Image: Tors at Bournda Beach, Mervyn Moriarty, 2018, Acrylic on Canvas.
Mervyn Moriarty
Flying Art Alliance’s founder, Mervyn Moriarty OAM, was a legendary figure in the arts. He was an extraordinary art teacher and artist with a passion to bring the arts to the rural, regional and remote places. He learnt to fly to be able to achieve this passion.
Mervyn Moriarty made his very first flight in 1971. He flew solo out of Brisbane on a 6,000 km round journey to meet with regional representatives across Queensland to assist him in establishing an ‘art school’ that is now Flying Arts.
Merv remained the principal tutor from 1971 to 1983, flying to an average of 26 centres four times a year, with extra trips made to organise exhibitions and other special events. During this time, he totalled over 1250 trips and flew well over 400,000 km.
Merv left an immeasurable legacy throughout regional and remote Queensland, where a generation of artists, educators and communities gained exposure to contemporary visual arts practice, many for the first time. His enduring and outstanding contribution and impact was recently recognised in the Order of Australia honours.
Honouring Mervyn Moriarty’s legacy, Flying Arts offers the The Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Award as a category of the Queensland Regional Art Awards (QRAA), thanks to Consolidated Properties Group.
Over 50 years on, thanks to the strong state-wide networks that Merv created, Flying Arts continues to provide transformative art experiences. The organisation has evolved from its early days, however the vision of Merv has remained steadfast.
View the award winners and finalists of previous years of The Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Exhibition.