This painting has been on quite a journey.
Which is kind of fitting. Its title is Journeys in Belonging.
The artwork was created by Hunter artist Sharon Davson. Ironically, the painting has taken her on a long and arduous journey through a council bureaucracy, which made her feel like she doesn't belong.
We've featured Sharon in this column before, recounting her adventures with celebrities including the likes of New Kids on the Block, Neil Diamond, Cliff Richard, John Denver, Jon Bon Jovi and Baz Luhrmann.
Her Journeys in Belonging painting features Port Macquarie landmarks and the handprint of Baz Luhrmann, who hails from the Port Macquarie area. He had his hands painted by Davson in the Vogue Magazine offices in Sydney in 1993.
Sharon donated the painting to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's Glasshouse regional art gallery collection last year.
The painting was publicly accepted by Mayor Peta Pinson, who presented the artist with flowers.
The story was reported in the local paper, Port Macquarie News, where Mayor Pinson was quoted as saying that "the generosity of Sharon Davson cannot be underestimated".
"This gift, which I believe is valued at $110,000, is an individualist artwork by an internationally renowned artist," Mayor Pinson was quoted as saying.
"Our vision for the art is not to keep it in one place, but move it around the community so many people can see and be inspired by it."
Sharon recently learned that the painting was, in fact, rejected and removed from the collection a few weeks later.
At a meeting of the council's cultural steering committee - after the mayor accepted the painting - it was reported that the painting did "not fit the themes and criteria of the collection and therefore not be included in the collection".
Sharon wasn't told her painting had been rejected. She found out by chance when she asked to borrow it for an exhibition.
She sought an explanation from the council, but was passed around to "18 different people in the council, with vague explanations".
Mayor Pinson told Sharon in an email that: "I am a huge believer that things work out best for the people who make the best out of the way things work out. The universe obviously has grander plans for the artwork and perhaps the joy is more in the 'journey' than the destination."
Non-Viral Jokes
Why did Van Gogh become a painter? Because he didn't have an ear for music.
What did Michelangelo say to the ceiling? I got you covered.
How does Salvador Dali start his mornings? With a bowl of surreal.
A man accused of stealing a painting tried to brush it off and claimed he was framed.
