Rhonda Miranda, who used to work at the CSIRO in the 1970s, will have her artwork displayed at the exhibition. Photo: Supplied.
An exhibition that pays tribute to the role the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) had in shaping agriculture will launch at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery at 6 pm on Friday (27 September).
“Every year, Griffith Regional Art Gallery do a community art exhibition and we try and link it to something relevant … [former CSIRO employee] Barry Steer approached and told us there was amazing stuff that the scientists did here in Griffith,” Gallery coordinator Ray Wholohan said.
“It’s an agribusiness town but it’s benefitted from scientific development immensely.
“We put the call out for artwork to anyone who created an exhibition around the theme of ‘fruits of labour’; we’ve got former CSIRO employees and their family members who have contributed … we’ve had a swell of exhibits come in; the community really supported us.”
The CSIRO operated a station in Hanwood from 1924 to 2016. Its former employee Rhonda Miranda has contributed her work.
“I used to work for CSIRO in viticulture and there was a lot of research we did on how to improve the growth of wine. There was well over 100 people working then; it was a village. We had beautiful facilities,” Ms Miranda said.
“I then worked as a commercial photographer and took photos of all the growers in 1999, so I did portraits of all of them for this exhibit. Some of them came here with nothing, but they’ve all done so well.”
Jennifer Gardiner, the daughter of former CSIRO scientist Alan Gunn, will also have her work Seeds of Science displayed.
Seeds of Science by Jennifer Gardiner will also be displayed at the gallery. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
“I loved finding items that my Dad used in his research years and I kept them in my art studio waiting for a time when I would make them into a work,” she said.
“As a family we lived and breathed the seeds of sunflowers through his research, and the images of the fields we visited at the station is a special memory.
“My exhibit is various artworks collaged together; there’s various prints, drawings, things stitched on, there’s images layered … there’s spines on these analytical books.
“There’s also some longer sections that have groups of seeds at various stages. It’s a combination of different works I’ve done over many years.”
Ms Gardiner grew up in Griffith but now works as a high school art teacher in the Blue Mountains. She is back in town for the exhibit launch and says she loves reliving the memories.
“I love catching up with CSIRO staff; we often meet for a meal at [Italian restaurant] Il Corso … we were like a family back then,” she said.
“I did art at school and weekend classes in Griffith. There used to be an artist called Lance McNeil from Melbourne who came up to do workshops. My dad attended and I joined him too.
The ‘fruits of labour’ exhibits will be on display at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery until 3 November.
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