You just took over a studio in Chippendale, next burb from where you live.
For 3 months you have been granted a studio residency as part of a pilot exercise by Fraser Property Australia, FraserStudios.
The developers purchased the brewery site from the Foster’s Group on June 29, 2007. In April 2008 Frasers began redeveloping the site as a large high density residential development under the name of “Balfour Park”.
Following consultation with public agencies and the community Frasers identified the need to foster the flourishing of artistic community as one important concern, and embarked in a pilot program as part of the development, where, while the development of the 5.8 hectare site takes place, space is been granted rent free to artists.
After further consultation with local Artist Run Initiatives, Queen Street Studios took over the task of managing three empty warehouses to be turned, for the period of 1 year, into artist studios and rehearsal space.
And that’s where you come in. Via an application process you successfully managed to have access to a space in the hood!
Here’s what you proposed:
The studio residency will allow me to propagate and nurse a number of botanical specimens. The plants will be collected from the immediate neighborhood, de-facto creating a botanical snap-shot of the local flora, be it “legitimate†species or “weedsâ€.
This exercise in collecting species for a “botanical portrait of the area†will foster discussion and interaction with local gardeners and nature lovers, highlighting how much interest there is for the landscape surrounding us.
You started by ..starting a googlemap, where you will record your findings.
As a bit of background research to the area you came across the wikipedia entry for Chippendale:
Chippendale is a small inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Chippendale is located 2 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney.
This area was first occupied by the Gadigal people of the Dharug Nation. William Chippendale was granted a 95 acre estate in 1819. It stretched to the present day site of Redfern railway station. Chippendale sold the estate to Solomon Levey, emancipist and merchant, in 1821, for 380 pounds. Solomon Levey died while in London, in 1833. Levey’s heirs sold over 62 acres to William Hutchinson.
That said, it seems like the biggest thing to say about Chippendale is that the once Carlton Breweries are now developed by Frasers and that Chippendale has the lowest open space per person of any Sydney suburb, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
uhmmm..
Anyway, you’ll sure add a few more bits to that, green bits.
