Sebel opens gallery space

EMMA SPILLETT

espillett@kiamaindependent.com.au

SEBEL Harbourside Kiama is now home to 30 paintings from artists in the area as the new Orry-Kelly Gallery hosts its first selection of works.

The gallery was named in honour of Hollywood costumer design and former Kiama resident George Orry-Kelly, who won three Academy Awards for his work on An American in Paris, Les Girls and Some Like it Hot.

Kiama Art Society members were given the task of selecting the first 30 works to be exhibited in the gallery and decided to focus on paintings from regional artists.

Kiama Art Society member Len King said although no specific selection process was used for the paintings, artists from the area had completed them all.

“We had the freedom to sort of do what we want so we decided to focus on quality,” he said. “There are some quite striking paintings and some with a real ‘wow’ factor, so there is some great stuff.

“By coincidence, a lot of the subject matter is about the area.”

Sebel Harbourside Kiama general manager Jason Cooley said the initial idea for the gallery was devised to allow the public to access a different part of the hotel.

“It’s a space for the community and people from the area to present their art in a place where people from the public can view them and appreciate them,” he said.

Mr Cooley said the hotel had decided to name the gallery in honour of Mr Orry-Kelly after numerous requests from the public.

“We held a competition to name the three conference rooms and the gallery and we had so much positive feedback from the community about Mr Orry-Kelly,” he said.

“We wanted to keep the conference rooms under the school banner, but we thought we had an opportunity to name the gallery after him and honour his memory and achievements in that way.”

The gallery would include only works from regional artists to promote their talent in the community.

“It’s a place where they can feature their works to an audience and hopefully sell them to make some money for themselves,” he said.

“We want it to be a nice place where people visiting the area can experience art created by regional artists.”