Sarah Howell - EPIC07

Sarah Howell is a Tasmanian new media artist with a passion for social technology, visual communication and storytelling. Her arts practice crosses between visual arts and writing through the medium of comics.

Sarah is a graduate of the University of Tasmania, completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a major in sculpture and a minor in photography in 1997. In 1999 she completed a Diploma of Art Craft and Design – Jewellery, at TAFE Tasmania.

Sarah is currently the project co-ordinator for Webbingtheislands.com, which was orignally part of Ten Days on the Island – Tasmania’s international arts festival, now housed at the University of Tasmania.

Previously, Sarah has also worked as the artistic director of the Hobart Fringe Festival (2003) and as an artist with Kickstart the Arts inc. – a program that assists young people to create animations and ‘zines’. Sarah also runs workshops on comic book art in regional centres in SA, QLD and NSW for the Dark Woods touring exhibition.

Sarah also takes part in the Writers in Schools program run by the Tasmanian Department of Education.

The organisation

Tasmanian Regional Arts (TRA) is the peak organisation for regional arts and community based arts in Tasmania.

TRA is a dynamic network organisation that assists artists and inspires communities through arts engagement and cultural experience. It is the peak Regional Arts and Community Cultural Development organisation in Tasmania, is over 50 years old and has a membership of 26 community-based branches servicing regional communities in Tasmania including the islands.

The project

EPIC07 will provide Sarah with a twenty-month internship with Tasmanian Regional Arts to complete her project Gravity. The project will bring contemporary media art to isolated regional communities.

Sarah will work with young artists in regional areas of northern Tasmania to create a virtual communication forum using podcasting, mobile phone and blog technology.

The aim of this activity will be to create a series of new media events that will allow the artists to share their stories and experiences. The project will focus on communities in North Tasmania – Cressy, Georgetown, Beaconsfield, Scottsdale and Launceston.

The EPIC Initiative has been assisted by the Australian Government's Young and Emerging Artists Initiative.