Tarrawarra Museum of Art

TarraWarra Museum of Art is described as a ‘privately funded, public art museum’.

The TWMA collection was formed by Eva and Marc Besen who donated artworks from their own private collection to the Australian public. When TWMA opened in the Yarra Valley in December 2003, Mr and Mrs Besen had donated a total of 142 artworks to form the beginnings of the collection.

The TWMA collection is comprised of Australian works of art primarily from the early 1950s to the present day, the same period during which the Besens have collected art. The collection highlights artists whose work has come to prominence from the 1950s onwards: artists who have shaped the development of modern art in Australia since the precursors of the 1930s and 1940s. While containing examples of internationally informed art, the TarraWarra Museum of Art collection demonstrates a coherent and uniquely Australian character, strongly founded in this nation’s interior and exterior world.

The TWMA consistently hosts public events, aiming to expose the wider population to its fabulous collection and to the art world as a whole. Their next upcoming event, the TWMA Open Weekend, is detailed here. Also worth noting are the museum’s Summer Season (where the museum will be open 7 days a week from Boxing Day until Australia Day) and the TarraWarra Festival, featuring 3 separate classical concerts performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, occurring from the 26 to the 27 of February 2017.

Also offered by the museum are public memberships, enabling you to participate in an impressive range of educational, cultural and social activities which you can choose to engage with on a variety of different levels. Your experience will be enhanced by an ongoing relationship with one of Australia’s most significant privately funded public museums.

Museum Membership offers a range of benefits, including unlimited free entry to all exhibitions. Different levels of membership are available to suit your interests and needs. Visit the museum’s website for pricing details.

TWMA’s frequent temporary exhibitions offer a valuable opportunity to experience some fantastic and culturally significant works of art.

Currently, the museum is showing the work of Australian sculptor Bronwyn Oliver (1959 – 2006). This first comprehensive survey of 50 key works, from the mid-1980s to the final solo exhibition in 2006, includes early works made in paper, major sculptures from public collections, and maquettes for many of her much-loved public sculptures. ‘The Sculpture of Bronwyn Oliver’ exhibition will last until the 5 February 2017.

The museum’s next exhibition will showcase the work of Australian painter Louise Hearman, forming her first major museum survey and featuring paintings and drawings across her 30-year practice. The Melbourne-based artist is best known for her dark dream-like paintings where things may, or may not be, as they seem. It is up to us to imagine what is glimmering in the half-light or lurking deep in the shadows, as the artist offers no written clues to the evocative contents of her works, which are always left untitled. This exhibition will be shown from the 18 February to the 14 May 2017.

TWMA

SUMMER ADMISSION PRICES

Adults: $12
Seniors: $10
Pensioners/students: $8
Children (12 and under): free

OPENING HOURS

Monday: closed

Tuesday – Sunday: open 11am – 5pm

Open during all public holidays except Christmas Day.

Please note: during the museum’s ‘Summer Season’ (26 December 2016 – 26 Jan 2017), the TWMA will be open 7 days a week, between the hours detailed above.