Burnside Art Boulevard - Gemma Rose Brook

In the latest step for the City of Burnside’s involvement in the Arts and the development of local artists, the city is excited to launch the Burnside Art Boulevard.

With a goal of advancing the city’s already stellar reputation as a hub for South Australian art, the Burnside Art Boulevard will act as a catalyst for community investment and provide exposure for upcoming and yet to be established artists.

With seasonal artist changes the Burnside Arts Boulevard will deliver a safe and friendly space for artists to display and sell their works within the Burnside Civic Centre.

The inaugural artist for the program is Adelaide-based oil painter Gemma Rose Brook, she is a former SALA feature artist, finalist for the 2020 Heysen Prize for Landscape, winner of the 2020 Royal Society of the Arts Youthscape Prize and a previous solo exhibitionist at Floating Goose Studio.

Drawing inspiration from life and environment, Gemma specialises in landscapes, with bold texture and colour a trademark of her work.

‘I like to think of my style as contemporary painting and it’s highly influenced by female modernist and expressionistic painting,’ Gemma said.

With experience living in regional South Australia including the Apy Lands in the north-western region of the state, Gemma has evolved an engagement perspective with nature more in line with Indigenous conceptions of connection with Country.

‘I suppose it’s always an indigenous perspective that we need to look towards within Australia respectfully and I think this is especially true when approaching painting the Australian landscape. When I worked at Ernabella Arts the community taught me so much about respecting the land and place you are interacting with. It strengthened my ideas of holistically connecting to a place rather than owning it, which is generally a Western perspective.’

City of Burnside Team Leader of Community Centres and Events Darren Baynes said the Burnside Art Boulevard was an important outlet in the space and would cater to those interested in South Australian talent.

‘Burnside Art Boulevard celebrates local South Australian artists in the most accessible and inclusive way possible and will allow visitors to appreciate the artwork on display at their own pace,’ Darren said.

‘We expect the exhibitions to attract new visitors and encourage more people to enjoy the wide range of existing programs and services on offer across the Burnside Civic Centre.’

With her Arts Boulevard exhibition to run from October through to January, Gemma said such community commitment to the arts is pivotal for development.

‘I think that community spaces are really important. Funding for the arts is an essential way to connect communities as well shift people's perspectives around the way we see and feel the world,’ Gemma said.

You can view Gemma's artwork at the Burnside Civic Centre from 3 October 2023 until Friday 12 January.