Territorians will have the opportunity to bid on local and interstate artworks as part of the Top End Sustainable Living Festival to be held at the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens this weekend (June 5 and 6).
The theme of the festival is Our Environment, Your Backyard and will include exhibitions, demonstrations and information sessions that aim to show Territorians what they can do to contribute to an environmentally friendly and sustainable future.
Lakeside Drive Community Garden (LDCG) events organiser, Emily Gray said the silent auction would be held over the two-day festival to raise funds and awareness about the community garden and environmental sustainability.
“All proceeds of the auction will go to supporting the new community garden at a two acre site on Lakeside Drive in Alawa, initiated by students at Charles Darwin University,” she said.
Ms Gray said artists of all ages had donated a variety of works including paintings, prints, collages, sculptures and marionettes.
Prolific local Darwin artist Alison Dowell has donated several small life-size dog sculptures made from recycled materials.
“I think the garden is an absolutely fantastic idea,” she said. “My family and I are looking forward to riding our bikes over and getting involved with the gardening.”
As well as the silent art auction, the LDCG will have a stall with free seeds, along with information about how aspiring “green thumbs” can get involved in the new community garden or learn to grow their own produce through the ‘Grow your own’ workshop series.
The festival’s art exhibition will open at 11am on Saturday. Art seekers will be able to place bids anytime during the festival on Saturday until 6pm and again on Sunday from 9am to 5pm.
For more information about how to get involved in the Lakeside Drive Community Garden or enrol in ‘Grow your own’ workshops go to: www.cdu.edu.au/ldcg.