My Zine Designs

Bathurst Regional Art Gallery BRAG Youth Advocates Zine

The BRAG Youth Advocates are a group of enthusiastic 15 to 24-year olds who come together to learn about the visual arts industry and gain experiences through developing and delivering projects, workshops, studio visits, and event management The BRAG Youth Advocates provide valuable input for how BRAG can better connect with local young people. Activities initiated and developed by the BRAG Youth Advocates include the Bathurst Youth Prize, which was held in March 2022, and the BRAG Youth Advocates Art Zine, which was developed in 2024.

Image: BRAG Youth Advocates with Adaptation, 2021, a Bathurst Public Art Project in partnership with Goldberg Aberline Studios (GAS), Bathurst Regional Art Gallery and Bathurst Library Forecourt, 2021. Photo: Bathurst Regional Art Gallery.

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My Desk Story filed: A very nice weekend Hey folks hope you're doing well, I have some exciting news for you, or at least for me. When it comes to winter sports I have been a diehard soccer player, there hasn't been a single time during winter sports that I haven't played soccer. Now I wouldn't say I'm a bad soccer player, I quit like the sport and would think of myself as alright but I've never been one of those boys that played district soccer I'm not that good. But I digress, because as of last weekend my beloved first 11 ISA school soccer team won our grand final. It was a great accomplishment, we couldn't be happier. The ISA grand final was held at the Marconi Stadium on the synthetic grass field, which was an interesting experience as I don't get to play on synthetic grass fields a lot. It was a great win 1-4 our way, our opponent was St Paul's College and they put up a good fight but ultimately not good enough. It was a really good way to finish the season as our team is made up of us year 11s, mostly year 12s and one year 9 kid (he's pretty good). So that was our year 12s last ever game for the college as they finished up this year, so I can say it was a very emotional final few words at the end but I'm sure we all made our coach proud. The next following day I had to head back down to Sydney with some of my teammates as we had to play with our school concert band at the NSW Band Championships. We weren't very thrilled to have to get back on another bus but I'd say it was worth it as we placed first in every section and over all in the concert band grade C section. All in all, it was a pretty dang good weekend, only downside is I'm tired as ever. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My desk Story filed: Holidays, yay Hi folks, nothing special today, only I'm really excited because as some of you may already know, some schools (mine included) are now on holidays otherwise known as a short break in between school terms and I'm loving it. I'm hoping this holiday doesn't just fly by and I'm at school again before I know it, because I've got plans and things to do. I would like to muck around but not do too much however I do have some big events in the holidays. I have some bagpipe practices this week in preparation for going up to the Aberdeen Highland Games pipe competition in the Hunter Valley (not Scotland sadly), I'm very excited for that to say the least. Another thing to add about Aberdeen is that it's an overnight trip as it runs for a couple of days. All I'm saying is it's going to be fun. Apart from Aberdeen, I have another Sydney Youth Orchestra music camp in the last week of the holidays and that's that for events in the holidays. From me to you I hope you enjoy your holiday, break, weekend or days off, I certainly will. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My Desk Story filed: little trip Hey there, hope you're feeling good and well rested. I'll tell you one thing right now: I am not rested, I'm actually quite tired at the time of writing this. I'm currently in Sydney. I have been here since Sunday and will be until Friday. It's going to be a long week, but hopefully a fun one. I'm in Sydney for a National Art School intensive workshop, held at the national Arts School. It's a year's worth of learning shoved into two weeks (we have a week now and another week in the next holidays). This actually counts as a course for school and will go towards our HSC, so that's interesting. The course starts on a Tuesday, though we were meant to book into our accommodation on Monday evening. However, I came down on the Sunday so I could meet up with one of my school friends. They live in Newcastle, so in order to make the most out of everything, we decided to book a hotel room at the Oaks Goldsbrough, so they didn't have to go back to Newcastle late and we could continue hanging out the next day. That whole ordeal was quite fun, but after we went our separate ways on the Monday, I made my way to the accommodation I'll be staying at for the remainder of the week. So far it hasn't been too bad, I'm getting along with my roommates, and we're all looking forward to the following week. Right now though, I'm just looking forward to some sleep, so I'll catch you next time. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: Land of the Rising Sun Story filed: Suzuki summer string workshop, in Japan? Hey folks hope you're doing well, I've got a lot to tell you. I've been meaning to write about this experience for a while now but never got the chance to do so as there's just been so much going on lately. Now is finally the time to write about it before it's too far gone. A short while ago, just about the second week of the school term, my mother and I both boarded the Japanese airline company ANA bond for Tokyo Japan and oh boy was that exciting. We were going over to attend a Susiki summer string workshop in Matsumoto Japan, which happens to be the birthplace of the Susiki method of music so we got to attend the Suzuki school set up there. We spent two whole weeks in japan which was much more than the actual workshop as that was only three and a half days long, the rest of the time we spent exploring, sightseeing and overall just enjoying ourselves. We started off in Tokyo where we did some exploring, a bit of shopping, I got some really nice items, and a lot of eating. Although Tokyo was a lot of fun and a little stressful at times, I really enjoyed going out to the countryside, where Matsomoto is. Our accommodation was a traditional style shared house in the city center, our accommodation in Tokyo was a lot more modern. Tatami mats are actually quite comfortable, it was a very nice shared house as there was barely anyone there, except the night of Mastomotos Bon Bon festival. That night we went out at night to see Matsomotos castle and walk the gardens, it was very pretty. Finally it was time to attend the Suzuki summer workshop and it was amasing, despite it being incredibly hot during the day in Japan every bit of the workshop was a great experience and I know I took a lot away from it. Ever since I got back to Australia I haven't been able to stop thinking about our trip, and I thought to myself, I have to go back someday. