By Mikayla van Loon
The Mount Evelyn and Yarra Valley Arts Society (MEYVAS) has just opened its mid-year exhibition called Retrospective at the Warburton Waterwheel Art Gallery.
Displaying a range of artworks from the society’s members, president Bev Hardidge said it has quite the variety.
“There’s 15 artists and it’s a big variety because you can imagine that with 15 people there’s lots of different styles and types of art. So it’s a pretty decent exhibition and we’re pretty proud of it,” she said.
The gallery space took a full day to transform and curate given the large range of works, which include paintings of various sizes, sculptures, jewellery, ceramics, cards and unframed works.
“Thankfully, the gallery is such a lovely big gallery now and we expected we would get quite a few works submitted, but I guess we didn’t quite expect as many [as we got],” Ms Hardidge said.
“In the last couple of years we discovered the Waterwheel and we found that to be very convenient and good.”
Ms Hardidge said the exhibition is a combination of both old and new works produced by members, many of which have been influenced by the local environment or classes MEYVAS has undertaken.
The Society has been giving artistic people an opportunity to explore their craft, while socialising, for many years now.
“Nearly everyone is an artist of some description, whether they’re just beginners or more advanced, or really advanced,” Ms Hardidge said
“We’ve got a variety of abilities, I suppose you could say but usually, the reason why they’re joining is because they’re already arty and interested in that sort of thing.”
Retrospective will be the last formal exhibition as a society, with members looking to explore new pathways, away from the formalities of an incorporated group.
Ms Hardidge said, however, MEYVAS will still be a place for creatives to get together and paint or craft on days out in the Valley.
In the meantime, she hopes people come to enjoy the beautiful and outstanding work of some of the Yarra Valley’s lesser known but esteemed artists in their own right.
“We’ve got such a variety of artwork there. Anyone who loves art would find something that they like there. There’s something for everyone really, whether you like modern art or more traditional.”
The exhibition will be on display until 12 June.
