The Brisbane Rotary Art Spectacular is an annual art exhibition held in Brisbane, Queensland. It is hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Stones Corner, Hamilton and Brisbane High-Rise. From humble beginnings in 1979, The Rotary Art Spectacular has matured into Queensland’s largest and most prestigious annual art exhibition.The exhibition has raised nearly $1.6 million for Brisbane Rotary community projects and local charities. The event is a week-long exhibition with opening night and an online gallery. Planning for the exhibition commences immediately after the conclusion of the previous year’s exhibition.
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Beneficiaries
The event has raised nearly $1.6 million, with all profits from the event given to non-for-profit organisations. Past beneficiaries include: the Heart Foundation, ROMAC, Drug ARM and the Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland.The 2016 beneficiaries are the AEIOU Foundation and the Rotary Clubs of Brisbane High–Rise, Hamilton and Stones Corner.
AEIOU Foundation
AEIOU Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation and one of Australia’s leading providers of full-time early education and therapy support for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), aged two and a half to six years. Their primary objective is to enhance the lives of children with autism throughout Australia. This year will be the third year, the AEIOU Foundation will be the major beneficiary of this event.
Rotary Clubs
Rotary is a worldwide organisation of more than 1.2 million people, in over 32,000 Rotary clubs situated in almost every country of the world. Rotary provides humanitarian services which enhance the quality of life. It encourages high ethical standards in all vocations and builds goodwill and greater understanding amongst all people, to advance the search for peace in the world. Each club will identify local community causes to support to maximize our local and global impact. The clubs focus their service efforts in promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, saving mothers and children, supporting education, and growing local economies.
Curator
Since 2015, the events' Curator has been Brett Lethbridge. He is an established artist and owner of Lethbridge Gallery in Paddington, Brisbane. A strong support of the not-for-profit community, Brett has coordinated a number of other art shows on behalf of charity organisations. Before 2015 curating was performed by Kim Slater.
Awards
Awards are presented during opening night. These awards include a monetary prize. The awards are judged by a panel of art professionals.
Some of the awards include: