Arts space makes for creative hub

CAMP Street’s The Lost Ones Makers Studio remains a place for artists to sit and create, although it’s constantly developing.

Alex Bayley of Bay Leaf Handmade Goods remains in the space crafting sustainable and ethical clothing, alongside RG Silver Jewellery’s Rachel Grose, while Heaps Good Leather worker Benny Mitchell and fine artist Lily Mae Martin have moved out of the building.

Silversmith Rachel Grose crafts her unique jewellery pieces within the space, including necklaces and rings.

With the installation of partitions, the makers’ space now has its own separate but connected studios, which have been decorated with murals by artists Steph Cartledge and Ebony Gulliver.

Now filling these areas with vibrant colour, productivity, and performance, alongside Bayley and Grose, are visual artist and crocheter Pauline O’Shannessy-Dowling, contemporary textile artist Amanda Edwards, and acting coach Lisa Laine.

“We all rent these fabulous little nook areas and it’s become a real art hub,” Grose said.

Lisa Laine has set up her “ideas room” at The Lost Ones which includes a self-tape area for her performing arts students to film their acting.

“It’s a really wonderful opportunity to take your business to the next level. We have a dedicated work zone, can get quite professional, change the way we think about our practice, and allow it to become more sustainable.

“You get to collaborate, talk and vent with other artists, but it is a very self-motivated space as well, so you have to be dedicated.”

Laine said although each tenant is very different, The Lost Ones’ owner, Tara Poole, saw something similar in each of them that fit the space and its purpose; a desire to constantly grow, challenge, improve their practice, and share that with others.

Pauline O’Shannessy-Dowling of POD Design not only uses the space to illustrate, crochet, and sell her work, but sometimes brings in her art students for one-on-one workshops.

“The idea of having a space for your creative practice, and what that opens up for you in terms of ideas, impetus and options is endless,” Laine said.

“It feels like a creative hub and home for artists to do their thing, not only for themselves but for display. It’s also a tourist attraction.

“Having someone like Tara believe in what I’m doing has helped me build my business.”

Artist and ecologist Georgina Gould-Hardwick is currently exhibiting her work on the walls of the Makers’ Studio’s communal space, where soon its resident artists hope to host workshops, and welcome external creatives to facilitate some too.

Steph Cartledge was commissioned to design and paint a mural on two of the space’s new partition walls.

Although the artists have access to work in the space at any time, members of the public are invited to visit from Wednesday to Saturday between 11am and 4pm to see creative processes, finished works, or even do a bit of shopping.

“Since lockdown has finished in Ballarat, we’ve had people starting to wander through, going to the Gallery, the Biennale, and then coming to have a chat to us,” O’Shannessy-Dowling said.

“Having that proximity to other creative spaces is fantastic.”

Find The Lost Ones Makers’ Studio at 14 Camp Street, Ballarat Central. Visit facebook.com/thelostonesgallery for more information.