Buninyong garden art sparks creative curiosity

CHILDREN are invited to explore and illustrate the Buninyong Botanical Gardens to gain a greater understanding of nature.

Through the Winter Garden Art initiative, Friends of Buninyong Botanic Gardens are encouraging more kids in the community to grab some paper and media, stroll around the almost 160-year-old space, draw things they’re inspired by, and hang their art in the rotunda.

FBBG president, Roger Permezel said the project, running until Sunday, 19 July, is designed to educate children to be creatively curious about the environment and how natural elements like water, wind and sun have an impact on it.

“To kick it off, the kids at Buninyong Preschool had a big session of making up pieces of art, now hanging on the clothes lines in the rotunda,” he said.

“Children can come down to the gardens with their families, pick up a little slip of paper, they’ve got different media to draw with, go for a wander and draw a leaf, a bird, a frog… whatever they see there, come back and put it on display.

“We started on Sunday, 14 June and had 73 additional sketches within a week. It’s working a treat, giving the kids a good chance to get back to basics, and engage with the gardens in a different way.”

The Winter Garden Art display is the first event to be held in the Buninyong Botanic Gardens’ rotunda since recent refurbishments.

“It was built in 1901 predominantly as a memorial to Queen Victoria. After she died, it was the very first public monument to her in all of Victoria,” Mr Permezel said.

“Back in those days on weekends, the gardens were teaming with people in their finery having a picnic lunch, so the rotunda provided facilities for that.

“It hadn’t had treatment for many years, but it’s had a really good clean up. It has been totally repainted in the heritage colours and heritage signage has been restored.”