Newstead Open Studios

visit a creative community

Category Archives: Castlemaine State Festival 2019


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Newstead is OPEN this weekend!

A trip to Newstead and surrounds is well worth taking, to visit the talented artists in their open studios for our second weekend of open studios this Saturday and Sunday 30 and 31 March 2019, or by appointment.

The Newstead Open Studios art trail is our offering as part of the Castlemaine State Festival.

Eighteen talented artists stretching over thirteen studios open to the public. Their amazing artwork will be on display and for sale.

Come meet, chat and support these enthusiastic individuals. See them in action and be awed by their talent.

Enjoy a feast of gifted art work lovingly created:  paintings, ceramics, sculptures, photography, fibre art, mosaics, printmaking, mixed media, steel, resin and drawings. This will be an artistic banquet for all those who hunger for a relaxed and inspiring arts experience.

Your pocket guide and map to Newstead Open Studios arts trail 2019, is available throughout Newstead venues, surrounding townships and find us on Facebook, Instagram and at http://www.newsteadopenstudios.org where you can download the pocket guide and/or map.

As well, enjoy a coffee or lunch at Dig, visit the Art Salon’s Eat My Art at the Community Centre and The End of Night at the Arts Hub gallery in our beautiful railway station – its all on the Open Studios art trail map!


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Follow the flags and open our doors!

Red flags and door-sized signs will help you find your way around the Newstead Open Studios Art Trail this March. Pick up your copy of our pocket-sized Art Trail guide (with map) from any one of our studios, from Sarah Koschak’s ceramics studio (6a Panmure Street, Newstead) or from Dig Cafe.

Take time out from the hectic Castlemaine State Festival and visit some of your local open studios, especially if you haven’t ventured into a studio before! You’ll find friendly faces, open doors and a story or two about what we make and why. It really is a feast for the senses. And you might even find someone printing or potting or painting!

This year our Art Trail extends from Green Gully (3 open studios – 6 artists) to Welshman’s Reef (2 studios) and Strangways (for Trefor & Belinda Prest). In Newstead central, there are 6 studios open plus Eat My Art at the Community Centre.

West of the Loddon is Roger McKindley’s ever-changing Antares Art Garden, and The End of Night exhibition by Australian print makers Diana Orinda Burns, Jackie Gorring, Sandra Starkey Simon and Nepalese Artist Ragini Upadhya at the Arts Hub.

Best to leave pooch at home, or at least attached to a lead – most studios will have a shady spot and water.

Newstead Open Studios Art Trail 2019: Studios open 10am-5pm on 23-24 and 30-31 March; some studios are open daily. Or ring your favourite studio and ask for a private viewing.

Download our full colour guide and map from our website: https://newsteadopenstudios.org. Each artist is featured on the website to help you plan your visits.

Share us and like us: Newstead Open Studios is on Facebook and Instagram (newstead_open_studios).

Many thanks to our sponsors: Dig Café; Art Supplies Castlemaine; Maldon & District Community Bank; Newstead Arts Hub.


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Opening the door on Newstead’s studios

Local artists are getting creative in preparation for this year’s Newstead Open Studios on two weekends – 23- 24 & 30-31 March, 10am-5pm. Running as part of the Castlemaine State Festival, it promises a rich creative experience for locals and visitors alike.

Thirteen studios – and 18 contributing artists – will open their doors to friends, neighbours and visitors – a chance to peek inside and experience first-hand the creative process.

Our artists 2019

Studios offer intriguing and intensely private spaces where imagination and intuition take flight, rich with concept, ideas and passion. For an artist, their studio is a place where they are free to express and create, often in solitude. Opening the studio door offers a great opportunity to experience these intensely intimate spaces, laden with deep reflection, and experimental practice. And practically, you get to talk to the artist, understand their ideas and processes as well as buy something special from the hand of the maker.

For me, the first 2018 Newstead Open Studio planning meetings at the Railway Hotel coincided with my arrival to the area. My house was in a state of disorder, my life was packed in boxes; but opening my studio became the priority! I loved the idea of open studios and I really wanted to be a part of it. I’m a printmaker: printmaking is a magical process and opening my studio door last year meant delightful days where I shared this ancient and mysterious craft with visitors.

This year, new artists will be joining our open studios program along with many favorites from previous years: Norm Close and Leone Wallace in Welshmans Reef; Diane Thompson, Ken Killeen, Frances Guerin, Chrisanne Blennerhassett, George Duckett, Chris Johnston in Green Gully; Trefor and Belinda Prest in Strangways; and Mary Caspar, David Golightly, Sarah Koschak, Prue McAdam, Roger McKindley, Kristin Scherlies, Richard Sullivan and Selina Wilson in Newstead.

With 18 contributing artists and 13 studios open, Newstead Open Studios 2019 promises to be a rich and diverse experience for all those seeking to visit artists at work. Look out for our postcards and pocket guide, and follow us for updates on Facebook and on our website https://newsteadopenstudios.org

Chrisanne Blennerhassett


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Newstead Open Studios 2019 – Be part of it!

Planning has started for our Newstead Open Studios as part of the 2019 Castlemaine State Festival.

Would you be interested in opening your studio during the festival as part of Newstead Open Studios (NOS)?

The Newstead Open Studios group has gone from strength to strength over the last 4 years since we started. Have a look at our Newstead Open Studios website – https://newsteadopenstudios.org/ – plus Facebook and Instagram. Together we do a lot of great publicity – and it’s been fun!

Time is short! We need to book our advert by Thurs 6 September.

Interested? Send me a preliminary expression of interest by email – canj@bigpond.com – if you are interested.