Open Weekend 2015

TarraWarra Museum of Art is holding a special Open Weekend on 12 & 13 December 2015, offering visitors from the local community and far beyond free access to the pleasure and enrichment of art, and a celebration of the diverse creativity of the Yarra Ranges region.

Entry to the Museum and the summer feature exhibition Howard Arkley (and friends…) will be free, as well as a range of fun and imaginative indoor and outdoor activities for all ages.

TarraWarra Museum of Art will also be the creative hub over the weekend for one of the Yarra region’s biggest communal art projects, inspired by the brilliant and colourful works of legendary Australian artist Howard Arkley. Participation in the project is open to all ages, no art skills are necessary and local professional artists will be on hand to assist. All art activities are free, and designed for you to pop in for a few minutes or a few hours.

All welcome, all weekend; no bookings needed, just come along and join in!

Food available for purchase:
Babaji’s Indian Street Food Marquee – Feast with ‘Babaji’s Kitchen’, serving fresh & healthy traditional Indian street food. Gluten free & Vegan options. View their menu.
Healesville Rotary Barbeque Sausage Sizzle
Coffee Pete providing fine brews

Picnics on the grass welcome.

Detailed program

Art Activities – both days

12pm – 12.15pm
Drawing the Lines
North Gallery, Museum
Light-hearted art fun, capturing on paper as quickly as you can all the lines in a Howard Arkley painting; accurate representation entirely optional!

1pm to 4pm
Take a line for a walk –create a spray painted mural with Paul Sonsie of Sonsie Studios
Outside under Poplars
Co-create a #HowardArkley inspired work using spray paint. Paul will be on hand to assist & inspire.

2pm – 2.15pm
Seeing between the lines
South Gallery, Museum
A fun, focusing game, looking at what the lines in a Howard Arkley painting depict, then how many you can remember once the quick quiz begins

Art Activities – Saturday

11am – 1 pm
Collage & cutouts
Local artist Rachael Dillon will pre-prepare patterned geometric shapes which can then be stuck onto card to create houses, interiors etc. There will also be magazine cutouts of furniture, lighting etc available to incorporate into the collages

1.30pm – 3.30pm
Patterns and lines
Visitors will select a page of patterned paper for their background, and paint onto it using black or grey paint.

Art Activities – Sunday

Little Houses
11am – 1 pm
Local artist Mim Kocher will use squares of cardboard, to make house shapes. Then using a black marker and without lifting it from the page, participants will ‘take a line for a walk’. Howard Arkley inspired colours can be added using oil pastels. As the houses are finished, they will be lined up in a ‘streetscape’, and photos taken of the progress.

1.30pm – 3.30pm
Take a literal line for a walk
Local artist Ali Griffin will assist people to take brightly coloured rope and weave it through the landscape; up and down the hill, around fences trees etc. so it is visible from the road. The end result is unknown – it could be abstract or something more recognisable.

Art talks – both days

12.30 – 1pm & 2.30pm – 3pm
Ask the Arkley Curator
Howard Arkley (and friends…) co-curator Anthony Fitzpatrick will be roaming the exhibition ready to answer all your questions about the artist’s work.

1pm – 1.15pm & 3pm – 3.15pm
Arkley Pop Up Talks
Short, lively talks on one of the works of Howard Arkley by our enthusiastic staff & volunteers.

Self guided trail

Walk the Line
11.00am to 5pm both days
Follow the TarraWarra trail up the hill and into the Museum, gathering fascinating facts about the Yarra Valley, the Museum, its collection and Howard Arkley on the way, for your chance to win a special prize from the Healesville Hotel

Cricket

1.00pm to 3.30pm both days
Finding the line
Cricket bat making demonstration
Watch former Test Cricketer ‘Mad Dog Callen’ demonstrate the art of cricket bat-making, finding all of the right lines in a stick of willow grown in the Yarra Valley to create a Callan Cricket bat entirely by hand.

1.00pm to 3.30pm Saturday
Cricket Clinic
Family friendly fun for kids, their bat and ball skills with members of the Healesville Cricket Club

Live Music on the Deck

1.00pm to 4.00pm, Saturday 12 December
The Dukes of Despair
‘…acoustic rock music, bristling with hooks…a great sound, part Australian bush folk, part Travelling Wilburys, part Texan troubadour…What’s not to like?’ Rhythms magazine

1.00pm to 4.00pm, Sunday 13 December
The Humbuckin’ Pickups
Rootsy, Australiana inspired Folk…’Think Dolly and Kenny’s wedding where Willy does the catering…it’s out there but damn it’s fun!!’