EDGE Newtown is coming
Friday, 25 October 2019
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne will launch EDGE Newtown – themed Art and Activism - on Thursday, 7 November, 6pm-8pm in Newtown Square.
Everyone’s invited to this free community celebration.
An enormous large-scale visual art installation by artist Sarah Harvie will transform Newtown Square and specially commissioned visual and performance artworks will also feature.
And in a launch-within-a-launch, Melinda Vassallo’s Perfect Match – Street Art of the Inner West will be available for the first time.
The 150-page book features artworks and stories generated by Council’s Perfect Match Street Art Program and was supported by an Inner West Council Living Arts grant. The book is a follow-up to Melinda’s previous best seller, Street Art of Sydney’s Inner West.
“Since 2014 more than 90 stunning site-specific street artworks have been created through Perfect Match,” Melissa said. “What started as a unique Council initiative to counter unwanted graffiti has evolved to a pioneering placemaking public art program [and] the artworks are adored, protected and on show to the world,” Melinda said.
On Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 November, EDGE Creative Trails spotlights the creatives of the Newtown ward. Learn the stories behind Perfect Match in a Street Art Tour with Melinda Vassallo. Or join a bus, walking or cycling tour to explore studios where art is made, see newly commissioned installations, meet the artists and buy art direct from the source. Plus there’s free art workshops for young and old.
On Saturday, 9 November, at Chrissie Cotter Gallery Camperdown, Council will announce the winner of the Urban EDGE Contemporary Art Prize, and a new Perfect Match Street artwork by Simon Degroot will be installed on the façade of the gallery.
On Sunday, 10 November, EDGE Newtown will continue to roll at Newtown Festival, with the EDGE # IRL Talks Tent, a lineup of talks by inspiring thinkers and creatives exploring themes of Art and Activism, and critical issues for survival in our City.
On Saturday, 16 November, the first St. Anmore Festival of Music will take over Stanmore Village. The festival honours Richard Gill (1941-2018), the renowned conductor, musical educator and long-time Stanmore resident and is inspired by the annual French Fête de la Musique. Sites include Stanmore Reserve, local school grounds, the Salisbury Hotel and the footpaths and shopfronts in Percival Road.
Themed Art and Activism, EDGE Newtown comes after the highly successful EDGE GreenWay, EDGE Sydenham and EDGE Ashfield. EDGE is a strategy to fuel creativity by showcasing cutting edge creatives and supporting artists to not only survive but thrive.
The Inner West boasts 6,400 jobs in the creative and artistic industries, which is 8.8% of local employment, worth $1.4 billion pa to the local economy. A further 13,000 Inner West residents work in the creative industries in other parts of Sydney. One in 10 people in the Inner West are employed in a creative industry - double the figure for greater Sydney.
For full EDGE Newtown program: www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/edge
For media enquiries, please contact Elizabeth Heath | Media and Communications Coordinator P: +61 2 9392 5334 | E: Elizabeth.Heath@innerwest.nsw.gov.au