ArtSpace's doors are open again. You're welcome to enter, conditionally. By Geoff Ellis
THE council refurbished the building, we rewrote our procedures and our volunteers are refreshed. The cleaners came through yesterday. We've got a great new exhibition - Paint, Print and Plinth - to show. We're ready.
The restrictions eased at 1159 pm yesterday. Party Time! Our front door opened for the public at 11am today. Arty time! (sorry, it was a late night)
A lot of businesses are displaying new signs to reflect the conditions of entry into this grave new world of living with COVID. The ink has just dried on our new greeting signs. We have worded them to be welcoming yet instructive.
THE council refurbished the building, we rewrote our procedures and our volunteers are refreshed. The cleaners came through yesterday. We've got a great new exhibition - Paint, Print and Plinth - to show. We're ready.
The restrictions eased at 1159 pm yesterday. Party Time! Our front door opened for the public at 11am today. Arty time! (sorry, it was a late night)
A lot of businesses are displaying new signs to reflect the conditions of entry into this grave new world of living with COVID. The ink has just dried on our new greeting signs. We have worded them to be welcoming yet instructive.
QR at the steps or the ramp and show your Vaxx status to one of our volunteers at the door. Can't QR ? - not everyone has the latest smart phone - sign in over there. Come in. You're very welcome. Why would you hesitate to show us the vaxx cert? It's for the greater good. Welcome to ArtSpace.
That's the script to minimise angst on both sides of the line. We all need to be patient as these new routines become familiar.
We last opened on September 11, as the region came out of lockdown. The town was swarming – there was a queue to drive into the Bunnings car park, the cafés were full and there were people milling everywhere. We closed the doors after two hours. The perceived risk was too great.
Turned out later that there had been an active case wandering around on September 10. Several sites in our town had become Tier Two exposure sites. That made COVID real. We decided to rethink our COVIDSafe plan and adapt.
From our door greeters to our treasurer, ArtSpace is staffed purely by volunteers. We're not the only organisation that runs on love and passion. Op shops, community houses, U3A, halls, community gardens, sports clubs – all of our social infrastructure is volunteer driven. All across Bass Coast committees have been meeting into the early hours to understand the fine print and craft the mandatory plan using the template. All nine pages of it.
I’ve spoken to other groups across the shire - one group is working on their 31st plan. Every group has to provide a safe workplace for volunteers, employees, contractors and visitors. This necessitates a set of operating procedures that combine general and specific directions from the DHHS with site-specific instructions as decided by each management committee. One size doesn't fit all. An op-shop has different considerations from a hall. These will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. A new bar has been set for record keeping.
So there's complication and adjustment to take in but it's all for the common good.
I got called a vaxxer the other day. I have been talking to several people who won't get the jab. Sure, some people can't. But many choose to put their faith in good food, exercise, natural immunity, unorthodox treatments or God.
So our doors are open again. You're welcome to enter, conditionally.
Geoff Ellis is president of ArtSpace.
That's the script to minimise angst on both sides of the line. We all need to be patient as these new routines become familiar.
We last opened on September 11, as the region came out of lockdown. The town was swarming – there was a queue to drive into the Bunnings car park, the cafés were full and there were people milling everywhere. We closed the doors after two hours. The perceived risk was too great.
Turned out later that there had been an active case wandering around on September 10. Several sites in our town had become Tier Two exposure sites. That made COVID real. We decided to rethink our COVIDSafe plan and adapt.
From our door greeters to our treasurer, ArtSpace is staffed purely by volunteers. We're not the only organisation that runs on love and passion. Op shops, community houses, U3A, halls, community gardens, sports clubs – all of our social infrastructure is volunteer driven. All across Bass Coast committees have been meeting into the early hours to understand the fine print and craft the mandatory plan using the template. All nine pages of it.
I’ve spoken to other groups across the shire - one group is working on their 31st plan. Every group has to provide a safe workplace for volunteers, employees, contractors and visitors. This necessitates a set of operating procedures that combine general and specific directions from the DHHS with site-specific instructions as decided by each management committee. One size doesn't fit all. An op-shop has different considerations from a hall. These will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. A new bar has been set for record keeping.
So there's complication and adjustment to take in but it's all for the common good.
I got called a vaxxer the other day. I have been talking to several people who won't get the jab. Sure, some people can't. But many choose to put their faith in good food, exercise, natural immunity, unorthodox treatments or God.
So our doors are open again. You're welcome to enter, conditionally.
Geoff Ellis is president of ArtSpace.