Sunday Arts Magazine

24 Oct 2021

Carin Lavery – Artist

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St Kilda watercolour artist Carin Lavery has published a 2022 Watercolour Calendar that brings
the community together, to support the community, with all profits donated to support refugees
and people seeking asylum. Available now at carinlavery.com
Carin has involved local residents in the creation of the calendar, which features 12 watercolours
of St Kilda’s stunning natural scenes, all nominated by local residents as their ‘favourite view’.
Also included are discount vouchers to promote local businesses.
All calendar profit is being donated to St Kilda’s Space2b Social Design program
‘Space2Fly’ which supports newly arrived migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum to start
their own enterprise to become financially independent. See their work at space2b.com.au
Carin said “With so many people struggling in this challenging year, I really wanted to benefit as
many people as possible, so that meant locals, businesses, social enterprise and people who
might be finding it particularly tough”.
Following a very successful 2021 calendar, from which Carin donated all profit to a local charity
supporting women and children experiencing domestic and family violence, this year, Carin
stretched further in her aspirations to provide community support.
As Carin explained “I tried to think from many angles for this one! Some people want Christmas
gifts, others want to support the important cause, our local businesses continue to need help, and
some people might just want to raise their spirits by looking at watercolours of our superb nature.
“So I packed in as much as I could into this venture, including painting 12 ‘favourite views’
nominated by people who know the area best – our local residents. I’ve also featured one very
talented Space2b artist/designer each month, each of whom has a CALD (culturally and
linguistically diverse) background”.
Carin believes that art can play an important role in raising the profile of important subjects and
in providing support. Similar to people in situations of domestic violence, COVID-19 can be
particularly challenging for refugees and new migrants. The impact of the pandemic was a key
factor in Carin’s choice of where to donate the profit this year.
“Space2b is an incredible local social enterprise, supporting over 200 people annually, from all
cultures, through work experience, product/business development events and mentoring. They
support people to move towards getting paid work, to feel included and part of a community – a
perfect fit for my community goal” Carin said.