Operation Art launches Touring 50 Exhibition in Cowra

Artworks from the Operation Art program have begun making their way around NSW as part of the annual Touring 50 Exhibition, with its first stop in Cowra.

The Touring 50 Exhibition is a selection of artworks from the 2022 Operation Art exhibition, which featured almost 650 unique artworks designed by NSW students to help cheer up children in hospital.

It officially opened at Cowra Regional Art Gallery on Monday, 30 January and will run until Sunday, 5 March.

Heidi Windeisen, Operation Art Officer at the NSW Department of Education’s Arts Unit, said the Touring 50 Exhibition was a great example of the program’s ability to give students purpose for their art making.

“It’s a highlight for so many students knowing that their art has the potential to hang in a NSW hospital and make someone else’s day a bit brighter. The program gives them a focus for their art making, and a real sense of achievement that will be treasured by many,” she said.

Brian Langer, Gallery Director of Cowra Regional Art Gallery, said the colour and fun Operation Art brought to the outreach exhibition in the community library was a highlight for adults and children alike.

“Displaying the gorgeous artworks by children from across NSW is an honour, and we are really excited for this year’s exhibition,” Mr Langer said. Several artworks from the Operation Art bank, created by local students, will be donated to the Cowra Health Service to brighten up the walls permanently.

The handover will take place at the Cowra Art Gallery’s community library on Tuesday 21 February with Mr Langer, Pauline Rowston, Cowra General Hospital Manager, and Nikki Kiss, Councillor at Cowra Council, in attendance.

Ivy Baddock, Art Curator at CHW, expressed her excitement about donating artworks from the Operation Art bank to Cowra Health Service. “It is an enormous privilege to display artworks from Operation Art at Westmead, but to share the colour and vitality of these works with regional centres is a wonderful benefit of this program. Art can assist in creating positive environments for healing, and so sharing these benefits with the wider community is a real joy,” she said.

Operation Art, an initiative of CHW in association with the NSW Department of Education, involves school students from Kindergarten to Year 10 at schools across NSW creating artworks for children in hospital.

The Operation Art Touring 50 Exhibition is open from 30 January to 5 March at Cowra Regional Art Gallery. Entry is free. The handover of artworks will occur on 21 February at 3.30pm.

Media contact: Lucie Bertoldo, Media and Communications Officer. P: 0439 875 235 E: lucie.bertoldo@health.nsw.gov.au