Contribute to support more positive local storytelling.
Support“People love artists; they are fascinated by them. I’m not sure why – because we are weird or something,” artist Lucy Hersey laughs.
But it doesn’t take long for the founder of On Clarence – a dynamic gathering of low-cost art studios and small business spaces in Loch – to reflect on that ‘why’.
“I think humans are naturally productive, creative, useful organisms. We’re not meant to be still. We’re not meant to be robotic or repetitive. We're meant to make things – whether it's gardens or meals or clothes or children – that's what humans do. We make things, share them with each other and tell stories to connect.
“Artists are just doing that in a more visible way. We aren’t different from anyone else; our language is just more obvious, which is perhaps why people are drawn to art – it is an impactful, visceral manifestation of this human need.”
This is the kind of insight you gain as someone privileged to witness the meaningful and symbiotic relationship artists have with their community day in and day out. But Lucy didn’t just fall into this vocation; she crafted On Clarence from the ground up to meet a need she saw in herself and other artists.
“It was great. Everyone had fun and, because the artists weren't asked for anything, they felt valued and empowered...”
—
When Lucy moved to South Gippsland from Mornington Peninsula a few years ago, the first thing she did was look for spaces to connect with other artists.
“I was already a practising artist and I thought, ‘Great, I'll start showing locally’. I got online looking for where I could show work and get involved in the art community… and I just couldn't find anything,” Lucy explains.
Lucy recalls, with laughter, her desire for this proximity – “Where are my people?!” – but in being lucky enough to engage with these types of stories often, we can see a universal truth revealed. Contrary to the stereotype of the solitary artist, artists seem to gravitate towards each other – forming vibrant networks and communal creative spaces. They rely on each other and we, as communities, rely on them.
According to the Regional Australia Institute, "Creative industries play a critical role in enhancing the liveability of regional areas, attracting new residents and retaining existing ones.” Regions with a strong cultural and creative sector not only have “enhanced community connectedness and social cohesion” but also “experience faster population growth and greater economic diversity".
Lucy recalls, “The first creative I met was Karli Duckett, through her Discovering Gippsland Instagram account, and we hit it off immediately. Karli had heard the same thing from a lot of local artists. They were all here making work, but kind of squirrelled away in their studios or at home. Apart from showing at Meeniyan Art Gallery or Stockyard Gallery, or travelling a great distance to access other collectives like FLOAT in East Gippsland, they didn’t know how to connect with other artists. There was this geographical and social void.”
This wasn’t the only void Lucy noticed, though.
Gippsland boasts a range of exceptional galleries – the big, small and in-between. These spaces do their part to bring in big-name artists and attract tourists, but Lucy believes they also leave a huge gap in their wake.
“Most galleries charge artists these crazy up-front fees to show, hang the art on the walls then somewhat let the month of the artist's exhibition passively pass by. It ends up being not worth the poor artists showing because, with the upfront fees and high commissions, they don’t make any money.”
This creates a clear conundrum. “Artists have to show their work to build their CVs, and these galleries are the only places available to them. Due to the financial barrier, they never get out of the ‘emerging’ category.”
From a recent survey of the On Clarence artists, Lucy shares that the results were “frustratingly exciting and discouraging”.
“The creative businesses our emerging artists are operating are highly profitable (50% to 70% profit margins), with low operating costs, run from homes, usually run by women – supplementing family incomes while allowing them to stay at home and care for children, or alongside another part-time job. What came back repeatedly (apart from personal obstacles to business growth) was the hurdle of scalability and local opportunities for growth/exposure.”
This is a gap that wonderful places like FLOAT and Foundry in East Gippsland aim to fill, and Lucy was keen to build something similar for South Gippsland artists.
“I wanted to fill that gap. I didn’t want to create another professional gallery space artists had to pitch their careers to. I wanted to create something for artists based on relationships and socialising – not commercialism.”
