





Visit the Watershed Land Art Project blog (2018-2019).
About the project:
The Watershed Land Art Project is part of the wider program of Sugar vs the Reef?The WLAP was a community effort. The project was supported by the following artists, farmers, growers, environmental champions and community leaders:
Artists Kim Williams and Lucas Ihlein, farmer Simon Mattsson and family, John and Christene Sweet, Central Queensland Soil Health Systems (CQSHS), Starrett Vea Vea with the Mackay and District Australian South Sea Islander Association (MADASSIA), Kellie Galletly, Cherrie Hughes, Tegan McBride, Yuwibara Aboriginal Corporation, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Reef Catchments, Pioneer Catchments and Landcare, Artspace Mackay, Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens and many more.
The Watershed Land Art Project brought together a diverse cross section of the Mackay community to create a unique botanical artwork - The Beacon - at the Botanic Gardens. The images above show some of the processes involved in the creation of The Beacon, beginning in February 2018.
The WLAP - through The Beacon - showed how methods of Regenerative Agriculture can be used by the sugarcane industry to benefit farmers, the environment and society.
The purpose of this artwork is to:
- Create a striking installation for the MRBG, attracting diverse audiences;
- Demonstrate principles of Regenerative Agriculture (RA);
- Show how RA principles can be applied within industrial agricultural operations, particularly sugarcane farming;
- Catalyse improved environmental management practices in the catchment of the Great Barrier Reef;
- Celebrate the contribution of the Australian South Sea Islander (ASSI) communities in the sugarcane industry in Queensland;
- Bring together diverse communities within the Mackay region (farmers, Indigenous people, ASSI community members, scientists, and the general public);
- Generate deeper understanding of the complex roles played by agriculture in the region’s economy, social life and ecology;
- Engage with public education through schools (including with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Reef Guardians program).
About Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative Agriculture is based on a range of principles, including the following:- No bare soil - keep it covered with forage, mulch or crop residue
- Always have living roots in the ground
- Maximise plant diversity
- Minimise soil disturbance
- Improve plant, soil and ecosystem health
- Reduce the need for synthetic inputs and fertilisers
- Reduce soil and fertiliser run-off into local waterways and The Great Barrier Reef
- Increase soil carbon sequestration
SCHEDULE:
During 2018 and 2019 we hosted a number of public education and celebration events as our crops grew on site at The Beacon.Here’s a taste of what’s happened:
January 2018:
Marking out the site, loosening the soil, mulching, applying liquid bio-fertiliser.
February 2018:
Community planting of a crop of mixed legumes to help fix nitrogen in the soil.
May 2018:
Slashing the legumes to add mulch to the surface and decomposing roots to the soil.
June 2018:
Planting a winter cover crop (vetch, lucerne, fenugreek, buckwheat) to contribute more organic matter both above and belowground.
August 2018:
Slashing the winter cover crop to add mulch to the surface and decomposing roots underneath the soil surface.
August 2018:
Community planting of a dual crop of sugarcane and sunflowers.
November 2018:
Sunflower harvesting and community celebration.
October 2019:
Sugarcane harvest and community celebration.
On the Watershed Land Art Project as a whole:
Watershed Land Art Project website here. (See also Sunset Symphony in the Sunflowers.)
Instagram - Watershed Mackay
Reef Catchments / Catchment Solutions report on soil improvement for the Beacon
"Minerals Mulch and Microbes", article about John Sweet, one of the key collaborators on The Beacon by Kirili Lamb.
"Group a Beacon shining light with ideas" by Kirili Lamb, May 2019.
Dr Tania Leimbach & Dr Judith Friedlander, "Growing Biodiverse Futures: Rewilding, Regenerating, Reimagining", in Counter Magazine, Issue 2, 2020.
Australia Council for the Arts, "Artists and farmers coming together to envision a new future", Dec 2019
On Seed and Song: the Planting Event:
Radio interview - Seed and Song with Charmaine Miller at My105FM
News article - on Seed & Song - by Michael Kane (Farmers for Climate Action)
On Sunflower and Song: the Sunflower Harvest Event:
News article - Daily Mercury - "Sun falls on the beacon to reveal sweet surprise"
Documentation photography by Cherrie Hughes - Sunflower and Song
On Old Ways New Ways: The Sugarcane Harvest:
Media release for Old Ways New Ways: The Sugarcane Harvest
Interviews about Old Ways New Ways with Charmaine Miller, my105 radio Mackay, and Tegan Philpott on ABC radio.
"Cane, soil and water a good medium for art", by Kirili Lamb, in Rural Weekly, October 14, 2019.
Old Ways New Ways - the video documentary by Tyler Kinbacher
Old Ways New Ways in pictures, by Cherie Hughes