Heavenly Beverley : How The East End Gallery Became The TARDIS

Sunday, 5 May 2019

How The East End Gallery Became The TARDIS

Michael had a dream. He sustained this dream for thirty-four years, as only an extremely patient man would do.

Always fascinated by the forms and shapes of metal from the time he was a boy, Michael would relish playing in the scrapyard at Robbs Jetty, whilst waiting for his Dad's Stateship to arrive. Once the livestock had been unloaded at the beach (an often complicated enterprise of escapee sheep or cattle), Michael and his brother would board and travel with Lucky back to Fremantle. His curiosity took him to all corners of the ship but he was often drawn to the propeller shaft at the very bottom. He loved the movement and noise. He was also keenly interested in the stories of their functions, their abilities, their ingenuity.

Michael's earliest ambitions were to be either a racing car driver or an artist. He and Darryl would buy and fix ancient jaloppies and charge around the Perth Hills over clay and gravel tracks. They quickly learnt about the capabilities of their cars, such as acceleration around a sharp turn would inevitably lead to the vehicle lying down on the job.

Perhaps wisely, he decided racing cars were not for him. But his active mind craved problem-solving opportunities. Gradually, his artistic talents also began to emerge with his love of decorative metalwork. In the last twelve years of his working life, he was responsible for efficient bulk material movement. He would often be called into a workplace as the fixer who resolved blocked silos or kilns and sluggish conveyor belts. For him, the challenge was to install, repair or replace dodgy components and give satisfaction to his clients. He was often lauded for his innovative solutions.

His art kept being put on the backburner. Then nine years ago, he was forced to leave his job. His health broke down and we fled the Big Smoke for Heavenly Beverley in the belief that a TreeChange would give him a new lease of life.

And so, we have flourished here in Beverley, albeit in a fairly-longwinded fashion. Having fallen in love with the decrepit Forbes building, he then spent four years restoring her. Gradually, the East End Gallery took shape. By April 2016, we had achieved our goal of creating an art space to accommodate a myriad of artists and their artworks. Ever since, we have been finding new and innovative ways of displaying more and more pieces.

Thus, the East End Gallery has transformed into the TARDIS. For those few who are not familiar with Doctor Who, the TARDIS is a "time and relative dimension in space" machine, which the Doctor and companions use to travel from A to B. One of its most remarkable features is that the interior is vastly larger than the exterior. This is what has occurred within the confines of the East End Gallery. We seem to be able to stretch for one more artist, one more art piece.

We are slowly becoming less surprised by our guests' reactions. Their mouths falling open with wonder, they often follow with the incredulous comment of "I never expected a Gallery like this to be in the Wheatbelt!" And although we have had a few who are not enthralled by the East End Gallery, most people generally are delighted by our depth of talent. So are we.

Michael is champing at the bit to begin his next project. A selection of items from last year's North West trip will be woven into a three-dimensional mandala, which will tell the story of those who lived and worked in the mining, the pastoral and the agricultural regions in earlier days. A preliminary title is "A Stitch in Time".

Rather fits with the joint themes of the East End Gallery and the TARDIS, I think.