This week I’ve been working with the team at the Mundaring Arts Centre to hang this year’s heARTlines festival of children’s literature and illustration.

Like hanging the 2013 exhibition, 2015’s exhibition was a humbling experience. Thankfully, we were guided again by the marvellous Clare Stroud, who has an eye for detail and a terrific sense of what-looks-good-where (and she also cooks a fab pumpkin soup – mmmm).

Unlike 2013, we had the invaluable help of Dr Bob Squiggle, some sort of magical laser-pointing tripod-mounted Christmas gift that splashes perfectly level cherry red laser light across the entire gallery. AMAZING! Begone, heavy and ridiculous measuring devices! Thank you Dr Bob!

And even better than Bob, we had the help of artist Den Scheer, who valiantly volunteered her time to hang with us and was a huge help and inspiration (and she also makes a super-tasty quiche – mmmm).

The festival opens this Friday night… Come and see the exhibition…it’s super-inspiring to be surrounded by all these original and beautiful works, each created by people who love what they do and are looking forward to sharing it with us over the next six weeks. Yee ha!

Come see the exhibition, and you can also be part of our public program of workshops and the Great Kid’s Book Swap (bring in a book you’ve loved but can bear to part with, then swap it with another book and make a gold coin donation to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation….cool!)

THANK YOU to everyone involved in this year’s exhibition: to the authors, illustrators, the team at the Mundaring Arts Centre and to our sponsors: the Department of Culture and the Arts, the Shire of Mundaring, the WA branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, and the Mundaring Branch of the Bank of Bendigo. We love you!!!