Middlemost opens with The Shy Fox pop up - RENEW Wagga
Eastern Riverina Art’s creative business project breathing new life into the Wagga Wagga CBD continues to thrive with two new artists taking up residence in empty shop spaces on Tompson Street this week. The RENEW WAGGA project sees Middlemost featuring The Shy Fox Pop-Up open its doors on Friday 16 July.
RENEW WAGGA has creative and economic benefits. It’s aim is to increase foot traffic in the area, assist in re-activating our CBD and provide a boost to our local creative practitioners.
Janine Middlemost is known locally for her eclectic fashion label Middlemost, her new shop will feature not only her beautiful designs made from recycled fabrics, but also provide workshops to the community. Each garment is a unique piece of wearable art. With both fashion design and a garment manufacture background, Ms Middlemost has incorporated her love for vintage fabrics into her work. The environmental impact of fast fashion and clothing/textile waste is taken into account with Ms Middlemost’s considered approach to every piece.
Included in Middlemost’s space will be pop up shop, Millie Hocking’s The Shy Fox. Millie's love of Australian flora features in her textile design and her work highlights the importance of upcycling to reduce clothing and textile waste. Ms Hocking encourages sewing and upcycling through her kits and workshops and hopes to use her passion to continue exploring and loving Australian flora.
Ms Claire Harris, Creative Business Officer for Eastern Riverina Arts is excited to see the next phase of RENEW WAGGA taking shape.
"The launch of our first two creative businesses F.Stop Workshop and The Little Yellow House Gallery and Studio were a great success. Since opening, both businesses have enjoyed impressive retail sales and well-attended workshops, not to mention the general increase of foot traffic in an area that had really slowed down in recent years.”
"It’s exciting to know there are two more years to this project ahead, we are on the path for really invigorating the Wagga CBD and unleashing our creative spirit and developing some great foundations for local creative businesses," said Ms Harris.
RENEW WAGGA is not just about finding a retail, office or studio space. Eastern Riverina Arts has also been providing business advice and support to artists throughout the project as they come up with creative ways to activate the CBD and grow their own businesses.
This project has been made possible through the support of Renew Australia and the NSW Government.