The Arts Centre

As well as being Melbourne's home for the performing arts, the Arts Centre houses two significant collections: the Performing Arts Collection and the Art Collection.

Performing Arts

The Performing Arts Collection tells the story of Australia's performing arts history, traditions and personalities - from Dame Nellie Melba to Dame Edna Everage - through objects including costumes and accessories, musical instruments, personal and company archives, stage properties, puppets, set models, technical equipment, film, video, photographs, posters, programs, scrapbooks, sheet music and sound recordings.

Art

The Arts Centre's Art Collection celebrates performing arts through the work of some of Australia's most significant visual artists - exploring the ways in which artists are inspired by music, dance, theatre or opera and the creativity of performance.

Collecting began in 1972 and by the time the Arts Centre opened in 1984, the collection included paintings by Arthur Boyd, Roger Kemp, Sidney Nolan, John Olsen, Jeffrey Smart, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri along with sculptures by Inge King and Clement Meadmore.

Since then, the collection has continued to grow through an active acquisition program of donations, purchases and commissions. Recent acquisitions include works by contemporary artists Rick Amor, Jon Campbell, Robert Jacks, Noel McKenna, Clinton Nain, Deborah Paauwe and Judy Watson.