Inspired by ....... Art & Volunteering
Inspired by…….Art & Volunteering
We are a group of 26 volunteers from the Art Gallery of South Australia. As well as a passion for art, we love volunteering and giving back to our community. This exhibition is our first as a group of friends who met through their passion for art and volunteering.
Our art practices are diverse – we are printmakers, textile artists, painters; we make drawings and we create soundscapes, we are photographers and mixed media artists to name a few. Some of us are emerging artists and some have been practising professionally for a significant time. This is our first exhibition as a group.
Our volunteering roles include being Gallery Guides where we introduce visitors to the wonderful permanent and temporary exhibitions held at the Gallery; Front of House volunteers who welcome and direct visitors around the Gallery and others who assist the Gallery Librarians.
One of the first things we did as a group was have a competition to create our own logo:
Our theme for this exhibition – Inspired By……. has challenged us all to create something that inspires us - an artist, an art movement, a loved one, a writer, a piece of music, a pet or even something from our garden.
Inspired by ....... Art & Volunteering
Helen Bulis - Fashion Artist
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Helen Bulis is an Art Gallery Guide, a Fashion Artist and a member of the Inspired by Art and Volunteering project.
Details about the exhibition
Inspired by……… an exhibition by 26 volunteers at AGSA
(Art Gallery of South Australia)
Light Square Gallery, 39 Light Square, Adelaide
https://www.tafesa.edu.au/adelaide-college-of-the-arts/light-square-gallery
Wed 5th August - Friday 21st August
Monday to Friday - 10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Official Launch:
Jason Smith, Director, AGSA
Thursday 13th August, 3.00 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Music is original music by David Innocente
"One Thing Led to Another"
Welcome to Inspired By Art and Volunteering, an exhibition with me, Tanya Ingerson. Over the next couple of months, I'm going to be continuing to interview artists that will be exhibiting in our exhibition called Inspired By. We are all volunteers at the Art Gallery of South Australia and all artists doing all sorts of different things. Details of the exhibition are at the bottom of this podcast. And the exhibition is going to be held during Salah this year 2026. Very exciting. Well, in this podcast, I'm interviewing Helen Bullis. Helen has had a lifelong passion for decorative arts, fashion, jewellery, and you can see that in the outfits she puts together, and well, we just can't wait to see what she puts into this exhibition. And this conversation was so much fun. So sit back and relax and enjoy the chat I had with Helen. Hi Helen. What's your role as a volunteer here at the Art Gallery of South Australia?
SPEAKER_00Okay, at the Art Gallery, I'm a gallery guide and I did my training back in 2012. It does follow a history, a lifelong history of volunteering from president of Red Cross at the age of 12, right through Amazing! Right through all my adult life. I feel I've had a very fortunate life and it's good to give back.
SPEAKER_01It's fantastic, Helen. I didn't know that about you. My goodness. What do you love about being a volunteer? I mean, actually, probably in general, because the Red Cross and Art Gallery.
SPEAKER_00I think I've always been in a position most of my life that I've been fortunate. I had good upbringing and always had a job and always had a good education, and I've always felt there's always something to give back and not charge because generally life's been good to me.
SPEAKER_01So nice. And big question for you, Helen. What is your art practice?
SPEAKER_00That's a good question, Tanya. Um, because I feel like I'm not an artist. I'm very interested in fashion, and I always have been. At the gallery I specialise in decorative art, so I like fashion, uh, porcelain, and jewellery, because I think they're all much of an art practice as painting and sculpture and ceramics, let's say. Um so my art practice, I guess, for this exhibition, and probably since I was eight years old again, um, has been an interest in fashion.
SPEAKER_01Well, I can say on behalf of all the volunteers and at the art gallery guides that whenever Helen, for our listeners, whenever Helen walks into our meeting, is that she's a walking piece of art, I think. Always beautifully dressed and so creative. Now, um, what for this exhibition which is we've called inspired by, what have you been inspired by for the artwork you're going to put in this exhibition?
SPEAKER_00Well, I for some reason I've been taken up with Vivian Westwood the last few years for a couple of reasons. I've sort of rediscovered my Scottish ancestry. I'm a Macdonald on my grandmother's side. So I got interested in tartan and the different types of tartan, and so did Vivian Westwood. Uh, particularly in her 1990s um exhibitions and um and fashion, she drew heavily on her Scottish Tartan history. Wow, particularly uh being very sculptured. Now, my fashion uh presentation for this exhibition is probably not as sculptured as Vivian Westwood, but I have incorporated tartan and a bit of Scottish heritage with just a little bit of edge.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, we're all very excited. Oh, I love I love the little bit of edge. I can't wait to see that. Well, I have one last question for you. What do you love about art?
SPEAKER_00That's a good question. Um I think art for me gives us two things. It gives us a lot of joy when we necessarily need joy. Um, art continually reminds us that there's beautiful things to look at and beautiful things to take in, and that lifts our spirits. But art is also, I think, a very good reflective device. It reminds us that everyone's not so fortunate, um, and but everyone can sort of uh find some respite in art if you know people take the time out and have a really good look at it.
SPEAKER_01Oh Helen, that's so beautiful. Well, we can't wait to see your amazing artwork at the Inspired By exhibition. Thanks, Helen.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, Tania.
SPEAKER_01It was such a lovely moment to interview Helen, and as you could probably hear from some of my responses, I was quite touched by some of the things that Helen had to say, particularly about being a volunteer and what art does for people. And I think it's a really good thing to think about as well what these volunteers provide the public and why they do it. And it was just really lovely to hear Helen talk about why she is a volunteer and also Vivian Westwood, very excited about what it is that Helen will be exhibiting. Don't forget details of that exhibition at the bottom of this podcast. And please join me next time when I interview another artist that will be exhibiting in our exhibition called Inspired By. Until then, bye for now.