Easter cheer for milestone year

THE surrounding greenery of the Robert Clark Horticultural Centre will house a colourful interior over the weekend with the return of a community art group’s regular exhibition.

Launching on Friday, members of the Ballarat Society of Artists are set to ring in their 40th annual Easter Art Show with 45 creatives displaying.

BSA president Trudy Nicholson said the event is their most important in their yearly calendar.

“It gives the artists a chance to showcase their abilities,” she said.

“Because we get so many people around Victoria and Australia, the exposure is just phenomenal. We get thousands through.

“Our sales are fantastic. We have a raffle and Lyn Cooke usually donates a painting, so this is a great fundraiser for us as well and gets us known in and around Ballarat.

“It shows we’re a real presence and a necessary part of the community. This is our most important event for the whole year and I think this might be the biggest exhibition we’ve had.”

Prizes for participants will include best in show and top three places as well as eight honourable mentions with this year’s judge being the Art Gallery of Ballarat’s collection manager Robyn Hovey.

All art will be on sale and proceeds will go towards BSA’s regular activities such as their Next Gen exhibition donations and Senior’s Week efforts.

Each exhibiting BSA member will display about three pieces.

The group’s business secretary Sue Clarke will be exhibiting lino prints, and has been taking part in the Easter show since 2015.

She said she enjoys the camaraderie the exhibition brings.

“It’s interacting with the community that come in and are encouraging art,” she said.

“We get some very interesting conversations and it’s great just talking to people in general and encouraging them to get involved in art.

“So many of our members have gone back to art later in life and it’s fascinating talking to other people who may have thought they couldn’t do this but they can.”

The Ballarat Society of Artist’s 40th Annual Easter Art Show will run each day from 10am to 4pm from Friday, 7 to Monday, 10 April.