Touring exhibition to showcase Scenic Rim's creative community

Beaudesert-based First Nations ceramicist Sarah Zalewski's work Kumi (Grandmother) Present - Waijung (Mother) Future - Muyum (Son) to be featured in the Shifting Ground exhibition.

An exhibition showcasing contemporary ceramic works crafted from Tamborine Mountain’s native clays, and curated by Scenic Rim artist and researcher Larissa Warren, has secured major funding for an interstate tour. 

Scenic Rim Regional Council is partnering with Museums & Galleries Queensland to develop the tour of the Shifting Ground exhibition which will be staged at 12 venues in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia. 

Shifting Ground builds on Larrisa’s popular 2020 project Wild Women, Wild Clay which told the stories of Tamborine Mountain's female potters from 1940s to1980s and included her own ceramic artwork. 

The success of Wild Women, Wild Clay inspired Larissa to share Tamborine Mountain clays with female artists she admired, leading to the creation of Shifting Ground which showcases ceramic works by 12 contemporary Australian artists, including Beaudesert’s multi-disciplinary First Nations artist Sarah Zalewski, alongside historical pieces from Tamborine Mountain’s early female potters.  

The tour was awarded funding of $312,474 through the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program, which supports the development and touring of quality exhibitions by Australian artists with a particular focus on regional and remote Australia. 

Larissa said she was overjoyed Scenic Rim Regional Council and Museums & Galleries Queensland had secured the Visions of Australia funding which has enabled her to share the results of a project that began with an idea and became something much bigger. 

“As a former Scenic Rim Regional Arts Development Fund grant recipient, I am also extremely grateful to Scenic Rim Regional Council for supporting me to bring this exhibition tour to fruition," she said. 

Larissa encourages historians, art and craft lovers, locals and students to view the exhibition which opens at The Centre Beaudesert in August 2025. 

As a former art teacher, she said students will find inspiration in observing the artists’ creative processes, seeing how a single idea can evolve into something tangible and deeply connected to the community. 

“This exhibition truly highlights the intricate thought processes behind the creation of these ceramics and the realisation of the artists’ visions is nothing short of inspiring,” Larissa said. 

“It was rewarding to witness each artist’s development and the distinct approach they brought to the mountain clays. 

"Locals will recognise the iconic red earth”. 

Scenic Rim's Community Arts and Culture Portfolio Councillor Kerri Cryer said the national tour provided an exciting opportunity to celebrate the region's pioneering female potters and the way in which contemporary artists are creating their own visual stories using the same Tamborine Mountain clays. 

“The Shifting Ground exhibition has an educational element to it that generates interest linked to the legacy of Tamborine Mountain’s female potters. 

"The generous funding received from the Visions of Australia program will allow more people to appreciate Larissa’s valuable research and how she has combined natural art, history and culture as it is expressed through the creative talents of other female artists. 

"Artists play an important role in our communities and culture, so a national tour that promotes the artwork of women and also has as its centrepiece Tamborine Mountain clays is the first of its kind for the Scenic Rim. 

"Credit to Larissa as her work proudly puts female artists, including women from diverse cultural and First Nations backgrounds, centre stage where they belong." 

For more information on Shifting Ground and its national tour schedule, visit magsq.com.au/touring-exhibitions/ 

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government's Visions of Australia program.