By Dongyun Kwon
YAVA Gallery and Arts Hub Healesville is calling for locals to volunteer.
Many volunteer roles are open to anyone who loves art, likes talking to people or is willing to share their expertise.
YAVA gallery manager Vanessa Flynn said YAVA wouldn’t exist without its volunteers.
“There are lots of different opportunities,” she said.
“We’ve got a whole curatorial panel and we’ve got people who assist with workshops, we’ve got a volunteer coordinator and there’s also our board.”
Susanne Richards has volunteered for YAVA since October 2019 and has done several different roles.
“The first role was basically to welcome people into the gallery and answer any questions that they may have,” she said.
“[Additionally] because I’m a lecturer in computer graphics at RMIT, I absorbed as much computer work as I can to help with photography work.”
Susanne said YAVA is like a melting pot where she could meet many people unexpectedly.
“I met people who I hadn’t seen for many years,” she said.
“All of a sudden, I met people that I taught with at Upper Yarra High School 30 years ago.
“Or some people might come in one day and they’ll come back a couple of weeks later with some more people.”
Mary Anderson is a retired teacher and joined the volunteer team in September 2023.
“I was a teacher for over 30 years and one of my subjects, when I first started teaching, was art, and I left it to become a full-time artist,” she said.
“I relocated from Melbourne to Healesville, and YAVA is one of the reasons I like Healesville.
“I love the way it is run with accepting volunteers to come on board with whatever role they can play.”
Mary said while she has been giving her volunteer effort to YAVA, she has gotten many things back from it.
“The sense of belonging is important to me,” she said.
“From a teaching background, I used to be part of a team and I wanted to be part of a team again but I didn’t want to be back in the classroom.
“To me, it’s [volunteering at YAVA] is like feeling part of a team.”
“Another reason I volunteer here as a gallery guide is to get the chance to interact with the artists and to learn about their processes.”
Mary is about to start learning the exhibition installation process and will join the exhibition installation team.
Gallery guides volunteer on a three-hour shift either in the morning (10am-1pm) or afternoon (1pm-4pm).
“If you’re going to be a gallery guide to come to the opening of the exhibitions, you would get to talk to the exhibiting artists, learn about their work, what’s driven them, what’s their passion behind their work,” Mary said.
“If you can communicate that passion to people coming in, then they would get a better understanding and feeling.”
Support staff are on the site all the time to help volunteers out.
Anyone wishing to be a part of YAVA’s volunteer team is welcome to contact YAVA at (03) 5906 1149.
