Regional Art Galleries

Visiting one of Victoria's regional art galleries makes for a memorable day out. The galleries in the gold rush cities of Ballarat and Bendigo have impressive collections of 19th century Australian and European art. Other galleries have unique specialist collections, such as textiles in Ararat, ceramics in Shepparton and photography in Horsham.

The vast majority of Victorian galleries are free and are open most days, however we recommend you check with the gallery websites for exact entry information. The alphabetical list below links directly to the gallery websites so you can easily find what's on, opening times and conditions of entry.

• Ararat Art Gallery holds one of only two major contemporary fibre and textile collections housed in an imposing late-Victorian town hall building.
• Arts Space Wodonga features local, regional and imported cultural works, with an emphasis on art from North East Victorian artists, in a contemporary arts venue.
• Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was established in 1884 and was the first regional gallery in Victoria. The large collection includes drawings dating from Captain Cook's voyage and the original Eureka flag.
• Benalla Art Gallery collection includes Australian paintings relevant to its bushranger country location as well as outstanding Indigenous works. The contemporary collection includes Juan Davila and Howard Arkley's installation Blue chip instant decorator; a room 1991-92.
• Bendigo Art Gallery established in 1887, is one of the largest and oldest regional galleries in Australia. The Gallery has an emphasis on 19th century Australian and European art from 1800's onwards, and an important collection of contemporary Australian art including works by Patricia Piccinini, Tracey Moffatt, Rosalie Gascoigne, Tim Maguire, Dale Frank and Bill Henson. Take a video tour of the Bendigo Art Gallery.
• Castlemaine Art Gallery is housed in an elegant art deco building designed in 1931. Its collection specialises in Australian art by artists such as Arthur Streeton, Rupert Bunny, John Brack and Jeffery Smart. it also has a contemporary photographic and ceramic collection.
• East Gippsland Art Gallery in Bairnsdale is a dynamic community gallery with a vibrant program of exhibitions by local artists, workships and events.
• Geelong Gallery has a collection of over 4,000 works of colonial watercolours, prints and paintings dating from 1840 depicting the township of Geelong and its rural hinterland.
• Gippsland Art Gallery in Sale, focuses on works produced in or relating to Gippsland landscapes and environment. The Gallery is also custodian of the Victoria State Craft Wood Collection and works from the Construction and Building Industry Superannuation (CBUS) Collection.
• Hamilton Art Gallery 's collection comprises fine and decorative arts including silver, porcelain and glass from the 1700s onwards. You can also view oriental ceramics, eighteenth and nineteenth centure English watercolours, European and Australian prints, Australian oil paintings and watercolours.
• Horsham Regional Art Gallery's permanent collection of Australian art and photography is housed in an elegant 1930s Art Deco building which also includes four temporary exhibition spaces featuring changing exhibitions of contemporary and traditional art and photography.
• Labtrobe Regional Gallery in Morwell features eight exhibition spaces and a sculpture courtyard. The collection features Australian contemporary art, glass and works relating to the Gippsland region.
• Mildura Art Gallery's major attractions are its holdings of Australian sculpture, the Elliot Collection of oil paintings and works on paper by Sir Frank Brangwyn and Sir William Orpen RA. You can also enjoy a sculpture tour and local art and craft.
• Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery has an outstanding collection of Australian prints and drawings, including works by Arthur Boyd, Russell Drysdale and Albert Tucker.
• Shepparton Art Gallery houses over 3,000 Australian ceramic works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The gallery also owns a fine collection of paintings by artists such as John Perceval, Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton and Margaret Preston.
• Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery is located on the banks of the Murray River. The collection features Australian naiive works by artists such as Pro Hart. The Gallery also has twentieth century prints, drawings, works on paper and post-1960s paintings.
• Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery's heritage building houses its collection of textile art, wood, and significant works of art from, and about the north east of Victoria.
• Warrnambool Art Gallery's collection covers European Salon painting and avant garde modernism of the 1940s including Albert Tucker, Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan and Charles Blackman. There is also a collection of images of the shipwreck coast region and its heritage.