Four Winds is incredibly proud of its Life Ambassador, Sheena Boughen, who has been awarded an OAM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Sheena’s tireless work as a pro-bono CEO and Chair of Four Winds over many years has resulted in world class music performance spaces being developed in Barragga Bay, Bermagui, on the Far South Coast of NSW.
Sheena lead a dedicated, voluntary team to develop Four Winds into the nationally recognised arts organisation we know today whose purpose is to use music as a powerful force to fire the imagination. Sheena and her team also achieved the significant fundraising targets required from Federal and State governments and private individuals to deliver this project in a remote and rural part of NSW. Sheena’s leadership in the Arts was also recently recognised by Creative Partnerships with the National Arts Leadership Award for 2017.
The level of ambition and dynamic leadership shown by Sheena has enabled the development of a year-round program of work to emerge at Four Winds, the pinnacle of which is still the organisation’s world renowned, and now annual Easter Festival. Four Winds balances being an arts organisation that has an international outlook - presenting and promoting musicians from across the globe - with a true commitment to its community, particularly focused on participation and local music education for young people.
Four Winds future is as ambitious as ever, with Artistic Director James Crabb announcing plans for a new Youth Festival in Spring 2018 building on the incredible amount and variety of work Four Winds is undertaking with young people throughout the year. Its Windsong Series – the next concert of which is on this Sunday 17 June at the Windsong Pavilion - continues to present world-class artists whose visits to the Far South Coast always includes time inspiring the community beyond their performance. Work recorded and created at Four Winds is taking the organisation’s reputation far and wide; South Coast based composer and percussionist David Hewitt’s latest work created and recorded at Four Winds is currently installed at the 2018 Dark Mofo Festival in Tasmania.
The ambition and scope of our work would not have been possible without the commitment of Sheena and the team she lead to develop Four Winds performance spaces and the organisation itself which has far reaching benefit, at home and overseas. In Sheena’s own words: “you have not to be frightened by the size of your ambition”. Today, Four Winds is able to be even more ambitious thanks in no small part to our Life Ambassador, Sheena Boughen OAM.
Above: Sheena Boughen. Photo by Heide Smith
Four Winds Sound Shell. Photo by Ben Marden
Windsong Pavilion. Photo credit Trevor Mein Media Release
