The sculpture, which was jointly commissioned by Riddoch Art Gallery and the CFMEU Forestry and Furnishing Products Division with funding support from the Australia Council and the City of Mount Gambier in 1994, accurately portrayed “life as a timber worker” in an industry whose history is deeply interwoven with the South East and surrounding communities.
The sculpture was originally crafted in the Woods and Forests Nangwarry Carpenters Shop which is now owned and operated by Carter Holt Harvey Futurebuild.
The sculpture has now found its way back home where it will be unveiled at 11.00am Thursday 29th October 2009 at the Nangwarry Forestry and Logging Museum.
Vic Smith Secretary of the Museum said “this is fantastic for our Museum; I was working at Woods and Forests when the sculpture was made and I remember the months of hard work and hours spent in the carpenters shop making the sculpture”.
“It will be one of the prominent features in the Museum and we are extremely grateful for the hard work from the CFMEU FFPD and the Riddoch Art Gallery in obtaining the sculpture and loaning it to the Museum where it will get the respect and admiration that it deserves” said Mr Smith.
Lucia Pichler, Director of the Riddoch Art Gallery said “this is the ideal place for a brilliant piece of artwork that is so well renowned through out the SE community”.
“Art is there for the enjoyment of everyone and it is great to have the opportunity to get the sculpture out of storage and place it back on display where it can be appreciated by a broad range of community members and visitors to the region” said Ms Pichler.
CFMEU FFPD Organiser Travis Lawson said “the 'Skipping Underneath' sculpture represented the input and proud history of Timber Workers in the SE community and I could not think of a better place for it, then a timber town like Nangwarry”.
“The sculpture is over 4 meters tall and it took a lot of hard work to get it to Nangwarry, but with the help of the Riddoch Art Gallery, Mount Gambier City Council and Gunns Timber Products we were able to make the impossible happen” Mr Lawson said.
Representatives from Wattle Range Council, CFMEU FFPD, Riddoch Art Gallery, Country Arts SA, Carter Holt Harvey, Gunns Timber Products, Nangwarry Football Club, Nangwarry Forestry and Logging Museum and the Nangwarry Community will be present at the unveiling and then will proceed to have morning tea in the Museum to celebrate the special event.
For further comment contact:
Travis Lawson, CFMEU FFPD 0417 247 999
Lucia Pichler, Riddoch Art Gallery 0438 239 566
