Charlotte Meekins - Painter Oil & Acrylic

Charlotte Meekins is an Art Gallery Guide and a Painter.

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"

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Welcome to Inspired by Art and Volunteering Exhibition with me, Tanya Inkison. I'm having so much fun interviewing the artists that will be exhibiting this year in the Salah Exhibition. We are all volunteers at the Art Gallery of South Australia and there's 26 of us. The artist that I'm interviewing in this podcast is Charlotte Meekins. Charlotte is a member of the committee, she's the curator of this exhibition, an artist, a guide volunteer. You know what? You will hear all the things that she's going to share for us in this interview. So sit back and relax and enjoy the chat I had with Charlotte. Hi Charlotte. Thanks for being on the podcast, and also you're a member of the Inspired By committee. So thank you for that. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. So what do you do as a volunteer here at the Art Gallery of South Australia?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

So here at the Art Gallery of South Australia, I am a guide, but I'm also part of the Executive Guide Committee and manage Art in Five presentations.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Oh well. So for our listeners, what is Art in Five?

SPEAKER_00 1:18

It's basically like a little training session where we get to practice our presenting skills and practice the way that we would engage our audience when we give tours.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

And we all have to do it. I know I've got one coming up. It's about every 18 months, is it? Or every 12 months?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Yeah, about almost every two years you're required to do a talk.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah. And how long have you been a volunteer here?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

I have been a volunteer now for probably about almost two and a half years, probably. If we include the training sessions as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Yeah. And what was the what was the reason that you wanted to come and be a volunteer here?

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Um I wanted to get myself exposed to the art industry as I am a very passionate artist and I have always had a desire to work in the art field. So I wanted to meet other people who had those same interests.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Oh, what a great idea. And I'm and I'm sure that that's what you're already doing. Um and what do you love about being a volunteer?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

I love being able to help inspire creativity and see the reactions of other people when I give like a really good tour, and they just have amazing feedback and discover something new.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Oh wow. That's I th I think that's something that we all really enjoy doing. Has there been something specifically recently?

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Um, yeah. I gave a tour to this lovely middle-aged woman from California, and it basically ended up being a one-on-one tour because no one else came. And she said that she's toured all over the world. She also works in an art gallery over there as herself as a volunteer. So I was really nervous because she also has a lot of knowledge. But she said that my tour was one of the best tours she's ever seen in all of her time travelling.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Oh, congratulations, Charlotte. I'm not surprised at all. Um, and for the Inspired By exhibition, it'd be good for our listeners to know what is your art practice?

SPEAKER_00 3:17

So, my art practice is oil painting, landscapes. So I specifically like to paint under the idea of art for art's sake, which can be quite controversial and not what the art is that we see this day, which is more conceptual-based. But I like to highlight the beauty of the art techniques and that art can just exist for the purpose of existing, just to appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

So I also understand that you did your training at TAFE. Um, do you want to explain a little bit more about that experience?

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Yes, so I completed my Bachelor of Creative Arts, Visual Arts through TAFESA, and at the Adelaide College of Arts building specifically, it was an amazing environment where everyone else there was also a creative in some type of way. So the lecturers, mentors, all the other peers you meet were just so respectful.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

And so what has that given you? And was that part of you coming to do the volunteering and to be part of the art gallery?

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Um, it has given me a lot of direction of how to guide my art career as finishing uni and being a student. Um, it did inspire me to come and volunteer at the art gallery because it's highly recommended to really put yourself out there to like make your way in the art world, you need to find those networks, those connections.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Yeah. Uh and how long ago did you finish your training?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Oh, uh 2023.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Oh, at the at TAFE, I'm yes, yes. I'm thinking now there's two lots of trainings here because we have to train to be guides as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

So at TAFE, I graduated 2023.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Is there any um students that you catch up with or connect with?

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Yes, so I have long, lifelong friendships made from being at uni. Um I have amazing friends that I catch up with all the time, and we all talk about our different ways of navigating the art world. I have other friends from the course that I've run into in other places in life. It was it's made amazing connections.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

So it was a really good experience then at the TAFE um for the and what was the what was the name of the course?

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Um Bachelor of Creative Arts, Visual Arts. So it's TAFE combined with Flinders Uni.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Oh, yes. Interesting. Oh wow. And were they big, uh, was it a big class that you're involved in?

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Yeah, it was fairly big, my code hall, when we started. Gradually it drops, but it was really amazing because you create these really like tight bonds, and in your last graduate year, you get your own specialized studio space where you get to work in and make all your projects, and then you get all like your little studio mates, and it's like this beautiful community.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Wonderful. Well, for our listeners, um, Charlotte is going to be the curator of the Inspired By exhibition, and it's very exciting for you to be doing that for us, but also for you. Would you like to tell the listeners what this means to you to be doing this as the curator?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

To be able to be the curator of this means a lot to me because I'm currently undergoing my master's degree in museum and curatorial studies at Adelaide Uni, as I've decided that I also have a huge passion in working within the art industry and being able to create an environment that can inspire other people. So this is going to be amazing hands-on practice to help me with my degree.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Wonderful. And we we are very excited about that. So, as an artist, Charlotte, for the Inspired By exhibition, what are you inspired by for the work that you'll be exhibiting?

SPEAKER_00 6:58

I am inspired by the reactions I see when I give tours and what people um gravitate towards. And I'm also just inspired by creativity in general. There's something about walking around the gallery and every little painting, even if it's something that's not my style, there's always some little element in there that really inspires me to try something new of colour or shape or shadow.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

And that's what you're going to be doing with the work you're going to exhibit? Oh, very exciting. Okay, last question. What do you love about art?

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Oh, that's a big question. Um I love the freedom it gives and how it's so uniquely yours. Like people can try and replicate and do what they want, but no one can exactly copy exactly what you do. It's just so unique to your own expression and your viewpoints.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Oh, that is so lovely. Thank you so much, Charlotte. And um, I am so excited for what we do next with the Inspired By committee to get this exhibition done, and um, thank you so much for today.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

I hope you enjoyed that interview with Charlotte. She is so inspiring for the studies that she's done, where the journey she's on, you just know that there is some really amazing things to come, and we are so grateful that she will be the curator of this exhibition. I loved how Charlotte talked about art being unique and individual to that particular artist. Well, I hope you join me next time when I interview another artist that will be exhibiting in this exhibition. And until then, bye for now.