CREATIVELY INSPIRING CONSERVATION
The Alcorso Arts and Nature Fund was established in 2017 by the Alcorso Foundation. Claudio and Lesley Alcorso were passionate lovers of the arts, nature and Tasmania. This Fund, established in recognition of the power the arts have to engage and move people, is to support artists to work in the TLC’s reserves.
As people have less and less contact with ‘wild’ nature, art’s role in speaking to people about nature becomes more important than ever. Claudio Alcorso’s ambition in his textile business was ‘to introduce creative thought and beauty into the everyday things of life’ – house furnishings, bed linen, dress fabrics. Commissioning leading Australian artists such as Margaret Preston and Russell Drysdale to design textiles for Silk and Textile Printers expressed this ambition.
The longer Claudio lived in Tasmania the more he recognised that the earth itself – Tasmania’s/lutruwita’s forests, wild rivers and lakes – had its own beauty, life and spirit that people could either choose to live in harmony with – or destroy. The day in 1982 that Lesley Alcorso encouraged him to join protesters blockading the building of the Franklin River dam was a turning point for him, as for so many others.
This in-perpetuity fund will generate interest that will be invested in initiatives that creatively inspire nature conservation. From time-to-time, these may include creative residencies that enable artists to enjoy Tasmania’s/lutruwita’s wild places, invigorate themselves, and inspire Australians to care more for our endangered planet.
To give to the TLC Foundation through the Alcorso Arts and Nature Fund, please call the TLC office on 03 6225 1399. Your support enables the TLC to continue protecting and managing nature in Tasmania.