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John Mutsaers. Artist. Grad Dip. MA (Art Therapy) Dutch/Australian Born in Eindhoven, Holland 1942 Arrived Australia 1956 and first settled with his parents and five of his six sisters in the Victorian provincial town of Traralgon. John is a painter, sculptor, poet, art teacher, art therapist, and publisher He has held 30 Solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows. www.johnmutsaers.com.au Represented: Institutional and private collections in UK, Europe, USA, Ireland, China, Canada and Australia. Collectors include; The late HRH Princess Margaret, UK, Brigadier, General Charles Duke (American lunar explorer/astronaut, Apollo 16) Lisa Gerrard, Composer/Singer; "Dead can dance" Movies, Gladiator, The Insider, Whale Rider, & others. LaTrobe regional gallery Vic Bega regional gallery NSW LaTrobe City APM (Australian Paper Mills)

Researching The effectiveness of Art Therapy within groups of teenagers Writing Mixing colours. "The greys in every colour" My life as an Avocado, A journey of rediscovering identity John works from his studios in Moe and Inverloch and has just completed an exhibiting of a series of sculptures in Federation Square in Melbourne. The sculptures titled "The Potato" were made in response to the United Nation's International Year of the Potato. While the UN's ecological and humanitarian theme is a strong component of the work it also honours the men and women in the potato industry in Gippsland. The sculptures are now permanently located to the Princes Highway (M1) near the Spud Shed in Trafalgar. His exhibition at the Melbourne Institute of Experiential and Creative Art Therapy during June/July 2007 was very well received. The exhibition curiously titled "My life as an avocado" is about John's journey of rediscovering his Dutch identity and dealing with the fears associated with returning to his homeland after 50 years. The exhibition opened on Friday the 29th of June at MIECAT www.miecat.org.au

He is the principal Artist/Art Therapist at the ArtsBillabong studio where teenagers at risk of not completing their education and those disengaged from society explore personal issues on a platform of art, drama or music. Current commitments: Publishing an 80 page catalogue for the "My life as an Avocado" Europe exhibition. Developing two other series of paintings for future exhibitions. After his successful exhibition in London (Sept 2006) he and his wife Mary are planing to again travel to Europe in 2008 and work on location. He teaches adults and youth painting, drawing and mosaics at the Traralgon art society studio (since 1984) Also at the Gippsland Education centre in Warragul (since 2000).

About ArtsBillabong In 2003 John, Mary McNamara and Robyn Schaefer developed the concept for the ArtsBillabong arts studio for youth at risk where he is currently the principal and senior art therapist. ArtsBillabong is an art/s community based learning centre for young people who are at risk of not attending school and those who are already refusing to attend. ArtsBillabong is a studio grounded in art therapy principles for young people who have trouble coping with life, that is, those who are disabled by a lack of self worth, and who suffer depression, alienation and self-harming tendencies. ArtsBillabong promotes the view that art is an expression beyond the verbal, a journey through metaphor and a serious provocateur of the imagination. It can orient us toward possibility, toward meanings in our experience that we have not yet articulated, and toward the realization of community in our schools and in our society.