tACTile at Belconnen Arts Centre

100: Celebrating Canberra 

Friday 9 – Sunday 25 August 2013

The tACTile group comprising Jenny Bowker, Dianne Firth, Helen Gray, Beth Miller, with Beth and Trevor Reid working in partnership, are well known throughout Australia and internationally for their innovative art quilts. 

They have created 20 art quilts each, a total of 100 altogether, to provide a range of perspectives on Canberra as a people, place and designed city. Additionally, they have created a collaborative work that was inspired by the cycloramic panorama of the site of the future capital city painted by Robert Coulter.

“The tACTile artists work both individually and collaboratively. To reference the 100 years of Canberra's anniversary each artist has created 20 artworks, a total of 100, inspired by the city.

"Robert Coulter's cyclorama painting of the city site that may have informed the winning design of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahoney Griffin provided the inspiration for the collaborative artwork” explains textile artist Dianne Firth. Intricate stitching, squares or bright colour and layers of texture become the town centres, landscapes and landmarks of Canberra as created by artists in tACTile. 

The group was founded in 2001 by ACT-based textile artists to advance contemporary quiltmaking in Australia by exploring the opportunities of the art quilt. All the artists are individually acknowledged as leaders in the field of contemporary quiltmaking at local, national and international levels.

Free Public Program
Meet the Artists: Sunday 11 August 3pm
Join us for a conversation with tACTile artists Jenny Bowker, Dianne Firth, Helen Gray, Beth Miller, with Beth and Trevor Reid to learn more about the creation of their works in 100: Celebrating Canberra. 

Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen ACT

Opening Hours: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm Tuesday – Sunday