PROJECTS
Heartwood Bushfire Benefit: Event Coordinator. 2020. All images photographed by Lilly Pilly Arts.
Valentine's Day event in solidarity with the communities impacted by the recent Australian bushfires fires. A night of art, music, poetry, comedy, drag, market stalls, workshops, silent art auction, cake and bake sale, twilight market stalls, and an artist-led workshop to create valentines and letters to spread messages of love and hope to these communities. All art auction and market proceeds were donated to the Gippsland East Relief Fund.
This event involved planning, development and delivery of a community fundraising event, including curation of the art exhibition and workshop space, workshop programming and hosting of art auction, booking performers, and market stalls and overseeing the running of the event on the night.
Images below from Heart in Hand Valentine Day Workshop (designed by artcampla.com) at Heartwood Bushfire Benefit. February 2020.
Renaissance Festival: Workshop Facilitator. Simple Bookmaking, Dream Drawing Collage Lab. 2014-2020
Planning, development and delivery of multiple creative arts workshops and community engagement programs directed at children, teens and open age participants at successive bi-annual festivals. Workshops have included simple bookmaking, collage and mixed media art making, expressive drawing through meditation, and teen arts and youth engagement programs.
Images below from all ages Collage Lab Workshop at Renaissance Summer Festival 2019-2020.
Rock The Boat Community Fundraiser: Event Coordinator. 2019 All images by photographer Brendan Bonsack.
Make Art Not War collective presented Rock The Boat, a community fundraiser in support of Sail4Justice and hosted at the wonderful Siteworks.
it was a fabulous day of Art, Music, Poetry, Projections, Food, Drink, Market Stalls, Workshops and much more in Solidarity with the community on Manus Island. this project involved planning, development and delivery of the event including curation of the art exhibition and workshop space, workshop programming and hosting an art auction, booking performers, and market stalls and overseeing the running of the event on the day.
Monsalvat Arts Festival: Development and facilitation of a Simple Bookmaking Workshop at the Montsalvat Arts Festival. 2018
Asia Vocational Education and Training Programme: Endeavour Mobility Grant, funded study tour to The People’s Republic of China. 2017
Festival of Hope: Exhibition Curator and Project Manager of The Arts Hub. 2015
Festival of Hope 2015 was hosted by Amnesty International Australia as part of international World Refugee Day in civic partnership with Moreland City Council to advocate for an inclusive and diverse Australia, encompassing a compassionate and humane refugee policy. Festival of Hope is a celebration of the contributions and benefits that refugees make to our society, explored through performance, visual arts, music and education. Amnesty Australia's aim was to foster a family-friendly, accessible environment in which people could tell their stories, learn advocacy skills and enjoy a colourful range of entertainment. The Arts Hub played an integral role in this achieving this aim.
Make Art Not War: Founder and Co-Director. Social Media Manager. August 2015 – CURRENT
Make Art Not War is a platform for creatives whose philosophy and practice has a social, political or environmental conscience. Creativity is a powerful force: it can cross boundaries, challenge thinking and motivate action.
"We believe that, by raising and uniting these creative voices, we can inspire and affect real and positive, individual and societal change. In sharing, it is not our intention at Make Art Not War to confront you with horror nor to sensationalise very real experiences of suffering but to create a platform by which to raise the voices of artists who have sought/ are seeking to make known certain truths, in an effort to promote their calls for justice and liberty. Our stance is nonpartisan and our engagement is driven by a desire to promote justice, to raise awareness of injustices and to raise the many varied calls of artists for positive global societal change that is fundamentally ethical, environmentally sustainable and humane." – MAKE ART NOT WAR. MANIFESTO, 2015
Activist Arts Festival: Festival Curator and Project Manager of The Ballroom Art Space. 2014
The Activist Arts Festival was launched in 2014 as an initiative to bring together activist groups throughout Melbourne and to enable access to these groups by local communities in a non-protest environment. The event exhibited different forms of activism through art, photography, music, spoken word, paintings and film. It was hoped that the Festival would increase awareness for participants of how to access and be involved in activism in Melbourne in a non-protest setting, and strengthen relationships and bonds formed between communities of activists from separate streams. It also aimed to highlight the fact that activism comes in many forms, and that there are many different ways a community can speak out against injustice.
The Art of Silent Protest: Co-Curator and Participating Artist, Melbourne Fringe Festival 2014
Taking the form of the simple placard and exploring notions of social and ecological change, The Art of Silent Protest examined the visual impact of the art of activism. This exhibition was curated in collaboration with The Snug Gallery Space (defunct) and The Green Creative Initiative.
The Green Creative Initiative: Co–Founder, Project Manager, Social Media Manager. May 2014 – February 2015
Artist collective with a focus on promoting social justice, engaging the community and partners in creative projects and subverting propaganda.
