Community members have had their chance to add a personal touch to a portrait honouring Kamilaroi Elder Aunty Yvonne Kent in the Tamworth Community Centre.
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Aunty Yvonne was a founding member and director of Regional Unlimited and is revered for the impact she had on the Tamworth community.
Regional Unlimited chair Deb Maes said Aunty Yvonne, who died in 2020, was focused on inclusion and interested in how people came together and felt included.
"Aunty Yvonne is still alive in the hearts of so many in the community because she contributed in many, many spaces," Ms Maes said.
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Aunty Yvonne's portrait is the first in Regional Unlimited's Tamworth Pioneers Portrait Project - a series of portraits to honour patrons and pioneers of the Tamworth community.
"We hope that by shining a light on individuals in the community who have contributed and touched the hearts of many, as Aunty Yvonne did, this project will foster more engagement in our community and bring us closer together."
An under portrait of Aunty Yvonne was created by an anonymous artist as the base of what will become a multimedia collage.
On Wednesday, June 28, community members were invited to contribute a brush stroke, or other embellishment to the canvas, including textured paper and feathers.
Local indigenous weaver Taylor Williams, Baayangali Inspirations, ran demonstration classes showing how to create traditional woven coils in coloured raffia, which will feature in the background of the portrait.
Ms Maes said the day was to enable the community to contribute to the creation.
"Our intention is to ensure the creation of the portrait has been shared amongst the community rather than been created by one artist," she said.
Guests included Aunty Yvonne's son Ben Kent, and Regional Unlimited director Peter Dillion, while a pre-recorded welcome to country was presented by Kamilaroi Elder Uncle Neville Sampson. The event also featured a number of speakers presenting talks about leadership, community and Aunty Yvonne.
Ms Maes said the completed work would be hung in a place of honour, to be announced later in the year.
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