JO ST BAKER is an Australian born award-winning visual artist. She is based in Dunedin with her family and arts practise. She carries a BVA, a major in print making 2010, Dunedin School of Art, and is widely known for her expressive paintings. Her vivid use of colour and unique adjustments of detail are a major part of her artistry.
Jo Is finding that commissions are rapidly increasing at her Dowling Street gallery, and at her Port Charmers gallery which is located within Whites Real Estate offices. She also does postcards; a range that she is about to revisit and re-release.
A primary influence in her life was early church attendance where she saw the light playing through various colours and shades of dark. This is given her a spiritual as well as natural approach to her art. Sunday News cartoons and texts were also an early influence. She describes her art as documenting life in our times. “My paintings put me in the moment.I can revisit them; they are part of the process of life. I solve and relish. I make beautiful.” She has won a Queensland Regional Visual Arts award for her painting and photograph around the Moreton Bay area. Land and sea are a big part of her output.
Visitors are welcome, and we were encouraged to visit her galleries. One such visitor is likely to be David Ojala who spotted his apartment block, “his” flagpole, and his tomato growing patch in one of her paintings.

On Wednesday 11 October around a dozen club members and friends visited the Dunedin City Emergency Operations Centre (a.k.a. "The Bunker") located two floors below street level in the upper Moray Place car parking building.
After a tour through the facility we made ourselves comfortable in the operations room and received an AV presentation and talk based on the DCC Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan. We learned about such things as how Dunedin City fits into the wider Otago Civil Defence Emergency Management Group; that emergency planning is based on Risk Reduction, Readiness, Response and Recovery; why a local state of emergency may be declared (and who is authorised to declare it); and how the bunker operates during an emergency.
Thanks to John Drummond for organising the visit, and to our hosts Taylor and Glenn (we also had Paula and Claire – both new Emergency Management Advisors for Dunedin City, observing how to deal with tricky questions....)