Rare Trades Centre marks three years with open day

UNCOVER rare and forgotten craft practices and celebrate three years of making and learning at an upcoming open day.

The Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades (CRAFT) will be opening its doors on Saturday 15 November to allow the public to see live workshops, meet members of the centre’s team, and see what will be on offer within the 2026 program.

“On the open day, people will be able to come in and see in the facility that used to be the Gold Museum, what we are doing here, and to see how we have transformed the space to a world-class making and learning space,” Deborah Klein, manager of CRAFT said.

“We’ll have active workshops here, so they’ll be able to see some of those workshops in action and the participants and teachers

“We will have staff and volunteers here to talk to people and answer their questions about the facility.”

A back of house tour will also be available for $20 per person.

It has been three years since the centre first opened its doors, and since then, it has expanded to offering 150 workshops by more than 40 artisans to nearly 1000 participants.

“The fact over the past three years we’ve been able to establish this facility I think is a highpoint in itself,” Ms Klein said.

“We’ve really grown considerably just in the three years we’ve been here.

“We are increasingly offering opportunities for participants and artisans who work in workshops to access the collection, so items of the goldrush collection that relate to their practice.”

In 2026 Ms Klein said she expects to run more than 120 workshops working with 40 to 50 artisans.

The open day will run from 11am until 4pm. For more information visit raretradescentre.com.au.