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On Thursday 19th October, you’re invited to explore the wonderful world of contemporary collage, with the creative duo behind Melbourne’s specialist collage + design studio, That Paper Joint.

Allow yourself to get messy & hands-on, during this 2.5-hour guided experience, where you’ll be shown various examples, visual techniques, and a ‘collaging mindset’, which will assist you to create your own unique designs.

With a fantastic array of materials (both old & new) and quality tools at your disposal, you’ll have the opportunity to work on various projects, creating both physical & digital works of art, by combining analogue & digital techniques.

With a motto of ‘Joining People Through Paper’, That Paper Joint welcomes participants of all creative backgrounds & abilities, from those who have dabbled with cutting & pasting to those who consider themselves ‘non-creative types’. Max and Zoe are here to help you feel confident in this fun but challenging craft!

This event is funded by the Victorian Seniors Festival and is open to over 60s with a Seniors Card or Seniors Business Discount Card.

Free entry, bookings essential as capacity is limited, and to help us prepare materials. Please scroll down to book ↓

Join us for an Artist Talk presented by Stefan Gevers on Friday 8th September 2023, at 11am.

Stefan Gevers works with the concept of presenting our current place in the landscape, exploring and responding while spending time within the landscape, one that is divided historically and culturally.

Stefan Gevers is an artist born in The Netherlands and graduated from the ARTEZ College of Art in 1999, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He is now an Australian Citizen, based in Melbourne and works predominantly with watercolour, textiles and ceramics and has an extensive exhibition history.

His works are held in the public collections of the National Australia Bank, Artbank, Banyule Council, Peter McCallum Art Collection, State Library of Victoria & State Library of Queensland, and private collections.

This event is presented in conjunction with the WAMA Art Prize and Grampians Brushes.

Free entry, bookings essential. Please scroll down to book ↓

Join artist Ema Shin as she shares the techniques of carving rubber blocks to print your own designs and work with collage, stitching and embroidery on fabric to create unique artwork.

→ Suitable for ages 14 and over
→ All materials provided
→ 12 places available

Please scroll down to book ↓

Japanese born Melbourne based artist Ema Shin studied traditional and contemporary printmaking in Japan. She has held solo and group exhibitions including the 3^rd Tamworth Textile Triennial and the Victorian Craft Awards 2021. Shin works with different techniques and mediums such as Japanese woodblock printing, papier-mâché, embroidery, tapestry weaving, bookmaking, Urauchi (chine-colle) and collage.

Join us for an Artist Talk presented by Cara Johnson on Saturday 17th February 2024, 2pm – 3pm.

Free entry, bookings essential. Please scroll down to book ↓

Cara Johnson’s craft-based works interrogate tensions and narratives connected to the ways land is treated and used, through material, intention and invested labour. Her practice is entwined with her rural location in the Otways hinterland (Gadubanud country), where she works in isolation, surrounded by bushland and sheep paddocks. Cara’s work is primarily concerned with traversing the complexities between people and plants. 

Overlay considers the correspondence between inflicted damage on the land and subsequent attempted repair. Materials have been collected based on their relationships to agriculture and landscape restoration: tree guards found tumbling in the undergrowth and floating in creeks; baling twine snagged on fence lines; silage netting tangled in the dirt; and weeds cut from where they grew. Adapting techniques connected to jewellery histories, these found materials are reprocessed to create works that reflect upon the hope and hopelessness of repair.

Cara Johnson is represented by Gallery Funaki.

Join us for an Artist Talk presented by Sarah Amos on Friday 15th March 2024, 11am – 12pm.

Sarah Amos has been making large scale prints for over 28 years and has developed a hybrid print/textile technique that encompasses printmaking, appliqué and yarn. Originally from Australia, Sarah moved to the USA to study at Tamarind Institute of Lithography in New Mexico where she became a master printer. Sarah works and lives in her large etching studio in East Fairfield, Vermont and maintains an active international and national exhibition schedule alongside her commitment to teaching and collaborating.

Sarah also teaches from her home studio seasonally and has been as a visiting professor at Williams, Dartmouth and Bennington Colleges in the USA.

This event is presented in conjunction with Grampians Texture.

Free entry, bookings essential. Please scroll down to book ↓

Join us on Saturday 10th February 2024, 2pm to 3pm, for an artist panel discussion with artists David Ray and Jane Sawyer facilitated by Debbie Prior, Chief Executive Officer of The Australian Ceramics Association (TACA).

The artists will discuss their work, and the experience of participating in this national touring exhibition.

Free entry, bookings essential. Please scroll down to book ↓

This event is held in conjunction with SIXTY: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary 1962–2022, a special Australian Design Centre On Tour exhibition project presented in partnership with The Australian Ceramics Association.

Australian Design Centre is assisted by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments. Australian Design Centre is assisted by the New South Wales Government through Create NSW, and the Australian government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Click here to learn more about this exhibition on ADC’s website.

Twice ARIA-nominated pianist/composer Nat Bartsch is known for her deeply meditative, lyrical music. Her music deftly walks across a spectrum from neoclassical to jazz, incorporating a wide range of influences including Tord Gustavsen, Arvo Pärt, Debussy, Luke Howard, Nils Frahm, and Sufjan Stevens. She is most well-known for her neoclassical albums Hope, composed in response to the 2020 bushfires and pandemic lockdowns; and Forever, and No Time At All, an album of lullabies for adults to enjoy with their children.

This music is played across the world by people from all walks of life, often in deeply personal moments: literally from the birthing suite, to the final hours before death. In this special concert, Nat will perform works from both albums, as well as new pieces, in a concert designed to allow us to pause, reflect and immerse ourselves in Nat’s beautiful melodic pianism.

Ticket holders are invited to join us for drinks and complimentary nibbles in the Ararat Town Hall foyer bar from 7 PM. Seating for the performance will begin at 7.45 PM.

Please note: Drinks from the bar are allowed within the performance space, however food is not permitted. Please plan accordingly.

Tickets available via the Ararat Town Hall website →