Western Riverina Arts Spotlight Series - February 2025
Spotlight Series
February '25 Jo Roberts | Red Earth Ecology
Griffith | Leeton | Murrumbidgee | Narrandera
Jo Roberts and The Art of Connection
Creativity, for Jo Roberts, is more than an outlet—it’s a language of empathy, education, and ecology. Her work is an ongoing conversation about connection, healing, and the spaces we create for one another. It’s an approach that resonates deeply with those who engage with her, whether through community projects, workshops, or quiet, reflective moments of craft.
When Jo launched her CASP-funded weaving project at the end of 2024, the response was immediate and overwhelming. Jo’s CASP-funded weaving project struck a chord with the community— We barely had time to mention Jo’s CASP-funded weaving project before every available place was claimed, leaving a waitlist in its wake. Yet fibre arts are just one element of a much broader practice. At its core, Jo’s work is about connection—between people, between stories, and between the natural world we live within. It is about the way histories, experiences, and environments intertwine to create something greater than the sum of their parts.
This understanding deepened during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. With friends facing intense medical journeys, Jo felt drawn back to weaving, creating baskets as offerings of care and connection. These ‘medicine baskets’ became places to hold both the weight of the present and the hope of the future. With every weave, she found herself engaging in something beyond simple craft—a practice of intention, meditation, song and storytelling. The process became just as meaningful as the baskets themselves.
In conversation, Jo speaks about the way crafting externalises emotions. For her, it isn’t an act of dissociation but of transformation—turning internal experiences into something more. The object carries meaning, not just for the maker but for those who receive it. There’s something deeply human in that exchange, a reminder of the ways art can hold space for others.
Despite her immense creative ability, Jo hesitates to call herself an artist, instead leaning towards ‘crafter’ or ‘creative.’ It’s a challenge many face—the notion that artistry belongs to an exclusive few. But creativity is fluid, taking many forms, and this writer has learned that if you engage in creative practice, you are an artist.
Standing at a crossroads, Jo is contemplating her next steps. Larger grants and expanded projects are on the horizon, but not at the expense of the intimacy her work thrives on. Growth, for her, is about deepening impact rather than scaling up numbers. More than anything, she wants her practice to remain accessible, ensuring the connections forged in her workshops continue to flourish.
Change, whether personal or environmental, is at the heart of everything Jo does. She has a deep awareness that while people often say a change is as good as a holiday, the reality is far more complex. Every transition carries its own process of grief and adaptation, whether it’s personal transformation, ecological shifts, or broader societal movements. Jo’s work acknowledges that change is not just about embracing the new—it is also about honouring what has come before, making space for reflection, and allowing time to process and integrate those shifts.
It is in this space—between loss and renewal, between letting go and moving forward—that Jo’s practice finds its resonance. Whether through hands-on making, storytelling, or fostering a deeper connection to the natural world, she creates spaces for learning, reflection, and creative exploration. Her work acknowledges that change isn’t just something to embrace—it’s something to sit with, to process, and to make sense of in our own time.
Reflecting on the path she’s walked, Jo muses, “I thought that I was doing lots of different things, and they turned out to be much the same thing, just in different forms.”
A sentiment that encapsulates her work—where weaving, storytelling, ecology, and human connection are all threads in the same, intricate tapestry.
To learn more about Jo’s work and Red Earth Ecology, visit ree.org.au
Inspired by Jo’s story? Now is the perfect time to start planning your own creative project and explore how CASP 2025 funding can support your vision. Stay tuned for details from Western Riverina Arts on how to apply!
Written by Zooey Korhonen, Western Riverina Arts Communications Officer
