By JESSE GRAHAM
HUNDREDS of visitors flocked to TarraWarra Museum of Art (TWMA) last weekend for celebrations and activities to cap off a decade in the community.
TWMA’s Free Public Open Weekend was held on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 December to celebrate the museum’s 10th anniversary of opening.
The museum opened its doors for the first time on 3 December 2003 and the open weekend featured a number of activities for visitors to revel in.
Kids big and small lined up to take part in a cricket clinic, run by Healesville Cricket Club, while others sat enthralled as Jason Bell from Healesville Sanctuary visited with wedge-tailed eagle, Jess.
Pop-up art talks were held in the museum, telling the stories of selected works by landscape artist Russell Drysdale whose works currently adorn the walls of TWMA.
Yarra Glen Men’s Shed members ran a barbecue, selling burgers, sausages and drinks to eager visitors.
There was a deeper connection behind some of the events, with the cricket clinic celebrating Drysdale’s famous work The Cricketers, and the wedge-tailed eagle visit marking new collaboration between TWMA and the Healesville Sanctuary.
The museum’s current exhibition, Future Memorials, acknowledges the area’s local Indigenous heritage with the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station, where Healesville Sanctuary currently sits.
TWMA director Victoria Lynn said that about 600 people had attended on the Saturday and that a new documentary about TWMA will be launched in the near future.
For more information on current or upcoming exhibitions, visit www.twma.com.au.
