Mural Conference 2008
by: Kacee Holt

The last time a flag was exchanged at an international event between Georgia and Australia was at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Olympic Games where the mayor of Atlanta, Bill Campbell, presented the flagto the mayor of Sydney, Australia, Frank Sartor. More recently and on a smaller scale, Joy Jinks and KaCee Holt represented the city of Colquitt at the International Mural Conference and were presented the flagfor the Global Arts and Tourism Organization.

Sheffield,Tasmania, which is located on an island south of the main island of Australia, was the host to this conference to educate rural communities about art and to discuss how public art is an asset and benefit for communities. Sheffieldhas been promoting its murals and public art for over 25 years after their first mural was painted in 1983. This conference is held every two years, and Colquitt, Georgia will be the host of the conference in 2010.

The Millennium Mural Project is one of Colquitt Miller Arts Council's (CMAC) developments. Currently there have been 12 murals painted in Colquitt, all of which are based on true stories that have come from the community through the story gathering procedure that is part of the Swamp Gravy process. Swamp Gravy, Georgia's OfficialFolk Life Play, is based on stories of the community and serves as a catalyst for social, racial, and various economic groups to come together and work to cross the boundaries that are sometimes set up between these groups. Through Swamp Gravy's continuing success, CMAC has now been able to preserve and display the town's history through storytelling, performance, and visual art.

The Global Mural and Arts Conference in Tasmania was held from March 22-29, 2008. During the conference, representatives from "mural cities" all over the world gathered to discuss their processes, funding for murals, how to promote public art and also to hear from artists about their experiences of painting. During the conference that is to be held in Colquitt, event organizers will share the story of how Colquitt has become a center and model for cultural based tourism. The group of people who were present at this year's mural conference are very interested in the projects that are going on in Colquitt and said that they were looking forward to visiting Colquitt, Georgia, in 2010 and attending the conference set for October 26-29.