2025 TIDBINBILLA ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE OPEN DAY
Visitors joined us for a creative open day and workshop program at Cinerea Cottage in the beautiful Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. This special Open Day featured hands-on workshops with the 2025 Craft + Design Canberra Artists-in-Residence, Hannah McKellar and Michele Grimston.
The Craft + Design Canberra Artist-in-Residence program is supported by ACT Parks and Conservation Service. The 2025 research partner was the National Zoo and Aquarium. More information about the program was available here.
Open Day Workshops
Hannah McKellar: Sculpting the Landscape
Inspired by the shapes, forms, and colours of the surrounding environment in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, this workshop invited participants to create their own soft sculptural landscapes. Using wire, they crafted a dynamic three-dimensional drawing, forming the foundation of their piece. This skeletal structure was then wrapped in linen, carefully stitched, and embellished, transforming into a tactile representation of the land. Through this hands-on process, participants explored materiality, texture, and personal interpretations of place, resulting in a unique, sculpted landscape imbued with their creative vision.
Michele Grimston: Meditative Stitching in Nature
Participants slowed down, took a breath, and allowed themselves to connect to the natural world through a simple meditative stitching exercise. They explored how the inherent slowness of hand embroidery could help them tune into the present moment as they created a record of their own personal experience of the sights, smells, textures, and patterns of nature.