For the past two years, Laing+Simmons Young Property in Avalon has been giving back and supporting local artists through community exhibitions.
Known as The Studio, the not-for-profit community initiative regularly features the work of a local artist, with proceeds going to support the artist and local causes including Living Ocean, One Eighty, ORRCA, Dreams2Live4, Sea Shepherd Australia, the Seabin Project and the Be Centre.
Laing+Simmons Young Property Principal Amy Young said The Studio was a way for their business to add to the local community.
“When we started our business, we wanted to be able to immediately give back to our local community,” Ms Young said.
“We see every member of our community as a customer of our business, because we service those who not only own property, but live in property locally.”
She said the local community was very passionate about and strong in the arts.
“We felt that we had an opportunity to support the arts by providing our hybrid office space as an art studio and in lieu of any gallery commission, the artists who exhibit with us are able to provide a percentage of their turnover to charity,” she said.
The Studio has so far been able to support a host of artists and also raise more than $35,000 for charities including, Living Ocean, who help clear out local waterways.
Ms Young said they personally pay for the event including putting on drinks and live music and invite their personal network along with the personal network of the artists.
“It’s beautiful because you get the support of the artist’s friends and family, but then you get people who are moving into the area who want that personal connection by meeting new people and they really love supporting the arts,” she said.
“We have collaborated with some highly creative locals this year and welcomed some wonderful people in our community through our doors in the process.
“We’re immensely humbled by the way people have adopted The Studio as their own space to relax, learn and be inspired, helping us support many important causes along the way.”
Next month at The Studio, locals will experience the emotionally expressive creations of Palm Beach’s own ceramics artist Claressa Gonsalves.
Her upcoming exhibition is called ‘Motion of the Deep’ and will feature works which represent the physical manifestation of her processing of a range of powerful emotions throughout her life.
With a soul-deep connection to the ocean, she enjoys using clay, throwing on the wheel, making handmade pieces, using moulds as an avenue to express textures of shells, and experimenting with glazing.
“I use the vessel as a canvas, to explore and express the waves of emotion, creating a shoreline,” Ms Gonsalves said.
A percentage of sales from Ms Gonsalves’ exhibition will be donated to the children’s charity Variety.
