CREATE Festival Library Installation

As the University rolls into semester two we are all eagerly awaiting the 2020 installment of the CREATE festival full of art, colour, engagement, music and a generally interesting week!

CREATE at the University of Newcastle is on the week of 31 AUGUST - 11 SEPTEMBER.

This year the library is embarking on a large-scale art collaboration project between staff and students in four of our libraries.

The Auchmuty, Ourimbah, NUspace and Sydney libraries will be hosting the project RE-CREATION. Using material that is no longer up-to-date from the library’s collection, the artwork is aimed at re-creating a space for these materials to live on in a new and artistic way. Each canvas has been carefully curated to hold a campus specific design created by PHD candidate and MakerSpace Student Peer Support Assistant, Linda Cox. These designs will be painted during the week of CREATE by you, our community of students and staff!

Linda Cox is a PHD candidate at the University of Newcastle, she is studying natural history illustration with an emphasis on the impacts of climate change to the natural world. Linda’s focus is on estuaries as they are a common marine habitat to the Central Coast and Newcastle areas, and many people do not understand their importance. Estuaries are feeder areas for marine life, nurseries for fish and important areas for migratory and resident shore birds. Linda’s research is tracking the impacts of climate change and the flow on affect to estuaries with the hope to use art as a visual tool to communicate this vital information to the public. Once completed Linda’s research will be used by artists, scientists, educators and the wider public to better inform them on the impacts of climate change.

While studying Linda works in the Library MakerSpace where she shares her love of art and creating with students and staff. Linda runs illustration basics, a four-week course on learning how to draw, at MakerSpace as well as general assistance of the equipment in the space.

Head over to our social media, Instagram @UonLibrary and Twitter @UONLib, to see the behind the scenes of the project.