Greg Dwyer (artist), Gaby Thomasz (festival organiser), and Bob McGill (COUCH)

Every year, the Cairns Ukulele Festival hosts a charity art exhibition to help raise funds for charity. Dozens of artists are given a ukulele and freedom to create a unique piece of art. The past two years we have raised thousands for the Duchenne Foundation (2010) and Harald’s House (2011). For images from last year’s exhibition, please follow this link

This year, the nominated charity is COUCH. COUCH is a local charity, started by Charles and Pip Woodward in 2006. COUCH aims to bring about a complete health and well-being centre to enhance the likelihood that people will beat cancer.

The Cairns Ukulele Festival also strives to create a unique poster design each year. Local artist Greg Dwyer designed the artwork for this year’s festival poster. Greg’s inspiration for this piece is the underground tiki art, with an erupting Mt Bartle Frere, a unique Queenslander home, native animals as well as a tiki totem pole and hula girl with ukulele.

Greg has donated this piece to the exhibition, and thus to the benefiting charity. Final bids night this year takes place after the main concert day of the Cairns Ukulele Festival, July 8th at the Tanks Arts Centre.

“The Cairns Ukulele Club is very excited about this year’s art exhibition, which will once again include works from many excellent artists. Greg Dwyer’s painting is not only a fantastic poster design, but it is the icing on the cake in terms of this exhibition and we are sure we will raise a record amount of money for charity with this painting and all of the decorated ukes. COUCH has already achieved so much in the past, and we are delighted to be able to contribute to it’s goals to provide more facilities for cancer sufferers and other patients at the Cairns Base Hospital as well”, festival organiser Gaby Thomasz said.

The Uke Art Exhibition will open 22 June at the Tanks Arts Centre. The final bids event will take place after the main concert day of the festival, July 8th, also at the Tanks.