Bunbury artist calls for people to show kindness on World Kindness Day as Arts by the Bay exhibition kicks off

On World Kindness Day, a Bunbury-based artist called on the community to take a minute to slow down and do an act of kindness.

Renee Lee said she wanted people to do random acts of kindness with a thought of “paying it forward” as part of a wider exhibition celebrating local artists.

“I chose to put up some picnic locations in Anzac Park for people that come and have lunch here,” she said.

“They can colour in, grab a book, have a cup of tea or some drinks we have — this is just to activate the area and show people there is still kindness around.”

Lee organised the Arts by the Bay exhibition held over the weekend, where Bunbury artists exhibited and sold their artwork at B-Lab in Bunbury.

The exhibition was initially planned to be held in July but due to venue availability, Lee was forced to reschedule and relocate.

She then chose to align the exhibitions with World Kindness Day.

“There was a bit of a curve ball thrown at us — I still did the market stalls and workshops in July but not the exhibitions,” Ms Lee said.

“The space where I was going to put the 30 artists, we no longer could use.”

She said it was important for people to show kindness and do “little random acts of kindness”.

“You never know what everyone is going through on a day — if you can put a smile on someone’s face just by a small act, you should take that opportunity,” Lee said.