Artspace at Griffith Regional Theatre is pleased to present the first exhibition of the year, an artistic interpretation of a historical site in Yanco.
Local artist Dorothy Roddy is the proud creator of Yanco ‘Moments in Time’ – an exhibition documenting and highlighting the history of the ‘Riverina Welfare Farm for Boys Yanco’ (1928–1942) and the ‘POW Camp 15 Yanco’ (1942-1946). The exhibition is accompanied with historical records, relics and press clippings to inform, educate and contextualise the 1920’s to 1940’s in the Riverina.
Dorothy Roddy began her artistic practice in 2013 when she learnt to draw from a book which helped her develop a talent for portraiture. In 2015 she explored painting with oils, painting just for the joy of it, and most of her early works were gifted to friends and family. It was not until 2020, when Dorothy was invited to hold a solo exhibition at the newly opened Leeton Museum and Gallery (LMAG) where she told anyone who didn’t already know her, that she knew how to paint. She now proudly calls herself an artist.
Dorothy explains how this exhibition came to be, “In 2021, I was commissioned by Leonie Napier, Yanco Museum Project Coordinator, to reproduce historical photos as artworks. The original concept was to be in black and white, but I suggested I could use my new-found skill of colourising an image that would make for a more realistic portrayal of the subject. Thus, Yanco ‘Moments in Time’ was created.”
The project took 12 months to complete, and after extensive research and selecting the best photos for the exhibition the result was 12 oil paintings. These artworks were re-imagined from the original historical black and white photos and brought to life in full colour, each with its own interesting story to tell.
Griffith Regional Art Gallery Coordinator, Ray Wholohan said: “This exhibition is for anyone interested in local history, or who has an affinity with the Yanco Agricultural Institute (formerly known as Yanco Experiment Farm) as well as art lovers.”
“The exhibition showcases two bodies of work which highlight the development and evolution of the Yanco Agricultural Institute over its 115 years of operation,” he said.
Yanco ‘Moments in Time’ by Dorothy Roddy is on exhibition at ArtSpace at Griffith Regional Theatre until Friday 17 March 2023.
