stay we hosted an informal gathering, a “Twig”, which showcased his unique artworks and interpretation of our place and life.
A fifth Twig was held at the Speewa Hall in a culmination of the four properties he had visited over the months.

Trevor arrived here on a Monday morning as someone we had never met before, he left the following weekend a friend for life and we thank him for his patience and insight. (He was handy at feeding the dogs too!!!).

In what was the National Year of the Farmer being part of the Twig Project enabled us, our friends and visitors to celebrate and reflect on the sometimes forgotten fact that in a farmer’s day to day life we are “creative by necessity”.

Below are some photos from the week and the Twig held on an extremely cold Friday evening. Also some links to the website that shows the full Twig project and a youtube clip Trevor put together.
Special thanks for Ian Tully for giving us the “push” to be part of this worthwhile event.