{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"","title":"The Arty Farty Party — with Irene Visser","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/68c2278605de5daa22c77302/1789115535696-e9f23c90-3320-4ba7-a652-40095c773d96.jpeg?height=200","description":"

\"Well, our whole purpose is to hide the tent.\" — Irene Visser


Harley Breen sits down with Irene Visser — Woodfordia's Venue Decor and Installation Manager, or as she prefers to call it, \"the arty farty party.\" Irene was born in Holland, raised in Canada, and immigrated to Australia thirty years ago in search of adventure, landing first in freezing Launceston before driving to tropical Darwin with her young daughter in a car with no air conditioning. A graphic designer by trade who spent twenty years teaching graphic design and advertising, Irene returned to her first love, clay, when COVID took the fun out of academia — she now runs a weekly \"Clay Play\" art group from her own back deck.


Irene's connection to Woodfordia began as a volunteer, working the kitchen, the Duck Bar, and eventually the build itself, before joining the signology team and finding her way to venue decor — the drapes, backdrops and ceilings that quietly transform a bare tent into something atmospheric. She's also become the driving force behind the Arteries, the monthly creative collective that grew out of Conservatree and Bill Hauritz's original vision to bring people to the site to work — not on the land, but on art. Under her \"pilots, co-pilots and navigators\" system, the arteries has produced everything from paper-mâché bees and beetles to dragonflies and butterflies, celebrating the pollinators Woodfordia is working to protect.


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Key topics: Irene Visser, venue decor, installation, the Arteries, Woodfordia, Woodford Folk Festival, ceramics, papier-mâché, community art, immigration, creativity, volunteering, sustainability, repurposing

To come to the Woodford Folk Festival this year visit: https://woodfordfolkfestival.com/


FOR MORE:

Harley Breen: https://www.harleybreen.com.au

Woodfordia: https://woodfordia.org/

Irene Visser Art: https://irenevisserart.com/about/

Irene Visser on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irene.visser_art/

Become involved in the Arteries: https://woodfordia.org/the-weekend/


CREDITS: Host: Harley Breen | Guest: Irene Visser | Executive Producer: Bree Hickson-Jamieson | Production: Josh Weier | Video Editing: Nick Haddow | Music by: The East Pointers | Recorded on Jinibara Country | Recorded July 2026


","author_name":"Woodfordia INC"}