By KATRINA BRANDON
FOR 49 years, the Traralgon and District Art Society has been together and creating art – but it is suddenly homeless.
The society’s previous home was in the Old Station Building in Traralgon, which it has recently moved out due to railway upgrades.
“The upgrade to the railway lines has moved us out of the building because they needed it. We were first moved to Dunbar Avenue, and they then needed us out of there, so they moved us here (2 Smith Street, Traralgon),” the Traralgon Art Society Secretary, Jodie Tindall, said.
“Between being bumped around and not having a permanent space, it is only a small space in here and having that certainty where we have lost a lot of people.”
Committee member Helena Barbara said before COVID, “we had close to 100 members”.
“They had many things going through the art group, so it wasn’t just freelancing. With COVID, that all stopped, and regrouping has been hard,” she said.
The art society still has quite a few members and is always accepting more, but the members have found that they don’t have enough space and that those who are already members don’t always come in.
“The club is very open to when you can come in, with the option of not having to be there but offering a text to other members that you are running late or can’t come in,” Ms Tindall said.
Ms Barbara said the society was still welcoming members. “We are hoping for a place to house people, which makes it difficult. People can still come along and join. We are still here. You can still contact us to join,” she said.
“You can come along and have tutored classes on Monday from Andrea – anywhere from complete beginners to people who haven’t done it for a while but still have that creative spirit. You don’t have to be here every week. It’s free form. Just text someone as a courtesy.
Over the years, according to Ms Barbara, there has been much support for the group via the council and (local Upper House MP) Harriet Shing. The group hopes to return to the old station, where they kept many years of history, as they are looking for another temporary space.
“The group has been going for 49 years. They have had fantastic archives housed at the railway building, but when we had to move, a lot of it was disbursed; some people kept them in their garages, and a lot was just binned. We don’t even know what we have left,” Ms Barbara said.
“We were told we would be out of here in December, and then they said we could stay until the end of the holidays. It has been unclear when we could run classes and what classes we can run,” said Ms Tindall.
“We will get it back, but it is a matter of when. There is still work that needs to be done to the building. Where are we going to be? Because we need to be out of here because they are refurbishing this building. We don’t know where we will have space when work will start on this building.”
Now, the main focus is the current members and, of course, creating new art.
Traralgon Art Society member and Mind Australia worker, Debbie Gregory, recently started with the club. She was introduced to it by a recent client. She said that art had been such a massive thing for mental health, allowing her client to achieve mindfulness and achieving goals.
“I work for Mind Australia, and I work with clients who have mental illnesses, such as anxiety and depression. My client was very isolated before I worked with her. In the past, she was part of the old railway art group. When you first meet a client, you need just one connection to the person to know their interest,” Ms Gregory said.
“She enjoys art. I could see the sparkle in her eyes. It was just beautiful… It took me about a month to ask and encourage her to return to the art group. Now she is up, ready and ready to go.”
Traralgon Art Society is open Monday mornings from 10am to 12pm, Wednesday nights from 4pm to 8pm and Thursday from 10am to 2pm.
You can do as much or as little as you want. It’s a no-pressure environment where those around try to help in any way they can. They also offer opportunities for improvement and to show off, such as an exhibit in May at the Performing Arts Space, organised by their president, Gilio Barbara.
On December 5, the society’s president, Andrea Ramsay, who had been there for 18 years, handed the reins to Mr Barbara, who stepped down to vice president, and Jodie Tindall became the new secretary.
For more information on Traralgon and District Art Society, go to gippsland.com/web/traralgon-district-art-society-art-painting-classes/ or follow their Facebook page at Traralgon and District Art Society.
