Local women in art

Thank you for your votes

Voting closed 8 December 2024.

Thank you for your votes to support our proposal in the Victorian Women’s Public Art Program.

The proposal set out our commitment to commemorate seven trailblazing local women (the first women of Castlemaine Art Museum) in a new public artwork. We were unsuccessful in gaining funding, however we remain committed to telling this important local story in a public art project.

Next steps

We will be calling for artists to submit Expressions of Interest in coming weeks. Click the '+follow' button in the banner above to register for project updates direct to your email inbox.

The first women of Castlemaine Art Museum

Image of Elsie Barlow at her solo show at the Castlemaine Mechanics Institute Library in 1912. Image credit: Adolphus Verey care of the Adolphus Vere.

The Victorian Women's Public Art Program will fund six new public artworks across the state.

The Program aims to address the under-representation of women and their achievements through public artworks in Victoria.

The Program will commission six new public artworks inspired by the contributions, achievements and stories of Victorian women.

The origin story of CAM is one of defiance and solidarity - women collectively founded a significant Victorian cultural institution, only to be ignored, and credit for their achievements handed to male politicians and wealthy businessmen.

As the first office bearers of the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum (now known as the Castlemaine Art Museum) in 1913, Mary Leviny, Lilian Sheridan, Alice Waterhouse, Winifred Brotherton, Elsie Barlow, Mary Brough Woolley and Mrs. Cox, alongside Alice’s husband as President, made a significant artistic contribution to their community.

They had already demonstrated a commitment to sharing art within their local community. As members of the Castlemaine Progress Association, Winifred, Alice, Mary Leviny and Mary Brough Woolley were instrumental in organising the exhibition “Castlemaine Past and Present” in 1910. This exhibition aimed to build community pride and asked viewers to consider the area’s future. In 1912, artist Elsie Barlow moved to Castlemaine with her young family and staged the first female solo exhibition in the town.

Their individual achievements also included sitting on the board of Castlemaine Woollen Mills, owning one of Australia’s first specialist schools for children with disability, contributing to Von Mueller’s catalogue of indigenous Victorian plants, creating Kaweka Wildflower Sanctuary, serving as a Red Cross volunteer in London in World War I and preserving the heritage of key buildings in Castlemaine.

Their work highlighted the importance of collecting contemporary Australian art and women artists' representation.

The first women of Castlemaine Art Museum stood in solidarity for better representation of women in art.

The group was also instrumental in establishing the town’s first art institute, the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum (now known as the Castlemaine Art Museum).

If we are successful in gaining funding to tell this story, Council will commission an installation in a prominent public space to make sure this story is made visible forever in our local landscape.

The commission will provide opportunities for local women artists, fabricators and suppliers to participate.

This project will create a contemporary celebration of a previously invisible story of the founding women of Castlemaine Art Museum, directly addressing the underrepresentation of women in the heritage stories of an important local cultural institution.

While Castlemaine is now considered to be a regional arts hub, the centrality of women to the development of the arts in the area, is largely unknown.

Mount Alexander Shire Council submitted the story of the first women of Castlemaine Art Museum for consideration in the Victorian Women's Public Art Program.

The story was recently shortlisted in the final 13 entries.

If successful, Council will work closely with Castlemaine Art Museum, Buda Historic Home and Garden, and our local arts community, to commission the artwork.

Shape Mount Alexander

Let's celebrate local women in art

Thank you for your votes

Next steps

The first women of Castlemaine Art Museum

Let's celebrate local women in art

Thank you for your votes

Next steps

The first women of Castlemaine Art Museum

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