Braidwood had a big weekend as the QPRC Art Trail came through town for the first time. Exhibitions included a display of masks made by members of Braidwood Regional Arts Group.
At Friday’s opening night, Braidwood Central School drama students put on a fabulous dramatic display of several mask in the exhibition, displayed on our website.
Several local galleries, including the Left Hand, the Silken Tent and Altenburg & Co, put on special exhibitions for the Art Trail, which also included galleries in Bungendore and Queanbeyan.
The event was seen by many as a test of the new council’s ability to create an event that integrated the needs of Braidwood with those of Queanbeyan. Many were worried that Queanbeyan’s closeness to Canberra would mean Canberra visitors would go there at the expense of Braidwood.
Galleries reported between 40 and 55 visitors each, with Julian Davies from the Left Hand saying the number was slightly higher than he would normally expect on the second day of a show. While visitor numbers were good, galleries reported that none of the art sold was bought by visitors to the region.
Kylie Dominick of BRAG, however, said that “in terms of it being our inaugural participation, the numbers were really great and we’d honestly expect that next year it’ll be even better”.
“Considering how late we got on board, [the council] did a really good job with promoting us.”
