“The dappled tracks that meander from Max Meldrum’s Heidelberg, through Justus Jörgensen’s Eltham to Clifton Pugh’s Cottlesbridge are strewn with the corpses of unfulfilled females.
There is a structural need for female actresses, ballerinas and opera singers, but not for female potters, painters and sculptors. Woman’s place in the visual arts has mostly been that of bedmate and servant to the male creator.”
—Kristen Green, ‘The Survivors’, POL, July 1974
Half a century on, there’s a new story to be told.
Nillumbik (meaning bad land or shallow earth) is home to a unique creative ecosystem, shaped by generations of artists sharing, collaborating, and building together. At the heart of this creative activity are four hubs: Montsalvat, Dunmoochin, Baldessin Studio and Garambi Baanj/Laughing Waters. For decades, these places have provided rare environments for artistic exploration, drawing artists into the region, many of whom have stayed to establish their practice—creating a vibrant ecology unparalleled in Australia.
Discover the secluded creative hubs of Nillumbik rarely open to the public; the Gordon Ford-built homes near ancient eel traps in the Birrarung, the bush studios and gallery where Clifton Pugh, John Olsen and Helen Laycock lived and worked, and the bluestone home of printmaking in the St Andrews bush built by George Baldessin and Tess Edwards.
WOMEN of the BADLANDS exhibition
Barn Gallery, Montsalvat, 7 Hillcrest Ave. Eltham
Thursday 5th February 2026 — Sunday 1 March 2026
OPENING NIGHT
Friday 6 February 6pm: Includes Artist Talk from the Women of Montsalvat project: Amanda Grant, Cath Rutten, Sarah Hammond
IN CONVERSATION EVENTS
Friday 13 February 6pm: In Conversation with Judy Laycock, Laura Russo and Fiona Madigan from Dunmoochin
Friday 20 February 6pm: In Conversation with founding artist Tess Edwards from Baldessin Studio
Friday 27 February 6pm: In Conversation with Jo Mott and Dr. Jane Woollard from Laughing Waters/Garambi Baanj
For more information click here
