(MMOA), is a community based public art gallery, which houses an extensive collection of artwork by the painter, Gil Jamieson (1934-1992). We have the building and we have the collection and now we seek to bring the Monto Museum of Art to a stage of being able to put the paintings on the walls and then open the doors. (MMOA) is set up a public art gallery by June 2022, to house the extensive colle
ction of the works of Gil Jamieson. Gil Jamieson was a renowned Queensland painter. Born in Monto in 1934 he was buried there in 1992. Jamieson’s was considered to be an influential contemporary of the Melbourne based ‘Antipodean’ artists’, although most of his painting career was based in Monto.The MMOA building is perfect gallery space in the middle of the main street of town, which was purchased by Sabine, Nakisha and Matthew Jamieson, as the place for a shrine for their ancestor. The premises comprise about 1000 square meters in 4 wide rooms with high ceilings. Work on the building has occurred to the extent where now we need paint on the walls, set up a hanging and lighting system and make internal modifications for improved access. The first incarnation of MMOA will be an immersion in the artwork of Gil Jamieson, a focal point for locals and visitors. As a developing 'cultural tourism' destination MMOA will be activated with a program celebrating local and national artistic talent. Once the chick is hatched the MMOA team will then concentrate on promotion and expanding its patron base, as an arts and tourist destination. MMOA as an ongoing enterprise will employ a museum team to create curated exhibitions, workshops and performances, and bring together with food, music and literature events. The vision is that MMOA be a self sustaining in its core enterprise and undertaking larger project with support of government and philanthropy.Monto the Art TownThe MMOA seeks to build an institution that holds Gil Jamieson’s genius, passion and purist ideals about art. Jamieson lived by tradition of the polymath he espoused literature, poetry & music and loved argument, good food and red wine. Monto is a place where visitors will always gain something unique and authentic engaging in the bush, the community and artistic pursuits. Monto has deep roots as an Art town. Over many years the Monto’s community has sought to build and exposé public art. This project seeks to further amplify this notion. Two other important artists, Patrick Hockey and Gordon Bennett, both hail from the Monto district. MMOA in the communityThe MMOA will provide a unique insight into the history and sense of place of Monto in rural Australia. Appreciation of the works of Gil Jamieson’s and other local artists brings together diverse sectors of the Australian community and can reveal aspects of Australian history, which will never be forgotten. Cataloguing artworks and their associated stories will be a project of MMOA to be made available online for the Australian and international community.The MMOA will provide a venue for a range of other arts, music and cultural events. The Museum would act as a meeting place, which highlights the many different strands that bind together the rural community. Through this project the MMOA Management committee seeks to provide:* The local Monto community with a greater sense of connection and sense of pride in their own unique place in the bush.* Regionally based artists where works can be presented and/or artists engaged to deliver accompanying artistic programs.* Regionally based students from schools and places of higher learning in Central Qld to give an immersive arts excursion. * Monto Seniors an opportunity to hang out and pass on the experience of the past and the stories of the community in the space.* Tourists visiting the region opportunity to gain an in-depth and artistic insight into the bush and perhaps that Monto ‘state of mind’.* Employment opportunities, especially for young people and be a place to widen horizons and interests.* Local entrepreneurs access to engage creatively in the project and business opportunity, as Monto increasingly becomes a ‘cultural tourism’ destination.More of Gil Jamieson the artistA prolific artist of figurative and landscape works which celebrated the northern Australian bush. Jamieson travelled and painting widely in Australia, he set up studios in Melbourne, Perth, Rockhampton and Sydney. His paintings portray the truths of Australian history, romance, society and culture in the landscape. Many works reference local Aboriginal stories while other works are inspired by experience with Aboriginal and Torres Strait island people in northern Australia. Jamieson depicted a mystical interpretation of the bush combined the beauty of its harsh and sometime brutal reality. Some paintings depict coping and not coping with life on the land and the cycle of events, such as fire, flood and drought. Works portray Jamieson’s direct involvement in an era of rural Queensland working cattle, clearing scrub and cultivating. The Gil Jamieson collection is an enormous legacy of artwork comprises 900 oil paintings and a large numbers of works on paper. A centrepiece of the collection is the ‘Jaye Creek’ painting. This 21 metre long, 360-degree panorama was painted on location in Central Australia in 1973. There are many of Gil Jamieson’s large single panel figurative oils in the collection, together with portraits prolifically produced with the Monto community being a major source of that subject matter. Gil Jamieson also painted a trove of gouache landscapes on paper while travelling on long painting trips across Australia. The Gil Jamieson collection is kept on permanent loan to the MMOA from the Jamieson family. Gil Jamieson artworks are also held widely by public institutions and in private collections, many of which are in central Queensland. Each of Jamieson’s artworks was a unique composition and it was a rare event if anything was ever reproduced. An important component of this work will be cataloguing the volume of privately held work.The MMOA would continue the process of cataloguing Jamieson’s artwork both in the collection, undertake restoration and curate works for public display. Jamieson’s works were steeped in a deep narrative of the bush, which will be included in this record.
