IN THE EXAMINER: "Where would an artist live in Launceston? Most are romantics; they would perch themselves on the Cataract Gorge cliffside, if they could, making art and watching the waters rush by.
And for nearly three decades, plenty of them did just that.
Almost every year since 1993, painters and poets and writers and photographers spent weeks living in the King's Bridge Cottage, their only job to produce pieces.
They would sit on the deck of the heritage building - one of, if not the, most iconic in the city - astride their easel, maybe, or fountain pen in hand. But no longer.
The artist in residence program that creatives of all creeds benefited from, a fixture of the building for 30 years, has faded away.
For the past four years, no one has lived in the cottage. It looks tired and a little shabby: the paint is weak in patches and its red roof is zebra-lined with black moss and spotted with lichen.
Though it hasn't, in any real semblance, returned to the same state of disrepair it was in when its last caretaker left in 1981, the same year it was renovated to house the now defunct 'Launceston City Council's Artist-in-Residence program'.
Which begs the question: what happened to it?
It's been a long while since the first artist experienced it - the landscape painter John Wolseley, who's now represented in the National Gallery of Victoria, in 1993. A good deal of time has also passed since it was planned to be "refreshed" in 2018.
That was to coincide with major renovations the site underwent the year prior. The interior had been painted, new storage areas and kitchen benchtops were fitted, and furniture, shelving and internet access added.
The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery - who did, and still do, manage the building on the council's behalf - were said to have plans for a residency of "international-standard". Artists, historians and scientists were expected.
It never eventuated.
The last artist-in-residence as the King's Bridge Cottage was Sandra Pearce, who spent two weeks in the Cottage in November of 2016. A printmaker, Pearce made a suite of postcard-size pieces, silhouettes of wrens in kangaroo grass.
The cottage has been unused since. The council's chief executive officer, Sam Johnson, euphemistically said the program was "rested" several years ago due to other program priorities and initiatives. And the site now no longer meets contemporary standards for accessibility.
As such, QVMAG has no plans to revive the program. What will happen to it is, as yet, unknown. The council has said they are looking into "future community uses for the iconic building," according to Mr Johnson.
Artist in residence at the King's Bridge Cottage, Elizabeth
Pedler, of Perth, in years gone by. File picture by Paul Scambler
In Launceston now there is only a single artist in residence program within the city limits: the 'Tasmanian Residency for Independent Practice' at a building on Wellington Street owned by Assembly 197, the home of the triumvirate of TasDance, Situate and Mudlark Theatre Company.
In the north of the state, there is also The Glover Country Residency and a residency in Poatina offered by Performing Lines."
Most are romantics; they would perch themselves on the Cataract Gorge cliffside, if they could, making art and watching the waters rush by.
And for nearly three decades, plenty of them did just that.
Almost every year since 1993, painters and poets and writers and photographers spent weeks living in the King's Bridge Cottage, their only job to produce pieces.
Almost every year since 1993, painters and poets and writers and photographers spent weeks living in the King's Bridge Cottage, their only job to produce pieces.
As such, QVMAG has no plans to revive the program
"future community uses for the iconic building," according to Mr Johnson
Sam Johnson, euphemistically said the program was "rested" several years ago
plans for a residency of "international-standard". Artists, historians and scientists were expected.
the now defunct 'Launceston City Council's Artist-in-Residence program'.
The artist in residence program that creatives of all creeds benefited from, a fixture of the building for 30 years, has faded away.
Almost every year since 1993, painters and poets and writers and photographers spent weeks living in the King's Bridge Cottage, their only job to produce pieces.
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