Micro Grants Recipient | Kerrie Bowles

Kerrie Bowles is an Australian artist and educator who owns and operates Cowper Art Gallery and Studio. Kerrie has qualifications in Visual Arts as well as Psychology from the former Newcastle College of Advanced Education (now University of Newcastle), the University of New England and Charles Sturt University.

Kerrie’s art practice encompasses a range of media including painting, textiles, collage and mixed media. She has received awards for her contemporary textiles and had work selected for exhibitions and travelling shows both in Australia and overseas. Kerrie has taught Visual Arts in secondary and tertiary institutions as well as privately for many years. Exploring new ways of working and creating is something that Kerrie continually seeks out and teaching these skills to others is an important part of who she is and what she does.

Over the past four and a half years Kerrie has been running workshops and classes from her Studio at Cowper Art Gallery across a range of media with great success. Workshops and classes are largely sold out. However, with the onset of COVID-19 and the increasing impact that has resulted on our ability to gather in person, it became apparent to Kerrie that it was time to diversify how she teaches and who she may be able to reach in the future.

The support of the Micro Grants will allow Kerrie to purchase equipment that will allow the production of an online workshop in a professional and polished way. Using the grant to produce one workshop will provide a framework for future production of more online workshops and classes, resulting in the diversification of income streams to provide a more secure future for her arts business. The project will also provide the opportunity for Kerrie’s workshops to become available to a wider audience and to reach audiences she would otherwise be unable to.