© Blackheath Art Society
Please contact the Society
or artist where indicated,
for permission to use our materials

Early Days: BCAG
The forerunner of the present Art Society, with its studio and gallery at 138 Station Street, was the Blackheath Creative Art Groups founded in 1975. The first president was George Frame.

The BCAG had no permanent home. It consisted of a group of members who met in a church hall and by 1982 the group was working with a tutor in the Bates Hall once a week.

Members showed their paintings at the annual Blackheath Rhododendron Festival Art Show. They also practised life drawing. At the time this got them into trouble with some of the locals.

The BCAG nearly folded in the early 1980s but was saved by two women, Gladys van Eerde and Joyce Coombes, carrying a placard pinned to an easel in the 1986 Rhododendron Festival parade.

Resurrection by cheeky dynamic trio
They contacted Irene Coates, who agreed to help re-establish the group provided they worked towards building their own studio where different types of painting could be practised throughout the week.

Remarkably, the Blue Mountains City Council listened when these women presented their case. The Minister of the Arts agreed to contribute $10,000, while the Council matched this and made a plot of land available on a long lease at a peppercorn rent.

The architect Peter Buckwell, of Buckwell & Partners, Mt Victoria, planned the present purpose-designed workshop to the group's specifications: to provide a spacious, properly equipped artists' studio including the all-important south light, kitchen, bathroom, storage, library and office.

Hard yakka with friends
A hectic few years were spent fund raising, holding fashion shows and jumble sales to reach their necessary target.

Marion Uren became Patron. Famous potter Peter Rushforth donated a beautiful blossom pot to be raffled; Margaret Rathore and Ashok produced Indian meals for large numbers of people gathered in the Neighbourhood Centre Hall. With community support, there was a feeling of excitement as the building grew. New people joined while many original members became active, including the oil painter Mary Austen Martin.

Evolution
In 1997 the AGM voted to change the name from the Blackheath Community Arts Groups (BCAG) to the Blackheath Art Society (BAS).

An annual exhibition of members' work was held every Easter but since about 1998 three exhibitions are held: The Annual Members' Easter Art Exhibition, the Open Watercolour and Works on Paper on the June long weekend, and the Open Contemporary Art Exhibition (Contempo) on the October long weekend. These are well attended and artists' entries now fill the studio to capacity.

What's going on now?
Life drawing flourishes, as well as oils, acrylics, mixed media and watercolour painting.

The Blackheath Art Society has been a seeding ground for other community art activities:

• Members successfully exhibit in local, regional and city galleries as well as major national competitive art shows.
• Members are strong supporters of the Combined Elements Exhibition.
• The artist-run Gallery Blackheath in Govetts Leap Road is operated by six of its members.
• The Contemporary Colourists exhibit at different galleries and venues further afield.

The Blue Mountains City Council continues to support the Society by way of special project funds through the Cultural Partnerships Grant scheme. The operating and capital costs are still provided by funds raised through the activities of the Society. The Society is a registered charity for funds donated for the purpose of building improvement and maintenance.

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Studio under construction



Peter Rushforth, one of Australia's most
well-known potters, donated one of his
signature blossom pots to help raise
funds to get the studio off the ground



"Blossom Pot"
by Peter Rushforth

Irene Coates. part of the dynamic trio who saved the group from its demise and established BAS in its own architect-designed studio in the late 80s