On the Local Arts Trail in March 2026
— with Alison Desmond —
Every March brings a splash of creative colour to Moorabool via the Ballan Autumn Festival. My favourite part of the festival is the grand street parade, a spectacle of colour, movement and music, with the aromas from of various food trucks mingling in the air, smiling kids with painted faces…
Inglis Street will be closed to traffic for the festival from 9am to 4pm on Sunday 15 March, with the parade starting from 10.30am, all the galleries open, and lots more, with music, entertainment and activities for the whole family.
Flack Post & Telegraph Office
Flack PTO will host solo show Aerial Farmscapes by established painter Graham Hearn who eloquently captures lyrical Australian landscapes from the air.
Hearn takes commissions to paint your farm to hang in the farmhouse, and conducts painting workshops to suit groups of 10 or more.
Aerial Farmscapes opens from noon on Saturday 14 March and runs until 5 April.
Flack PTO also has a giftshop full of treasures and photography studio spaces to hire.
Flack PTO is open 11am to 2pm Friday and Sunday, and from 10am to 3pm on Saturdays
Ballan Art Space
Archer Blanket, an emblem crochet by Miranda Williamson, hangs mightily from the wall, a moose, I think from the antlers, in silhouette form with a decorative gingham pattern interwoven as image and support, subject and form, knit together.
Current exhibition, Woven, a celebration of weaving in the arts and crafts, finishes up at Ballan Art Space this week.
For the next exhition artists will present diverse interpretations in all mediums on the theme On the Land opening at Ballan Art Space from Thursday, 5 March.
Ballan Art Space also has a magical sculpture garden so take the opportunity to take some selfies on festival day!
Oak Grove Gallery, Ballan
Martin Cleal paints the local landscapes in the tradition of the Australian Impressionists, with green ochre, shadowy masses and brilliantly reflective light.
He sketches onsite and takes notes about colours then paints in his 19th century restored Ballan News home studio, where he loves a yarn with visitors and locals alike.
Oak Grove Gallery is open 10am, “most days, depending on the mood.”
BMAC, Lerderderg Library, Bacchus Marsh
B-MAC Gallery is a Bacchus Marsh-based artists’ collective, who - despite the name - don’t have a permanent gallery but exhibit regularly in Bacchus Marsh’s Lerderderg Library and other local spaces.
Proving simplicity is classic and timeless, I found this gem by Janice Webster in Lerderderg Library (you never know what you’ll find, and our Bacchus Marsh artists are strong).
A nude carved model at her toilette, surrounded by lush green foliage that gives her a sense of modesty and protection.
Gordon Bar Room Gallery
This modest little shop is packed full of arts and crafts all made by Gordon artists; a treasure trove of collectables at affordable prices.
There are ceramics, painting, printmaking, sculpture, jewellery, giftcards and more, so if you’re going to the farm-gate or to Gordon’s on Gordon for brunch, then pop-in and bag a bargain.
MAPP Up in Lights - Village Green, Bacchus Marsh, and AA McLean Reserve, Ballan
The Moorabool Art Pathway Program (MAPP) has two outdoor galleries in Moorabool, one at McLean Reserve Ballan and the other at Bacchus Marsh Village Green.
Caring for our Patch, a collection of beautifully pigmented watercolours and animation, by Blackwood artist Kathy Holowko, occupies both MAPP galleries until the end of March.
The collection aims to draw attention to the problem of weeds travelling downstream, representing Blackwood and Barry’s Reef Landcare Group and supported by Melbourne Water.
MAPP up in lights can be viewed at Village Green, Bacchus Marsh and AA McClean Reserve, Ballan.
Community Grants Round Open
Applications for Moorabool Shire Council’s Community Grants Program are open until 31 March.
There are dedicated Community Arts and Culture Grants available for “projects, events and initiatives that strengthen and enrich the local creative landscape,” of up to $3000.
Information sessions will be run at Lerderderg Library, Bacchus Marsh, from 3pm to 6pm on Monday, 3 March, at Ballan Library from 3pm to 6pm on Tuesday, 3 March, and at Gordon Public Hall from 3pm to 6pm on Thursday, 5 March.
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.
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