ARTS are alive in Moora, thanks to the creative, determined minds of the people behind the not-for-profit Gardiner Street Arts Collective (GSAC).
When Moora farmer and savvy businesswoman Tracy Lefroy was approached by two local creatives - Marie Williamson, of the French-inspired Jeanne de Moore Cafe and artist Nyree Taylor - who had a vision to bring more creativity to Moora and for it to be inclusive for everyone, she knew this was something the community needed.
"We could see there was a massive hole in the services that were offered to our community," Ms Lefroy said.
"I think in a small country town there is always going to be sport, but for people who are looking for dance, music or visual arts, it can be really tricky in a country community to find an outlet for that.
"We found there were lots of little groups of people doing their own artistic endeavours, such as the Moora School of Music, Roxanne's Dance Workshops, ballet, painting workshops etc, but none of them had a home.
"We were not looking to recreate anything, but to be an umbrella group so that all of the creative pursuits within Moora can have a permanent home and it also meant that people knew where to go to access dance lessons, music or art workshops, because so often people just wouldn't know they were on."
The GSAC board comprises four members, with Ms Lefroy as treasurer, Ms Taylor being creative director, Rikki Smith as co-ordinator and Louise House as a board member, each having different skill sets.
"We are all parts of a puzzle and when we fit together we can bring the whole picture together," Ms Lefroy said.
The GSAC is still in its infancy as it started holding workshops in February, which were of course halted by COVID-19, but the collective adapted with the times and was able to offer online workshops and classes.
It even hosted an online bake-off across social media, using the CWA cookbook.
The pandemic didn't stop the group from promoting its ethos of wanting to make arts and expressing creativity inclusive, accessible and affordable for as many members of the Moora and surrounding community as possible.
Ms Taylor said they have gone to great lengths to ensure people of different backgrounds including local Aboriginal people, ages, genders and abilities all feel comfortable and enjoy themselves.
"We have made it very clear that the door is always open for creative ideas, so it's about providing people a space for them to be creative, which then gives them the confidence to be free," Ms Taylor said.
"We have quite a large Noongar group in the Moora region and they have started to feel more comfortable and included in the space and we plan to have some Noongar elders launching some story telling with other Aboriginal people, which should come out in late August."
So far, the workshops and classes have included dance lessons from toddlers to adults, art and slow craft workshops, cooking classes, music lessons and 'brainstorming' sessions where people can do what ever creative hobby they please, while being guided by and artist and enjoying the company and a chat among other creatives.
An event that is still in the works hopes to involve eight WA Symphony Orchestra musicians and indigenous didgeridoo musician Phil Walley Stack with his five piece band coming to the region, with community engagement workshops at the collective and a free community concert.
Next year there are talks of having an artist in residence with the International Art Space and possibly working with collaborative dance company, Co:3.
The way exhibitions were done in the past few months are yet another example of how the collective has adapted during COVID-19, by putting on 'drive by' exhibitions.
"We asked some of the local artists (both professionals and amateurs), if we could display their work in the window - we didn't want any commission but just to show their work," Ms Taylor said.
"Then to see their confidence go from someone who thought 'I can't do an exhibition, my work isn't very good', to selling work, being exposed to the public and then seeing them wanting to come back and put their own workshop on, makes us just so incredibly happy."
As well as making the arts more accessible to people, Ms Taylor also has a passion for art therapy, which is about using different forms of art for the benefit of mental and physical health and wellbeing.
"Any type of art is an excellent tool - whether it be music, visual, ceramics etc, if it is honed in properly it can be really good for helping with things like depression, anxiety and even self-esteem," she said.
Ms Taylor said she has already seen this effect in members.
Through her ballet classes, Ms Taylor has been working with local six-year-old girl Gianna Tierney, who has Down syndrome and autism.
"She comes in one hour before and I run a private class with her and when she feels OK, she joins the rest of the class for the ballet and the other children love her too," she said.
"It has been an incredible learning curve for me and I am really lucky to have been able to work with Gianna.
"She just loves it, she knows the steps, she practices at home, she is extremely happy to be in the space and she suffers from high anxiety, so for her mum to just have her in a space with someone else and be happy, is a big thing.
"The classes have really helped with her movement and just to be a happier little girl."
Particularly during the COVID-19 period, Ms Lefroy noticed a heightened sense of anxiety in the community, especially among young people.
She said that offering workshops and classes via Zoom during the peak of restrictions gave people a creative outlet to release some stress.
"It's more than just a form of entertainment, there were lots of links when people said how they were feeling a bit blue, anxious and overwhelmed and then they'd do one of our Zoom sessions and said it just freed them up because they were concentrating on something else," Ms Lefroy said.
"It was their mind and body working together and they felt they had a positive outlet.
"And the positive effects were not just on one person in the family, it had the ripple effect throughout families."
Ms Lefroy has enjoyed seeing what the collective has already become and what it can offer.
"I love this expression that someone used - they said they 'felt a rush of pride for our community' when they saw what was happening at the GSAC and I thought that was wonderful, because it's nice to feel good about where we live," she said.
"I think there has been a massive difference in the community, there is a buzz in the town.
"On a Monday afternoon we have more than 100 children through that space, with arts and music lessons.
"There is just a positive energy and people feel really glad that they're able to give their children something that can't be done in a lot of country towns, such as a ballet or a ukulele lesson."
With the GSAC enabling the creative talent of the Moora region to be showcased more than ever, Ms Lefroy was hopeful that it could lure more people to the region, particularly when the collective gets to that stage when it has events and in-person exhibitions, which can then have a positive spin off.
"We have found that there is no shortage of local artists, they just didn't have anywhere to display their wares," she said.
"I think that arts also have an intangible, non-quantifiable benefit to a community, but we are even finding the flow on effect to other businesses.
"For example, the other day we had two fully booked children's painting workshops and I was watching and saw that every person who came and dropped a child off then went next door to the cafe and bought a coffee, or went to IGA etc, so it generates that flow-on effect.
"Having an activated space in the community attracts people to town and then they go onto support the local businesses."
In the lead up to Christmas, the GSAC plans to have a pop-up shop within the building which will showcase local art and creative works.
"We are also working with the Noongar Enterprise Development Scheme to look at possibly having an indigenous art exhibition and after that, having their products on sale," Ms Lefroy said.
The GSAC uses a benefactor system, where people can sign up to be 'friends' of the collective for an annual subscription.
This entitles them to entry to exhibitions, prior notice of workshops, access to purchasing works from the website and other benefits.
"We are looking at ways of generating income that is sustainable to cover our ongoing costs, such as rent," she said.
Ms Lefroy said securing funding has been one of the collective's biggest challenges.
"Once we had a space, which is a beautiful heritage building, we began approaching local farming businesses and invited them to be 'friends' of the GSAC," she said.
"We were lucky to have 14 farming businesses sign up and pledge an amount of money, which meant we were able to put timber floors and floor to ceiling mirrors in the dance room.
"We also had a significant donation from Ingleby Farms, which helped a lot and also the CBH Group provided us with funding to host the exhibitions and the easels so we could display the work."
Arts in regional areas can be limited and the GSAC is passionate and determined to keep the creativity flowing through the region.
While the collective does have big hopes and plans for the future, Ms Taylor said the long-term vision was rather simple.
"For all of us on the board, our long-term vision is to keep the GSAC going," she said.
"We have a great space that can be curated for it to be self-run down the track.
"There will always be a board but we want to have a lot of community input and for the town to feel like they own it.
"It's their space to be creative in and it would be amazing if they felt that."
