Art and About … Aussie Style

Posted by Adrian VanDerkraan on June 27th 2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: Institute, Arts Festival

Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute (MWPAI) celebrates its annual Arts Festival starting this weekend, July 1 through July 6. The Festival reminds me of my recent Art and About tour of eastern Australia with wife Diane.

Sydney, Australia

We delighted in the stunning Sydney’s Life exhibition, part of the city’s Art and About month, which is a much-loved event, viewable day and night, now in its tenth year. It showcases some of our most exciting photographers. Similar in style to the MWPAI Sidewalk Art Show, Sydney’s Art and About Expo displays 22 finalists from 500 entries. Using portraiture and landscape, these photographs capture moments of playfulness, love, humor, melancholy, celebration on giant photo murals.

Hyde Park Walk, Sydney

The eye-opening exhibition is displayed along a fig tree-lined walkway in Sydney’s beautiful Hyde Park. There we saw striking large-scale images featuring the light and dark side of Sydney, some staged, some candid. Musicians were playing and families are taking pictures beside the lovely, central fountain. They made quite a picture in their own right and we ended our day enjoying this human “art.”

Sydney's Art & About, September 2010

I have great pride in my association with MWPAI and I was so pleased, if not surprised, to find that this Utica gem is known and respected by art lovers ‘down under.’

Adrian vanderKraan is Events & House Manager (Performing Arts) @ Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Contact: email

image credits
Photo 9: Sydney Life Expo: Copyright © City of Sydney|
Photo 10: Hyde Park North (Sydney ) Copyright © City of Sydney
Photo 11: The Pack – Copyright © Tamara Dean 2010