On the Local Arts Trail in April 2026
— with Alison Desmond —
It’s a good time to custom design your Easter bonnets for either of two, or both, cultural festivals over the long weekend, with fun activities for the whole family.
Bacchus Marsh Easter Festival will be at Maddingly Park from 9am to 4pm on Good Friday, April 3.
And Blackwood Woodchop and Easter Carnival will be at Blackwood Reserve from 10am to 6pm on Easter Saturday, April 4.
Also, there are school holiday art activities and lots happening in the galleries in April…
Ballan Library and Community Hub
BOLD - Art Without Apology is a special exhibition “uniting a diverse collective of international and Australian artists whose creative journeys transcend borders and expectations,” according to a Moorabool Council representative.
“Though their cultural backgrounds and visual mediums differ, they share a common creative stance, to make art that is instinctive, honest and bold without apology.”
Also at Ballan Library this month is an open invitation for all local artists and creatives to a networking and information-sharing session designed to strengthen creative community connections.
The session will showcase the work happening across the arts sector, highlighting nearby creative spaces and open conversations about current and future prospects and opportunities.
This session will be on from 3pm to 5pm on Saturday, 18 April.
Ballan Art Space
Lucy Irwin’s watercolour “blooms” carry an accessible mental health message.
Lucy experimented with acrylic and oil paint, pastel and charcoal before discovering a passion for working with watercolour paint.
“Something about the fluidity, motion and unpredictability of watercolour is so beautiful and can lead to unexpected forms,” she said.
Characterising blobs as cute figures in various scenes, her “joy in creation and expression” is clear.
Diverse group exhibition On the Land ends on Sunday, 5 April.
The next group show, titled Forgotten Currents, starts on Friday, 9 April and is sponsored by Zest Licensed Cafe.
Ballan Art Space, gift shop and outdoor sculpture garden is open from 10am to 3pm Friday to Sunday.
Flack Post & Telegraph Office, Ballan
Flack PTO is being temporarily inhabited by the alter egos of mosaic artist Suzanne Costello in the form of ornately-adorned mannequins.
Suzanne grew up in Ballan and in 2019 met the owner of her old address who gave her some broken pottery pieces excavated from the garden.
Covid lockdowns gave Suzanne “the gift of time” to experiment and hone her skills and she never looked back, creating stunning glass figures with floral motifs and birdlife including “fantasy birds.”
Flack PTO is open 11am to 2pm Friday and Sunday, and from 10am to 3pm on Saturdays
BMAC, Lerderderg Library, Bacchus Marsh
There are so many applications for the art of quilling and you can learn all about it at B-MAC’s April workshop.
Bring scissors, craft glue, toothpicks,a pencil, ruler and tweezers, coloured paper, magazines, quilling supplies, and tiny canvases and cardstock for supports.
The meeting will be at the James Young Room, Lerderderg Library, Bacchus Marsh from 1pm to 3pm on Tuesday, 21 April.
New members are welcome to attend. For more information email Jan at janstudio@bigpond.com.
School holiday workshops
Illustration Workshop with Marc McBride
Learn to draw and paint dragons and design your own fantasy creature, exploring colour, light and shadow, using simple shapes and big imagination. For ages 7+.
Lerderderg Library, Bacchus Marsh from 10am to 11.30am or 12.30pm to 2pm on Tuesday, April 14
Hands On Photography Workshop
Budding photographers join a hands-on youth workshop for an introduction to the fundamentals of nature and landscape photography.
Explore key techniques of composition, lighting, perspective and camera settings to capture strong outdoor images.
Studio 22, 182 Halletts Way, Darley from 11am to 3pm on Tuesday, 7 April.
Oak Grove Gallery, Ballan
Martin Cleal paints the local landscape in the tradition of the Australian Impressionists, with green ochre, shadowy masses and brilliantly reflective light.
He sketches onsite, taking notes about colour and perspective, then paints with acrylics in his restored 19th century Ballan News home studio, where he loves a yarn with visitors and locals alike.
Oak Grove Gallery is “open most days, depending on the mood.”
Gordon Bar Room Gallery
Local Gordon artists run a collective shop featuring beautiful ceramics, stunning prints, bold paintings, exquisite jewellery and handmade giftcards.
Public and Community Arts
Moorabool Shire has an amazing collection of public art, from markers of place in bush settings, to Ballan’s cosily yarn-bombed Inglis Street, to eye-catching paste-ups in the townships.
You can find out more about Moorabool’s public art pieces at the Moorbool Shire website
About On the Local Arts Trail
The Local Arts Trail column is released through our monthly eNewsletter and on this website at the start of each month.
If you have an arts-related exhibition or event you’d like to let us know about, you can use our Submit an Event form.
Keep in touch with the local arts scene by following us on Facebook and be sure to sign up for our monthly eNewsletter.