I have always been interested in the arts in any form. In particular I like theatre and films. When I heard about a potential arts committee for Rutherglen that would encourage and support different forms of art in the community, I was immediately interested and quite excited about the potential for this group.
I clearly remember our first meeting – Thursday 10th March 2005. We met at 6pm and the facilitator was Chris Pidd, who was the Arts Development Officer at Murray Arts. A small gathering of about five people attended.
Back then, Chris Dormer, who was the Arts Officer for Indigo Shire, mentored us. We kicked off our events with “Trivia in the Pub”. From that event we established a good following and raised our profile.We followed this event with Literary lunches, August Voices and an International Women’s Day brunch. Of course these events were just the beginning.
Here we are in 2021, with quite a list of events and projects behind us. Even though COVID pandemic restrictions and the like have challenged us over the last 18 months, we are still putting our best foot forward: continuing with monthly Fine Film nights at Rutherglen High School and the great success of our annual Rutherglen Tastes of Art prize (in March). We have also kept progressing our Portals into Rutherglen project with a couple of amazing additions.
I am proud to be part of this marvellous, hard working group. There is always someone to jump in with an idea or a venue for one of our events. So many people have joined us since we began, bringing diversity, passion and commitment to supporting the arts in Rutherglen. I’m enthusiastic about the future for Arts Rutherglen.
Oh and I must mention our social gatherings! … Over the years we’ve had some mentionable ( and unmentionable) Christmas gatherings, sometimes just a few for a drink at Georgie and Rick’s (James and Co)… always much fun to get together with people who enjoy the arts.