Report compiled by four students of Tourism at the Ballarat University College (later Federation University Australia).victorian tourism industry, tourism, alumni, ararat

Carole WILSON (1960- ) Born Canberra, Australia Carole Wilson is an artist living and working in Ballarat, Victoria where she is Associate Professor in Visual Arts and Deputy Dean in the School of Arts. Carole studied at both the Canberra School of Art and Philip Institute of Technology, now RMIT, in Melbourne and completed a PhD at the University of Ballarat in 2001. Her original training was in printmaking and she was a founding member of Jillposters, feminist poster group, in 1983 and worked at Another Planet Posters, Melbourne. For over a decade Carole Wilson has utilised discarded and salvaged materials such as floral carpets, maps and atlases to create works which engage with aspects of botany, garden history, travel and historical ornament. In recent years she has undertaken residencies in Italy, the US, Malaysia and The Netherlands which have all had a significant impact on her work. 'Woven Mantra: A Visual Expression of Meditation' is the title of Carole Wilson's thesis undertaken for a PhD - Visual Arts at the University of Ballarat in 2001. The research project examines the links between spiritual practice and visual art. More specifically, the research examines the relationships between repetition of a manta, and repetition of an image. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007. Carole Wilson lectures at Federation University Australia: 2010- Senior Lecturer in Visual Arts, Honours and Research Degrees Co-ordinator 2009-2011 Lecturer in Studio Practice and Postgraduate Co-ordinator 1999-2008 Lecturer in Visual Arts (Sessional) art, artwork, carole wilson, alumni

XERSA (1952- ) Born as Christine Limb in Daylesford, Victoria An artist with over 40 years of experience in drawing, painting and sculpture installation, who studied Fine Art at Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education (now Federation University) from 1969 to 1970, and Fine Art and Industrial Design at RMIT from 1971-1974. During the 1970s Xersa worked as a textile designer and then established a design studio in Melbourne. Xersa has been a finalist and awarded in important Australian art awards including the Dobell Prize for Drawing, and internationally exhibited contemporary artist with experience of over 20 solo and 40 group exhibitions in major galleries and Museums alongside other significant artists. My recent work is figurative, thematic of resilience and regeneration which relates to world-wide natural and non natural events that affect our health recalling our strength and determination. The allurement of drawing began before crawling and ever since then, kept vision of consistent excellence to becoming the best and to draw better than Picasso and Matisse. I hereby thank everyone for the rewarding experiences you have imparted to me so far, each mark made by my hand has the memory of you all within them. May there be much more.Drawing mounted onto perspexxersa, available, alumni, portrait