The 2019 Esperance Wildflower Festival will featured some larger-than-life plant and insect sculptures through the blossoming of Esperance Community Arts (ECA) MegaFLORA Project in the lead up to, and during, the event. MegaFLORA was a multi-faceted community arts project that will celebrate the 2019 festival theme: “Bugs and the Bush.”
Esperance Community Arts recently received a boost in the form of $48,520 project funding from Festivals Australia, which will be combined with in-kind support from many community groups and organisations to ensure that the 2019 event will be spectacular and memorable.
Esperance Community Arts was one of only three Western Australian organisations to secure Festivals Australia funding in this round, and one of 16 organisations nationwide.
The majority of the funding was used to employ local artists to design and facilitate 6 weeks of free community workshops in the lead up to the Festival, and to support the involvement of three other local arts organisations.
The Esperance Theatre Guild, Dance Devotion, the Esperance Brass Band and the Esperance Wildflower Society were all involved in the MegaFLORA project, which will be led by professional artists Mylene van Heijster, Naomi Stanitzki and Jennell Reynolds.
Each of the species selected for the project also have specific cultural significance for the local Nyungar community. These include Banksia, Acacia and Bardi.
The project involved the creation of large-scale sculptures, costumes, dance and music elements that combine to entertain and inspire those attending the festival, while also serving to increase awareness of native plants and insects.
“Working on such a big scale, with upcycled materials, to create sculptures that will need to withstand outdoor coastal conditions, will also allow the artists to experiment with a range of new materials and techniques that will extend their technical and professional skills.”
Workshops and activities related to the project will activate and enable community involvement, with people of all ages encouraged to take part in the project and enjoy the outcome at Festival time.
See the progress
You can see the progress of the MegaFLORA Community Sculpture Project via our
Participate
If you would like to learn more about the workshops you can participate in, click here.
Creative Partners
Read about the people who helped make MegaFLORA happen here.
Cast of characters
Learn about the bugs and plants which were represented in this project here.