Gallery | Red Shoes Rock exhibition puts best foot forward for FASD awareness

By Taylah Baker

Sep 12, 2024

**Olenna Marshall and Louisa Cleak’s participation helped to magnify awareness of FASD.** Photo by Digital Journey Photography

“It all began with a shoe on the wall. A shoe on the wall shouldn’t be there at all.”

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That may be true for Dr Seuss’s character in Wacky Wednesday, but over 20 pairs of red shoe-inspired artworks were in the right place last Monday, hung on the walls of the Walkway Gallery at Tatura Community House.

These artworks comprise the Red Shoes Rock Art Exhibition, organised by NOFASD Australia to raise awareness and education about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

At the exhibition’s launch event on International FASD Awareness Day, September 9, chatter among its 60 attendees delved deeper than compositions and linework.

FASD is a diagnostic term used to describe impacts on the brain and body of individuals prenatally exposed to alcohol.

Red shoes have been an international symbol for FASD awareness since 2013, when a Canadian living with the disorder donned red shoes to stand out, raise awareness, and spark conversation about the hidden disability.

The flashy footwear was featured in all the pieces by various artists at the exhibition.

Notably, Jacob Dedman and Jessica Birch’s exhibits possess a ‘sole-full’ and personal touch, reflecting their individual experiences living with FASD.

Alongside them, Megan Brown from Alice Springs, a foster carer for a young adult with FASD, and local talents like Ray Hill, Phyllis Mactier, and the Purple Glaze Ceramics group.

The community also took part, with schools and centres colouring and decorating pictures of shoes by local artist Naomi Kerr.

Outside the Walkway Gallery, social media buzzed with mentions of the exhibition, further raising awareness and reducing the stigma of FASD.

The Red Shoes Rock Art Exhibition will be on display throughout September.

Jacob Dedman, known as Digital Journey Photography, contributed photos of the launch event to the News.

For more information on FASD, contact the NOFASD helpline at 1800 860 613 or visit www.nofasd.org.au