The new Lost Eden Creative Gallery and Artist Residency at Dwellingup.
LONG time Dwellingup residents Monique and Peter Tippett have renovated a 1940s commercial/residential property in the main street that survived the devastating fire of 1961.
Over the last 18 months they have transformed the house into comfortable, contemporary accommodation and the commercial portion into a Lost Eden Creative Gallery and Artist Residency, a large open and airy space with exciting potential.
The building, now a stand-out part of the main street with its striking mural by Jack Bromell, will be a venue for the display of contemporary art and an arts residency for local, national and international artists.
The Tippetts operated a gallery and residency in the early 2000s from the same building and have fond memories of meeting talented and interesting artists from Australia and overseas.
They scaled things back after a few years for Monique to concentrate on her own practice.
She soon began winning awards and large public art commissions and her work has been acquired by significant public and private art collections which has seen her become a leading WA artist.
She has recently been named the WA Parliament Artist in Residence for 2019.
Artist residencies at Lost Eden will occur three or four times a year and the three bedroom Gallery House will be available for short stay holiday accommodation at other times.
The gallery space will also have a community focus with its 150sqm area used for morning yoga sessions and after school art workshops for kids.
Monique's visual and sculptural works on timber explore themes drawn from her relationship with the forest environment surrounding the town and her home.
An exhibition of her latest work, Forest 14, will be launched at the Lost Eden opening event.