Here, Beneath The Heavens: Creative Inspiration. Blogger and Social Media Content Manager. May 2013– CURRENT
“Those who dwell ... among the beauties and mysteries of the earth, are never alone or weary of life.” -Rachel Carson
'No activity, here beneath the heavens, but has its allotted time for beginning and coming to an end. Men are born only to die, plant trees only to displant them. Now we take life, now we save it; now we are destroying, now building. Weep first, then laugh, mourn we and dance; the stones we have scattered we must bring together anew; court we first and then shun the embrace. To-day’s gain, tomorrow’s loss; what once we treasured, soon thrown away; the garment rent, the garment mended; silence kept, and silence ended; love alternating with hatred, war with peace. For all this toiling of his, how is man the richer?' Ecclesiastes 3:1-9
"I was discussing spirituality with my father one day, a staunch Roman Catholic (who was arguing for Heaven and Hell and Sin and Virtue) and he asked me what exactly it is that I believe in? And what is it that I teach my child to believe in? Since I no longer believe in Catholicism. And I said, I don't know what I believe in, beyond this life. But I believe in life. And while I am alive, for me, this is enough. This earth, this sky, this song, this tree, this flower, this painting, this rock, this child, this star, this cloud." – Anna Maria Drutzel, Artist
Welcome To The Dollhaus : Artist's Blog. Designer, Writer and Content Manager. March 2011 – January 2014.
"A tiny world of disproportionate curiosity; a place where the traditions of art, fashion and theatre often coalesce in the surreal." Over the course of three years, Welcome to the Dollhaus established itself as an artisan label and notable creative blog, detailing the journey of one artist through the creative process and its many inspirations.
Rainbow Serpent Festival: Development and facilitation of a Children’s Recycled Sculpture Workshop at Rainbow Serpent Festival. 2011
A Modern Fable : Maker's Blog. Designer, Writer and Content Manager. April 2011– March 2013
"Tales of inspiration from a cottage industry striving to be ethical and sustainable from the ground up."
Living somewhere between the dark forest and the modern city; learning from the old ways and adapting to new ways; drawing inspiration from the traditions of hand-craft and the cottage industry; balancing the making of art with the raising of a child; and trying to tread gently on this precious earth.
A Modern Fable was established as the inhouse blog, to market and promote the handmade label and lovechild of artist, Anna Maria Drutzel : Raised by the Wolves. From 2006 until 2013, RBTW earned a reputation as a notable cottage industry label with a growing following and niche market.
Raised by the Wolves : Artisan Maker and Small Buiness Operator, 2006 – 2012
Toys and wares for little folk and children of the heart <3.
"In the tiny attic of a Dickensian warehouse there once lived a girl who couldn't stop making. At night, while the city outside buzzed with life, I would sit at my worktable, lulled by the sleeping sighs of my child, and the gentle serenade of music. For me, these are the witching hours, when my head fills with wondrous imagery, and I move through the materials in my workroom like a flock of magpies, grabbing buttons here, seeking fabric there, pouring over my little library of books, and when I navigate the world wide web. Spare daylight hours are the time for making: when the sun shines brightly. It fills nearly every minute not occupied by laundry, cooking, cleaning, sleeping, laughing, crying, playing, shopping, child-rearing, bill paying, coffee drinking, dressing-up and frolicking. One day last year I left the smog and the hustle of the city; and fled down the freeway, begging some quiet space in the country, with room for my art (and my child) to grow as wild as the roses do. And in a house which my grandparents built, amid tall pine trees, wind-swept hills and the laugh of kookaburras, we found a new home and a beautiful place to make art. In this tale we are the wolves- living somewhere between the dark forest and the modern city: learning from the old ways and adapting to the new; trying to balance the making of art with the raising of children; and treading always, ever so gently on this precious earth." – Anna Maria Drutzel, Artist and Maker
Public Art Performances, Collaborations and other projects. Production Designer, Project Manager and Participating Performer. 1997-present.
Extensive independent, collaborative and community arts projects and performances devised and conducted in partnership with independent, community and corporate stakeholders such as Melbourne Fringe Festival, Lunar New Year, Pako Festa, Moon Lantern Festival, Crown Casino, Spring Racing Carnival, Moomba, Wishful Weddings, Rose St. Artists’ Market, St. Kilda Festival, Midsumma Festival, Old Des Perez among others.
Image: Tete a Tete Theatre. 2004 – 2005, collaboration with multiple independent artists and other partners.
The Dress : Production Designer, Project Manager and Participating Artist. Melbourne Fringe Festival, 2003
Creative performance, conducted in collaboration with multiple independent artists and partnering with an independent shop owner as part of the Melbourne Fringe's SHOP STOP ART initiative.
Flower Bird Wind Moon: Co-curator and collaborating artist. Linden Centre For Contemporary Art.
Collaborative installation and exhibition with Artist Motoko Kikkawa, exploring The Beauty of Nature.
Trained Family Support Volunteer: Art Therapy. Very Special Kids, Family Support and Creative Emotional Release Work. 1999 – 2004
“Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.” –Eskimo Proverb
Following brief training in grief and loss support, Anna Maria Drutzel, worked for a period of five years assisting the Family Support Team at Very Special Kids by co-designing, programming and facilitating creative workshops as part of their Sibling Support Program. Working with Children in a supportive setting, the artist led workshops that incorporated elements of self-expression and emotional release work. She also co-designed and facilitated an arts hub annually over a four year period in recognition of VSKs annual Remembrance Day, honouring those who had passed by conducting family activities.