ARTnews - New Arts Officer at Marrickville Council

Jayne Waterford
28 July 2001

Miguel Olmo is an installation artist who has taken over the Arts Officer portfolio at Marrickville Council. His brief includes reshaping local council art grants, managing the Chrissie Cotter Art Gallery and coordinating local initiatives such as:

Marrickville Festival, an annual event to be help on Sunday,16th Sept from 11 - 5.
Live from Petersham Park, scheduled in for 21st October.
Inner West Cultural Services: a local cultural development group that organises events such as theatre classes for young people (9550 4156).
Addison Road Community Centre - houses 35 separarte organisations, most of them cultural. Two of them include the Access Studio for Contemporary Art Practice and Legs on the Wall (9569 7633).

Miguel Olmo is an accessible arts administrator. He was born in Spain and came to Australia as a child. He comes to Marrickville Council after a career in running community cultural development events and producing festivals. The position of Arts Officer at Marrickville had been vacant for 18 months before Olmo filled it four weeks ago.

Marrickville Council Community Grants are in the pro cess of being redefined as art community grants. Olmo is developing the policies and application processes. Art Assistance application forms will be available through the Art News site and via the local press.

Chrissie Cotter is a council run art space that operates free-of-charge for residents or organisations of the Marrickville Local Government Area (L.G.A.) Groups wanting to use the space must have at least one member who lives in the area. Bookings require a $200 bond that can be refunded immediately after the premises have been vacated. Future Bookings include:

Three local artists: Simon Meilak, Diane Meilak and Marea Billinis	Opening Friday 17 August for 3 weeks on weekends only, Sat - Sun 11 - 4.
Two local painters: Chas Glover and Cynthia White	11 - 24 August

Olmo is also a practising artist. His most recent installations have involved video projections and other high-end technologies. He's currently interested in incorporating sound with low-end technology installation. Olmo also incorporates recycled materials as if they were brand new.