EACH YEAR the reputation rises for the Sunshine Coast Art Prize. This year more than 400 entries came in from around the country, and within the 40 finalists we had seven entries from the Coast, five of those from the Hinterland.
Miles Hall, the son of Maleny locals Les and Rae Hall won this year’s SCAP prize. His delighted parents were at the announcement at the Caloundra Regional Gallery on August 26.
Les, who has a distinguished academic career as a zoologist, said with a wry smile that, when Miles was a boy, he had tried to persuade him to become an architect. By coincidence, Miles’ wife Virginie is an architect.
Miles Hall also joins Hinterland artist, Kevin Oxley, as finalists in the prestigious Grafton drawing prize.
I am always pleased to publish more in-depth feature articles where they have relevance to our readership. In this edition, we have permission to publish extracts from the current edition of The Griffith Review – Prosper or Perish. The essays that touch on Australian population and its relationship to climate change are most revealing. I hope our extracts entice readers to get hold of a copy of the Review 29.
One of our occasional correspondents and Hinterland local is industry consultant and futurist, Stephen Alexander. Stephen is at the forefront of facilitating public debate on Australia’s creaking health system. In this edition he reports on a recent conference where some startling advances were being predicted, including patients having access to their own health records on their iPhone. Stephen also refers to Maleny as a good example where there is excellent cooperation between all levels of health providers.
The Maleny Community Precinct has been a near, ten year project in the planning. This special, 122 hectare site has several competing interests and Council is now deciding which projects get started first. A public walkway from town to Gardners Falls has always been top of the list for locals, but Council have left it off the master plan. We report on a public meeting where questions were asked about Council’s priorities and whether we are still focussed on strong environmental outcomes for the site.
Congratulations in this edition to Maleny’s Meisha Lowe whose passion for acting has landed her a role in the new Underbelly movie. And to Maleny Manor for another major win as one of Australia’s top wedding reception centres. Congratulations also to hinterland painter, Peter Hudson for being chosen to illustrate three children’s books by iconic Australian song writers. Finally, Faith and I would like to thank the growing number of people who write and phone with messages of appreciation for the quality of our magazine. They are most heartening.
Michael Berry
Leave a Reply