Wyong Council helps the arts; and Studio Scribbly!

Last Friday night I had the great pleasure of attending the opening of Studio Scribbly at The Entrance, NSW. This is a wonderful space which will serve as studio, shopfront, workshop space and gallery for Sarah Barron and Matt Linn (aka Girl Quirky and Goblin Design), two artists whose work I admire and which adorns the walls of my home.

The story behind this space is something even more intriguing. They are being given the space for a year by the local council and shopping centre. In exchange they will do workshops for the local community and generally promote art in the area, but these two are doing a little bit more than that.

Always encouraging of other’s creativity, Sarah and Matt are opening the space up to other artists to use as well, keeping the gift of allowance going full circle. What do I mean by gift of allowance you ask? Simply that in giving artists a professional space to work and promote themselves in, Wyong Council and Lakeside Shopping Centre are doing more than just arranging some deal. They are allowing the artists to be artists. They’re saying it’s not just okay for you to do art, it’s a really important thing you’re doing so we will make it possible for you to do it and excel at it.

And Sarah and Matt are making sure there’s no sense of art being an elitist activity. While they are elite in their work they offer the gift of allowance to others, through the shared space but also in their workshops where the gift allows everyone to explore their own creativity, an experience which enriches anyone who has it.

So well done Wyong Council and Lakeside Shopping Centre you’re efforts are noted and well appreciated we assure you. And good luck on this journey Sarah and Matt, I’m sure we’re all looking forward to seeing what comes of it.

Studio Scribbly can be found at:

Shop 3/96 The Entrance Rd, The Entrance, NSW, 2261.

Written by Robert Jenkins @wanderingfriar