Priceless Past Partnership Honoured

Priceless Past Partnership Honoured

The driving forces behind the annual Our Priceless Past project were recognised recently at the Australian Business Arts Foundation (ABAF) Awards.

Walking away with the Qantaslink Regional Award for the best private sector relationships with the arts was Ergon Energy, the Gladstone Observer and the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum for a project which strives to bring together Year 8/9 students and seniors who have lived in the region for over 35 years.

Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum's Mellissa Case and Pamela Whitlock, Gladstone Observer's Greg Chapman, and Ergon Energy's Bob Pleash and Lenny Vance, travelled to the Conrad Treasury Hotel in Brisbane where they proudly accepted the Award.

Each year as part of Seniors Week celebrations, students from a local high school take on the role of interviewer in order to uncover the 'stories' of some our most special seniors.

Nominated by members of the public to tell their story, the seniors come from varied backgrounds and have witnessed many changes in our landscape and lifestyle.

The students write about the life of their nominated senior which is included in an exhibition at the Gallery/Museum and in a commemorative liftout in the Gladstone Observer which is funded by Ergon Energy.

The ABAF Awards recognise Queensland's most innovative and beneficial business-arts partnerships.

Speaking about the Award, ABAF Chief Executive Officer Kathy Keele praised the regional partnership.

"The Observer's partnership with Ergon Energy has been so successful in building brand equity for both partners and for its impact on the community that it has now been replicated in Mackay and Rockhampton," Kathy said.

The winners of the Qantaslink Regional Award are now in the running for a National Award which will be announced in Melbourne in late October.

Our Priceless Past is currently on display at the Gallery/Museum until October 28. Copies of the commemorative liftout are also available from the Gallery/Museum at the corner of Goondoon and Bramston Streets.

Inset: Special Senior Mavis Lewis, 2006. Photo courtesy of the Observer.