It was founded in 1971 by Mervyn Moriarty, who flew his plane more than 400,000 km (250,000 mi) over the next 12 years to visit remote areas of Queensland and deliver art education.
The program has been described as "a catalyst which brought social regeneration for hundreds of women living on rural properties and in large and small regional towns throughout Queensland.
[2] On 24 September 1971[7] he received his unrestricted pilot's licence, hired a 4-seater Cherokee airplane,[2] and flew out of Archerfield Airport near Brisbane on the fledgling flight of the Flying Arts school, in a 6,000 km (3,700 mi) solo trip to meet with regional representatives throughout Queensland.
The election of Queensland Premier Wayne Goss and the Australian Labor Party in December 1989 and the federal government's Dawkins Higher Education reforms, combined to emphasise professionalisation of the arts.
[11] From River Banks to Shearing Sheds : 30 Years with Flying Arts (2009) by Marilyn England discusses the program in depth.
[2] Moriarty was the principal art teacher of the organisation between 1971 and 1983, flying his airplane more than 400,000 km (250,000 mi) on more than 1250 trips to at least 25 different locations from Queensland to the Torres Strait Islands.
Potter Gwyn Hanssen Pigott recalls the challenges of working in a new location each day with a group of from 4 to 20 people of widely varying experience.
"[13]As of 2005, more than 30 artists were involved in teaching classes for Flying Arts, travelling to over 60 communities and schools per year via plane, bus, train, hire car and a company station wagon specially equipped to repel kangaroos.
[16] Flying Arts is discussed as a model of pedagogy for "harnessing new technologies to contribute to communication between groups of visual artists with different backgrounds and cultural experience".
[2] Given the isolation of many of the stations, and the condition (or lack) of roads, weather had a significant impact on whether it was feasible for people to attend and for the classes to continue at particular locations.
[18] Social contact with both teachers and fellow students who shared their interests was seen as an important aspect of the experience, breaking through mental isolation as well as giving them an outlet for their creativity.
[2] Indjilandji artist Shirley Macnamara who creates woven vessels and other forms from natural materials such as spinifex has credited Flying Arts with showing her "there are no limitations to one's creativity".