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My Desk Story filed: Little catch up Hi folks, it's been a while so I thought we should do a bit of a catch up. The last couple of weeks have been quite busy, a lot of stuff has been happening with school and other events. A very memorable event was the Big Band Blast a couple of weekends ago, it was a big three day event for school big bands run by some big names in jazz like John Morrison for example. It was a lot of fun and so were the concerts, we had the Mitchell Con Big Band play along with two guest bands: the RAN big band called the Admiral's Own Big Band and the Sydney Con's Big Band, all with members who are insanely good players. I also had some other musical items like my school's music showcase and the Bathurst RSL Band 140th Year Concert, which were also a lot of fun. Now for the best bit, the holidays. School is over for this term and I get to enjoy my freedom, for a bit. I still have to study but it's yet to be decided how much I'll get done. In about a week's time my Pipes and Drum Band and I will be going up to Aberdeen for the Aberdeen Highland Games. Certainly looking forward to that. Until then I'd say we're all caught up, and there's nothing more to do than see you next time. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My Desk Story filed: So much, so little time Do you ever feel like you just don't have enough time? I'm sure many of you do, I do. I wish I had more time, more time to do this thing, more time do that thing, if I had more time I could have done that thing, that thing could have been done if I had more time, etc, etc, the rabbit hole goes on forever. But in reality our time is limited, we only have so much of it and has amasing as it would be to have unlimited time upon the greenish gray earth we don't. We will all cease to exist at one point or another, meaning our time will run out. So use your time wisely. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My Desk Story filed: Arms Fair Earlier this year I attended the annual Bathurst Arms Fair and it was a lot of fun. First of all, for those of you that don't know about the Bathurst Arms Fair (like it's name suggests) it's a big meet up of gunsmiths, army surplus sellers, militaria collectors and everything and anything firearms, knives, swords or military related. I have a bit of a nerdy hobbie, I like to collect old militaria from around the world and from different time periods. I just like going to the military surplus stalls. It's crazy what you can find amongst the piles of old canvas bits and pieces. The Fair stretched over the course of a weekend and I went on a Sunday which turned out to be a very smart idea as apparently it was so crowded on the Saturday you could barely move without being shoulder to shoulder with someone else. Sunday was a lot more relaxed, with plenty of room to take your time looking and walking around. At the end of the day I walked away with a few goodies which I was quite happy to have got my hands on. I had bought an Imperial German canteen, a 1960s RAAF battle tunic (I got both of these items for really cheap which was an amazing win), an East German medal and an East German steel combat helmet. Overall, I think it was a great day and I had heaps of fun. Looking forward to it next year. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My Desk Story filed: The complexity of having to spend one's own money Dear beloved reader, don't you hate it when something you want costs 'money'? And, in order to obtain it one must spend that hard earned currency. I'll tell you what, it's hard being a scrooge in this day and age. For instance, how am I supposed to save up enough money to be able to fill a whole bank vault so I can go swimming in it, like Scrooge McDuck if I have to spend it on annoying things like food, hygiene products, taxes (I have had to sadly pay taxes in my first job ever) and basic necessities, not to mention literally everything else? Circling back to what I was saying before, if I come across an item I really want to own, that happens to be on FB Marketplace, ebay, or some other website - I'm heartbroken that it's actually going to cost me money in order to obtain said desired item, and alongside that I'm bummed to have to pay more for postage etc, like..... come on! I hate it when I have to spend my own money as I would rather save it up. Ok, anyway I think you get the idea, I'm going to stop rambling now. Just be smart with how you spend your money. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My Desk Story filed: A Taste of Spain Hi there, I hope you're having a good 2025 so far and that you had an enjoyable Christmas along with a Happy New Year, dear reader. I've been quite content with my summer holidays, it has been a very much needed break and has given me ample opportunities to do whatever I want to do. Recently, about a week or so ago I went down to Sydney to partake in another Sydney Youth Orchestra Summer Camp and it was great fun. I got to see some friends that I haven't seen for a bit and had fun playing music. Alongside the SYO Summer Camp I did a gig with the Western Sydney Youth Orchestra. It was for a show that was part of the Sydney Festival and it was called A Taste of Spain. Let me tell you about it. It was held at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Center, which is a refurbished power house built in the 1970s, that was at some stage after long being decommissioned turned into an arts center. And they did a really good job as it's a great space. We performed with the dance company Compania Pepa Molina, who did an amazing job. The dances were well choreographed and we worked closely with the dancers to make sure that every beat and movement was on time and in rhythm. We did a couple of sell out shows spanning from Friday to Sunday, and after a week's worth of rehearsal that had started the Saturday before (which consisted of continuous hours of rehearsal) I think we did pretty well. The crowd sure liked it all - us and the dancers. Overall it was a really well put together show and also we were one of the very few items in the Sydney Festive that is made up of young people. I'm excited to see what other opportunities I can get with the SYO and what they've got in store this year. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter