PENOLA Terra Rossa Country Women’s Association (CWA) will host a memorable exhibition of photographic portraits and stories of eight women at next year’s Penola Coonawarra Arts Festival.
The third Portraits of Penola Women – Mothers and Daughters exhibition is an extension of the past two exhibits – They came for love and They came for work.
Penola CWA president Helen Zadow said the exhibition was an important way for the women’s group and community to highlight and celebrate the strengths and capabilities of local women.
She said the group was currently in the process of identifying different women who have remained in the region.
“The women are those who have remained in Penola, which there are actually quite an amount when you think about it,” Ms Zadow said.
“We are also trying to get a diverse range of women to go with the annual project.”
The group recently received a $1822 grant from Wattle Range Council to print and archive works of the two previous exhibitions.
Ms Zadow said the funding would enable the group to purchase frames, which will allow permanent storage of the portraits.
“The portraits will be on display at Parker Coonawarra Estate for 12 months before we hold them at our hall and put them out in a public place for both residents and visitors alike,” she said.
“Originally they were going to be displayed at the winery for one month but we had an overwhelming amount of feedback asking for them to be kept up and the winery graciously agreed.”
The association also recently received a community grant from Bendigo Bank for new chairs for the CWA Hall.
“The chairs really just lift the hall for functions,” Ms Zadow said.
“The hall is hired out quite a lot and it really adds to it.
“We have done quite an amount of fundraising over the years and felt as if we have done quite well within the community.”
