By Kyra Gillespie
With the rapid and widespread expanse of housing estates in the region, ever stopped to wonder what it all used to look like?
For over five years a local artist has been painting Officer’s history in the name of charity.
Ira Turner has created over 40 pieces, which she will part with at her charity art exhibition later this month.
Titled ‘Officer – A Celebration of the Way We Were’ the exhibition will feature Mrs Turner’s original oil paintings depicting what Officer and surrounds looked like before the pastoral scenes were transformed into housing estates.
All of the proceeds made on the night will be donated to the Rescue Mission For Children in Thailand, a charity that Mrs Turner and her husband Trevor have been involved in for several years.
The Turners have visited Thailand four times in the last six years, helping the mission with hands-on work; such as building schools, setting up agricultural facilities and general maintenance work.
The not-for-profit charity raises funds to aid the social advancement and economic development of the Akha Hill tribe group and its children.
“We wanted to make sure we had a specific project to put the money towards for the mission, so the funds raised at the exhibition will go towards an insulated food storage room,” Mrs Turner said.
“To have seen and worked with these kids who have absolutely nothing has really changed our lives.”
“The mission has educated thousands of children,” Mr Turner added.
“There’s no welfare system over there, so these stateless hill tribe families send their children to the mission to get an education to give them a shot at having a future and in turn protecting them from being kidnapped for drug running and prostitution.
“They’ve educated thousands of children in the 25 years they’ve been running; it really is such a worthwhile cause.”
The Turners have lived in Officer for nearly 50 years and currently reside on a large farm off Officer Road.
They recall fond memories of their children growing up with the freedom of country life: “they would ride horses through the paddocks and up to the channel, ride motorbikes and much more. They really were very free days,” Mrs Turner said.
When friends of the Turner family began to move from their farms and homes when developers started buying up land, Ira would take photographs and create paintings of those houses and properties as a parting gift.
Very soon afterwards, the idea for the charity exhibition was born.
“Over the years I would paint people’s houses when they left the area,” she said.
“When I got the idea for the exhibition around 2011 I started painting madly.
“While it’s only fairly recent past it’s amazing to see how much the area has changed in such a short time.”
Each oil painting took around 8-10 hours to complete, and depict iconic local scenes such as Siding Avenue before the Civic Centre was developed, and the old entrance to the Starling Road football and netball grounds.
The opening night will be held on Friday 28 September at Officer Public Hall on Tivendale Road at 7pm, with an official opening by Councillor Brett Owen at 7.30pm.
The exhibition will then be open from Saturday 29 September through to Tuesday 2 October, with all proceeds to the Thailand Rescue Mission.
