Central Goldfields Art Gallery is located in the heart of Central Victoria – in Maryborough, Victoria.

Central Goldfields Shire Council acknowledges and extends appreciation for the Dja Dja Wurrung People, the Traditional Owners of the land that we are on.

We pay our respects to leaders and Elders past, present and emerging for they hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and the hopes of all Dja Dja Wurrung People.

We express our gratitude in the sharing of this land, our sorrow for the personal, spiritual and cultural costs of that sharing and our hope that we may walk forward together in harmony and in the spirit of healing. 

Central Goldfields Art Gallery is owned and managed by the Central Goldfields Shire Council. It is situated in an historic fire station built in 1861 within the civic precinct around McLandress Square, Maryborough. 

In 1907 an addition to the fire station was added. In 1887 a new fire tower was built after the Maryborough Town Hall was constructed in 1887 which muffled the sound of the original bell on the original, lower fire tower. 

The Maryborough Country Fire Authority handed back the old fire station to what was then called Maryborough City Council in 1982 when it moved to its current location on Napier Street (Pyrenees Hwy), Maryborough. 

In 1996, Central Goldfields Art Gallery was officially opened in the Old Fire Station and has operated out of this historic building ever since. The Gallery is a public gallery complying with the International Council of Museums Code of Ethics and as such cares for a public collection, presents exhibitions and provides visual arts education programs for diverse local and broader communities.

In May 2020, Central Goldfields Shire Council received $500,000 for Stage 1 of a redevelopment project as part of the Victorian Government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund complementing Council’s contribution of $273,000 in the 20/21 Budget.

In 2021, the Shire secured $1.2 million in additional funding from the State Government for phases 2 and 3 of the Central Goldfields Art Gallery’s revitalisation project as part of the Victorian Government’s Regional Tourism Investment Fund. 

Reopening in 2023, the refurbished and extended Gallery, includes opening the original fire doors at the front of the Gallery, increasing Gallery exhibition spaces and the installation of improved environmental and climate controls.

Also included are remodelled internal Gallery spaces, improved storage facilities for the Shire’s art collection, an open contemporary reception and improved accessibility and visitor services amenities. External landscaping including the installation of an Indigenous Interpretive Garden will round out the project in 2024.