Queensland Holiday Part 2: Home of the Arts

After Ripley's Believe it or Not, We took the bus to Surfer's Paradise's new arts precinct. Home of the Arts (HOTA) was opened 8th May 2021, and hosts performances, a movie theatre and art gallery. You can go there by bus or ferry. Ferry is more expensive but a lovely trip.

When you come into the HOTA gallery, make sure you check out the stacks through a window. When you press a button they light up and you get a glimpse into the storage area, and some artifacts lined up for your viewing.




Ground Floor: Brickpedia

My partner and I grew up playing with Lego and really enjoy the Australian Legomasters series so it was great to see this. We haven't been to a Lego exhibiton since we were kids and there were some fabulous ones on Egypt and pirates. I am glad Lego is becoming popular again.




A mushroom castle  with wonderful details inside and outside including "normal" sized bugs and flowers to show the scale. 









Four sizes of duck






Lego notepad








A pizza farm with all the ingredients including cheese growing on plants.


Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

HOTA gardens

Those who know me well know I am a mycophile (mushroom fan), albeit not an expert. I was really excited to see these pale violet beauties in the HOTA gardens.



We were also visited by some very confident Noisy Miner birds at lunch. 


HOTA Galleries 2 and 4

After lunch we checked out the remaining galleries. There are 4 galleries in HOTA, and one was closed when we visited. Of the others, Australia's Playground featured art about Queensland and Collide: Maverick Minds featured some more outsider artworks.

These were my favourite artworks:


This painting, The Rainforest by William Robinson AO apparently inspired the vision for HOTA.


This artwork Sisters Rocks by Polixeni Papapetrou has a really great energy to it. A group of children play amongst a graffitied landmark, yet there is a palpable sense of innocence and togetherness. Or at least, that's what I felt. 



These giant moths made of tin and wood by Merv Muhling decorated a landing on the stairs.


We got the ferry back and then went on to the Wax Museum which I will post about next week. 

Comments

  1. Debra She Who Seeks8 June 2022 at 22:22

    It's amazing what can be made with Lego!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura Morrigan9 June 2022 at 11:56

      Isn't it! I can't imagine making most of the things I saw! I know there are computer programs you can use to design things but there are definitely people out there who just seem to be able to build it all by eye!

      Delete
  2. Polyester Princess8 June 2022 at 23:01

    You're certainly packing a lot of culture in your holiday, Laura!
    HOTA looks well worth a visit. How wonderful to get a glimpse into the museum's storage area - we have a similar thing in the MAS museum in Antwerp - and the LEGO exhibition looks like a lot of fun! I've never seen violet mushrooms by the way! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marilyn Miller9 June 2022 at 11:40

    My grandson would love all these Lego's. BTW, you said you were not good with caffeine; check out Tulsi teas ( it is in the basil family). My husband can't drink caffeine and loves Tulsi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura Morrigan9 June 2022 at 11:57

      Ooh, thank you! I shall certainly look into Tulsi tea!

      Delete
  4. Winter Peach Photography9 June 2022 at 20:07

    Hi Laura, I really enjoyed reading about your trip. What an interesting place to visit! I loved Lego too as a child and enjoyed it again vicariously, through our son. The Lego tree housing all the woodland creatures is fantastic! As a child, I remember visiting a place called Birdland in The Cotswolds and there was a very vocal Miner bird near the entrance. He would greet the visitors as they entered. I often wonder whether he picked up any naughty words over the years! ;-) Sisters Rocks is a wonderful piece. It left me with the same feeling.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sheila10 June 2022 at 01:39

    Wow, that looks like so much fun, Laura! I love the dress(?) that looks like it's made of straws(?) and all that Lego is so fascinating.

    That "inspired by" painting is really stunning. Thank you so much for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Winter Peach Photography11 June 2022 at 01:36

    Hoping this comment makes it through. I love Lego too and luckily got to enjoy it for a second time with our son. I know there's Lego for adults too, but I dare not go down that rabbit hole, or we might have to move house! :-D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Magaly Guerrero12 June 2022 at 04:40

    I'm still jealous of your outings. My immune system and I don't yet feel comfortable (with COVID) to go out to places where they might be a crowd. Thank you so much for sharing your trip.

    ReplyDelete

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