Experts in a range of arts-related subjects deliver lectures in Cessnock eight times a year, thanks to the Pokolbin branch of the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society (ADFAS).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
One of 35 societies in Australia, ADFAS Pokolbin formed in 1998 and now has 140 members from around the Hunter region.
Rock art of the Kimberleys, Queen Nefertiti and Elizabeth Taylor’s jewels are among the lecture topics members have enjoyed so far this year.
While members and visitors are informed, entertained and enriched, they are also doing their bit for the community, raising funds for local school students through raffles and other activities throughout the year.
“One of the ADFAS objectives is to inspire young people with an enthusiasm for the arts and increase awareness of our arts heritage and its conservation,” society treasurer Robyn Emerson said.
“ADFAS Pokolbin has an active Young Arts Program, which is generously supported and funded by members and friends.”
Since 2008, ADFAS Pokolbin has provided funding for Cessnock East Public School’s year 5 and 6 students to attend an excursion to the Sydney Opera House, and also provides books for arts-based awards at the school’s presentation day.
In 2015, the society funded an Opera Australia Schools Tour performance of Rossini’s ‘Cinderella’ at Cessnock West Public School. This year Cessnock West students will enjoy a performance of ‘Hansel and Gretel’.
ADFAS Pokolbin also supports the Cessnock Community of Great Public Schools Choir with an annual donation, and always looks forward to the choir’s performance at their last lecture of the year in October.
It also provided funding for sculpture workshops for local school students as part of the Wollombi Sculpture in the Vineyards education program in 2015.
To top it off, ADFAS Pokolbin was awarded the Pauline Hopkins Cup for best young arts program at the ADFAS national general meeting in April this year.
ADFAS Pokolbin’s next lecture, ‘The Art of Cuisine and the Cuisine of Art’, will be held on Monday, July 25 at Cessnock Performing Arts Centre.
Art historian Michael Howard will talk about artists associated with the Impressionist movement – such as Monet, Picasso, Matisse, Dali, Pollock and Warhol – and how they used food as a central motif for their art and their lives.
Doors open at 6.45pm for a 7pm. Tickets are $25 including a light supper and wine. RSVP to Judy on 0409 986 565 or judywearne@bigpond.com.
