On Friday 1st April
Thanks so much to Karl Winda Telfer for conducting a celebration of the spirit of place to begin our launch. Karl conducted a cleansing ceremony for the building a few days prior to the launch and he is going to be working with Restless as Cultural Advisor for our upcoming series of Aboriginal Masterclasses. He demonstrated his own generous and thoughtful spirit by including the Restless dancers into the traditional aboriginal dances in the Studio space.
Michelle Ryan was the fabulous MC for the evening and she led off by introducing Frances Bedford MP who did the official opening representing the Minister for the Arts, Jack Snelling. The ribbon was cut on their behalf by Restless Links participant Issy Drummond. Then Peter Louca, Executive Director of Arts South Australia spoke about the value of disability arts to South Australia and the leading role that the state has played in the development of this work in Australia.
And then the announcements and performance! Robyn Archer as the new Restless Patron; Restless in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival; the Restless 25th birthday; the unveiling of the new website; the playing of the super cool Give Me Five video – and the transformation of the studio into performance space and a short performance by the Youth Ensemble.
What an action packed night! The nibbles were wonderful (thank you Dean Lennerth of Plates N Platters) as were the drinks (thanks to Bent Creek Vineyards and to Booze Brothers).
And we auctioned off the naming rights for our new mirror ball which fetched a whopping $1,050. It is named after:
- Sophia Anderson
- Isadora Drummond Sweeney
- Grace Hoffensetz
- Bella Kobayashi
- Imogen O’Dea
who are all Links workshop participants.
We raised a further $3,000 on the night selling cupcakes and in general donations. Thank you all for your generous support.
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