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Carsales Staff10 Sept 2014
NEWS

Falcon XR8 in art expo for charity

Ford's bitter-sweet moment: first public display of last V8 Falcon supports juvenile diabetes charity
The official public debut of Ford's new Falcon will kick off next month in support of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. 
And the particular Falcon chosen to be the centrepiece of the 'Outside the Oval' event is the new XR8. The venue for the event, which is to be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 4 and 5, is the 1000 Pound Gallery in Little Lonsdale St Melbourne. 
Not only will Ford fans get a close-up look at the new XR8, there will be other Ford-related objet d'art on display in the gallery, including a Falcon body-in-white emblazoned with images of the company's staff, many of them personally building the new Falcon. 
According to Ford's press material, 30 pieces of art will go on display in the gallery. Another highlight of the exhibition is a clay model of a four-cylinder engine from a Ford Model T. In addition to this and other sculptures, artists have resorted to traditional painting and digital art formats. Materials used include ceramic, foam, acrylic on canvas, and clay. 
The man behind the Falcon Art Care is artist and Senior Clay model maker, Peter Watson, who committed four months of his own labour compiling the materials and assembling the artwork. 
"I really wanted to show the human side behind the industrial nature in the production/ manufacturing of our vehicles here at Ford," Watson said. "There's a lot of passion right across the company and I wanted to capture that.
"With some assistance, I collected photos of many of our manufacturing employees, many of whom are actually building the Falcon and Territory.
"Each image was individually re worked using photoshop to create a 'pop art' style collage, which was then printed onto vinyl and wrapped on the body of a 2014 Falcon."
Ford has held similar exhibitions in the past, but the 'Outside the Oval' marks the first occasion the event has been held outside the confines of Ford's own facilities. Going public this year offers synergies in assisting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, but also celebrates the Falcon, which is in its twilight years of manufacture in Australia. Todd Willing, Design Director at Ford Australia, praised his colleagues who have been involved in development of the final Falcon series to be built here. 
"We're very proud of the execution of the XR8 – as well as all the entire Falcon range – and we're proud of the people that engineered and built it," he was quoted saying in a press release. "The exhibition will show another side to the Ford Design Team."
Many of the designers who have worked on the last Falcon have been graduates of Victorian tertiary institutions. Their employment at Ford will continue beyond the end of manufacturing in October 2016. These young designers are described as "world-class" by Willing. 
"We have world-class designers in Australia, an education system that supports them and this event will show the tremendous breadth of that talent at Ford.
"Gallery entry is free, so we want to encourage students, as well as our dedicated Falcon fans and employees, to see the XR8 and the artworks," he said.
David Hodget, Victorian Minister for Manufacturing, will be present to open the exhibition at the launch event on October 3. Visitors can purchase many of the artworks, with proceeds going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Further information is available at the event's website
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Written byCarsales Staff
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