Artists re-emerge for exclusive exhibition

A DEDICATED group of artists from the Friends of Bendigo Botanic Gardens group will hold their first exhibition in several years at the Old Court House in Sailors Gully Road, Eaglehawk this weekend.

Aptly named Re-emergence, it will feature 56 framed artworks (and more unframed) from 12 artists, most of which will be available for purchase.

An historic gem from Bendigo’s heyday, land alongside the Bendigo Creek in White Hills was officially set apart for the gardens’ instalment in 1857.

Many plants for the 15-acre area were supplied by Ferdinand von Mueller – at the time the Melbourne Botanic Gardens director – some of which survive today.

Long-time Bendigo residents may recall that over the years it’s held a menagerie of animals including kangaroos, emus, wallabies, peacocks and even two monkeys in its early days.

The Friends of Bendigo Botanic Gardens, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, was established by a local cohort concerned about the site falling into disrepair.

Friends’ president and exhibition participant Pam Sheean took on her own artistic practice from scratch in 2009, and with the help of various mentors from within the group has put together a fine portfolio since then.

She said this weekend’s exhibition is all about re-emerging after the pandemic.

“COVID hit the group fairly hard,” she said. “It meant a lot of people didn’t have contact and didn’t do any painting for a long (period).

“It’s the sort of thing where you need to be doing it all the time and it takes a little while to get back into (it).

“It’s only probably last year and coming into this year that we’ve got a group working again and a group that are really keen to exhibit.

“For five of them, it’s their first time, so it’s really exciting.

“All the works exhibited are new – no one’s seen them before and most have only been painted in the last two years.”

The Re-emergence Art Exhibition takes place this weekend at the Old Court House in Eaglehawk.

Doors are open from 10am to 5pm and entry is free.