The exhibtion was curated to celebrate the tenth birthday of the Cooloola Gallery and to highlight the great appreciation of the Mary River and to raise awareness of the huge loss to the enviroment, that would result from the prososed Traveston Dam.

'Spirit of Mary' builds on and extends many of the ideas which were developed in the earlier exhibitions, expanding and revisiting issues explored in Bathing with Mary.

Saly's Installation piece consisted of bleached ceramic turtle bones mapping out on the floor the shape of the proposed dam site.

Her work in Bathing with Mary also concentrated on the Mary River Turtle - Elusor Macrurus, to bring home the message, further highlighted by the use of floating silk banners with ink drawings of the turtle on their surface.

'Throughout this exhibition, we as artists, tried to convey a hopeful need for conservation to balance this feeling of loss, and through all the works there is a respect for the spirituality connected to the river'. Sally Spencer