Sand delivered in bulk at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery for new exhibition

West Of Central will feature a number of pieces, one of which is a sand painting that will take up a prominent position in the Keppel Street venue.

Before the sand artwork was created, however, there was the not-insignificant matter of getting the raw materials in place.

"We had [sand, soil and gravel supply company] Hothams deliver 2.5 cubic metres of sand this morning in our back loading dock," acting exhibitions co-ordinator Alex Robinson said on Tuesday.

"We're just wheelbarrowing it in; we were placing bets on how many wheelbarrows [would be needed].

"We'll fill this to a few centimetres from the top and then Aleshia will make different forms [in the sand]."

Artist Aleshia Lonsdale - who has exhibited at Dubbo, Orange and Wagga Wagga in the past - will use the sand corralled in a wooden frame on the gallery floor as a canvas to create a piece for West of Central.

Ms Robinson said the set-up and creation of the sand work was "more or less" the final part of the exhibition installation.

Bathurst Regional Art Gallery acting director Alex Pedley told the Western Advocate recently that people might be surprised by the behind-the-scenes activity involved in taking down one exhibition and installing the next.

"You build up for months and months to this moment and then it happens all very, very quickly," she said.

She said there were a lot of skills involved in the installation process "that are invisible to the audience and to the public", including carpentry, electrical, engineering and project management.

West of Central will open on July 1.

IN OTHER NEWS AROUND BATHURST:

Aleshia Lonsdale is a Wiradjuri multi-disciplinary artist, arts worker and independent curator who lives and works on Wiradjuri Country in Mudgee, NSW.

Strong matriarchs influence her work as a form of methodical intergenerational cultural transmission which allows the audience to view the world through a First Nations lens.

Working primarily across installation, Lonsdale uses a combination of natural materials and found/discarded objects that address the 'every day' lived experiences and issues which impact her family and community across the past, present and future.