Marking the trail for art event’s revival

THE first weekend of May will see the Golden Plains region transformed into a visual arts haven with dozens of exhibitions taking place at the same time.

Sixty-five artists will display their work at 20 venues throughout the Saturday and Sunday as part of GP Arts’ first Arts Trail in four years.

With the 2020 iteration cancelled days before the event, the group’s president Barry Wemyss said their return will be a boost for Golden Plains Shire-based creatives.

“It brings the artists to the community and the community to the artists,” he said.

“It puts Golden Plains and its artists on the map. Each artist is able to present themselves and they have the benefit of that and the discussions with other artists.

“It gives them the courage to put themselves out there because they’re part of a group, they’re not standing alone.”

As well as other participating artists’ personal studios, art will be on display at public sites like the Smythesdale Masonic Hall, Dereel Soldiers Memorial Hall and Bannockburn Bowling Club.

The Arts Trail’s return has been bolstered via a Berrybank Wind Farm community grant of $25,000 to also be rolled into the next two years of events.

Initially organised by Golden Plains Shire staff for its first 10 years, the Arts Trail was first taken over by GP Arts members in 2019.

Kate Wise will be displaying acrylic paintings from her recent Treasures series out of her Haddon studio.

She’s been participating in the Arts Trail since 2014, and said it gave her the confidence to pursue art full-time, and she’s excited for attendees to get a peek behind her creative process.

“They’ll be able to see my process, and I’ll be painting over the weekend as well,” she said.

“For those artists who don’t have a home setup it’s a great opportunity to exhibit locally and get to know others.

“Before I got my home studio I was in the Courthouse Hotel with a bunch of other artists. That’s how I started, and it probably gave me the confidence to set up my home studio.

“Even though I think it’s a mess, it really gives people an insight into how I work, my collections, the things that inspire me and why I paint the things I do.”

A directory for the event’s two north and south circuits is available at the GP Arts website detailing the artists involved as well as their styles and where they’ll be.

The Arts Trail is set to run from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, 6 and Sunday, 7 May.