art talk calendar

2025

Join these fascinating talks based on current exhibitions followed by morning tea. 

Art talks are held on a Wednesday from 10.30am to 12 noon at Central Goldfields Art Gallery, 1 Neill Street, Maryborough, Vic.

Costs: $5.00 and free to U3A Maryborough Members and Gallery Volunteers, cost includes morning tea.

To book please call the Gallery on 03 5461 6600 or email cgsc.art@cgoldshire.vic.gov.au
For more information visit: centralgoldfieldsartgallery.com.au

7 May: Ghosts of the Goldfields

Guest speaker – Dr. David Waldron

Dr. David Waldron is a Senior Lecturer in History at Federation University Australia, specialising in folklore and community heritage. He is a distinguished author, researcher and podcaster. 

In this talk, Dr David Waldron will discuss his research into ghost beliefs and stories of the 19th-century goldrush in colonial Victoria, Australia. He will draw on his research into ghost stories as a cultural response to traumatic histories entwined with popular culture in Ballarat, the Ararat Lunatic Asylum and other locations in Western Victoria as well the fad of ‘playing the ghost’ or ghost hoaxing.

23 July: Geological Inspirations

Guest speaker – Alex Stoneman, OAM

Alex Stoneman, has a distinguished career with the Victorian Education Department and is a long-term and much respected tutor with Maryborough U3A. 

Accompanied by visual examples of art works, Alex Stoneman’s focus is on representations of Australian landscape paintings by John Glover, Eugene Von Guerard, William Tibbits, Arthur Streeton, Russell Drysdale and Fred Williams. Reference is made to the critical works of Bernard Smith, John Berger, Patrick McCaughey and Wally Canuana. The talk raises questions about hidden ideologies in visual images. 

20 August: Golden Textures Contemporary Art Award 2025

Panel Speakers – Amanda Jean and Helen Kaptein 

Maryborough has a rich textile history and the Golden Textures Contemporary Art Quilt Award continues this tradition. Join a panel discussion that explores the textile history of the region alongside insights into the contemporary art quilts on display. Panelists include Amanda Jean, licensed architect who specialises in cultural heritage and building conservation, focusing on the central goldfields of Victoria and Helen Kaptein, Art Gallery Coordinator, Central Goldfields Art Gallery.

12 November: Women of the Goldfields

Guest speaker – Dr Katrina Place Dernelley

Dr Katrina Dernelley is an Adjunct Research Fellow at La Trobe University. Her research examines gender, home and colonisation on the central Victorian goldfields. Katrina is the Senior Historian and Heritage Specialist at RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants and has just opened an office in Castlemaine.