News Alert |

In the wake of Ballarat being identified as a UNESCO Creative City for Craft and Folk Art, artists, makers and creatives are now being asked to take part in the city’s largest open studio program in April 2020.  

The Ballarat Open Studios: Art of Making, a program of exhibitions, workshops, talks and art studio trail, will take place from 3-13 April 2020 – over the school and Easter holiday period.

Working in alliance with Craft Victoria, Ballarat & District Aboriginal Co-operative (BADAC), the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Fibre Arts Australia and Sovereign Hill, visitors and locals will have the chance to explore trades, arts and crafts in operation. We will be going behind the scenes of our creative city, with opportunities to meet the makers and learn new creative skills.   

Visitors will discover the workshops, homes, studios, gardens, warehouses and unused spaces where artists make their work. The program celebrates from the master right through to the trainee – providing experiences in learning a new skill or perfecting an old one.

 “As a UNESCO Creative City of Craft and Folk Art, the Ballarat Open Studios program will help reinvigorate and recapture the craft of indigenous communities,” City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Ben Taylor said.

“It will celebrate, protect and reinterpret rare and forgotten crafts, and help to grow new trades and sectors.”

Applications are now open for practitioners to register to open their own studios, participate in providing workshops, submit works for exhibition or put themselves forward as teachers and masterclass providers. Artists, creatives and makers, regardless of medium, can apply by filling out the application form on the Creative Ballarat website. Applications close on 2 February 2020.

Craft Victoria and the City of Ballarat will be co-presenting a professional development workshop on 21 February to help all participants prepare for the Ballarat Open Studios program.

For more information, go to creativeballarat.com.au