“I’d been volunteering and getting involved in anything I could to try to get to know the region’s creatives. I was pretty keen to put on an exhibition that pulled all of these artists I was meeting together.”
An experienced curator, Lucy launched an exhibition in Loch Public Hall that not only met her high standard but also aligned with the values she hoped to champion. “I didn’t charge the artists any fees or commission, and I put all my energy into bringing in great customers and collectors, creating a lot of good media and selling a lot of work.” And sell she did: $4000 worth of work in three days.
“It was great. Everyone had fun and, because the artists weren't asked for anything, they felt valued and empowered to get involved – stepping up to man the exhibition, run workshops and give talks.”
A couple of years later, Lucy has transformed On Clarence from an idea to a space for artists and small businesses to thrive. On-site currently are two art studios, a courtyard and sculpture garden, Little Boy Blue Coffee Caravan and the Just A Teaspoon micro-bakery.
Karli Duckett, who occupied a studio for 12 months before passing it onto Greer Arnott (featured in Gippslandia #31), shares, “Like many artists, I was struggling with things such as identity, finding income, generating products and services, and finding space to work without distraction. Renting a commercial space on my own felt overwhelming, isolating and inflexible. A collaborative space was definitely my preference, and I was conscious of the positive flow-on effect of being around other like-minded creatives and their energies.”
Lucy says their little block of land on Clarence Street “isn’t perfect”, and she hopes to expand when she can. But, she thinks the massive oak tree in the middle and the “crappy” three-car garage they had to convert into small studio spaces forced them to be creative. “The tenants and businesses we've attracted all work really well together, and we are slowly adding more and more layers.”
Karli continues, “The moments that have contributed the most to me, as an artist and business owner, have been the simple doorway conversations that have gently ebbed and flowed as curious visitors and familiar friends have come and gone to connect and share.”
Seeing the community she has been able to craft, as well as the positive impact On Clarence is making, is deeply meaningful for Lucy. She has nothing but wonderful things to say about the people she works with – noting the way her fellow tenants immediately join her when she begins tending to the garden, and the generous community members who volunteer to play music or provide wine for events.
Karli is the first to gush about Lucy’s hard work. “I often wonder how she does it all, but I think in all honesty she is the epitome of living a truly creative life. It doesn’t tax her because she truly lives and breathes it. I’ve never met a creative with such generative energy. Ensuring artists are visible, supported, paid, engaged and connected is always at the forefront, and she is always thinking about just how far the ripples may travel and who may benefit.”
With all that Lucy, and others like her, are doing for our community, it feels vital to consider what we can give back to them. Spaces like On Clarence are often built – and “orchestrated”, as Lucy poetically calls it – by a powerhouse whose passion fuels them to put in the overtime and absorb the costs to make it work. Often, this powerhouse is a woman. Unfortunately, without support, this story often ends in burnout. I was keen to ask Lucy, who does so much for Gippsland, what Gippslandians can do for her. The answer, Lucy points out, is all too simple: “Buy the artwork.”
But, in a cost-of-living crisis, that may not feel simple. Lots of us are too busy trying to keep the electricity on to buy pretty things for our walls. But perhaps, to whatever extent is possible, we need to shift the way we think about art.
“I think the public wants to buy art, and they want to buy art in spaces where they can access the artist without the confines of the big white gallery space – somewhere where their interest in a work is greeted with ‘This is Martine’s work. She’s my friend who makes beautiful collages. She lives down the road.’ It's about connecting with real people.”
Far from just ‘decoration’, the art you buy from collectives like On Clarence is an investment in the creatives who stoke a sense of community connectedness, social cohesion and economic diversity in our communities, as the Regional Australian Institute highlights. Whether we are brave enough to acknowledge it or not, art and artists are essential to us all.
—
Join us for On Clarence’s annual exhibition, Beyond the Secret Garden, running from November 1–24. Discover the exceptional work of Gippsland artists and get your Christmas gifts sorted early at 1 Clarence St, Loch.