Castlemaine Art Museum is looking for

Volunteer Visitor Experience Officer (Front of House)

Please join us for the the opening celebration of Where Stone Meets Sky, a collaborative exhibition between Brodie Ellis and Alvin Darcy.

Light refreshments provided by our generous sponsors Boomtown Wines and Love Shack Brewing Company

This project is supported by the Castlemaine State Festival.

Join artists Dena Aljamal and Kat Rae for a two-hour printmaking workshop exploring collage techniques inspired by Palestinian embroidery.

Dena will introduce the cultural and symbolic significance of Palestinian objects, motifs, and artefacts found in traditional embroidery, offering insight into Arabic artistic heritage. Participants will then move into a free-flowing creative session, developing their own compositions using imagery of Palestinian embroidery. The workshop will explore themes of nostalgia, memory, and resistance, culminating in small-scale artworks created on cardboard canvas.

No prior experience is required—just bring your curiosity and creative spirit. We’ll also provide music, along with light snacks and drinks, to help create an immersive cultural experience.

This workshop is a collaboration between two artists shaped by different experiences of war. Dena Aljamal is an Australian-Palestinian artist and recipient of the Lindsay King Award, recognising ten years of sharing Islamic art and culture with the City of Casey. Having lost more than 40 family members in Gaza, this project is deeply personal.

Before becoming an artist, Kat Rae served in the Australian Army for 20 years, including three deployments to the Middle East. She graduated from RMIT Fine Arts (Print) with First Class Honours in 2024, and in the same year received the RMIT Social Change Award and the Australian War Memorial Napier Waller Art Prize.

Rob Murdoch: Agnolo Gaddi: The geometry of composition and its effect on a frame

Join local frame expert, Rob Murdoch for a lecture on his work making a new frame for a 14th century altarpiece in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.

The painting Madonna and Child with St John the Baptist, St John Evangelist, St James of Compostela and St Nicholas of Bari by Agnolo Gaddi (late 14th C) was acquired by the NGV without a frame. It hung in the gallery with its poplar panel exposed for some years. Work commenced on designing a suitable frame in 2006. The frame was completed in 2008.

Before the frame could be made, it was essential to establish the original outline of the painting, of primary concern being the curvature of the Gothic arch. A key measurement or shape needed to be found that, when superimposed on the painting, accurately located the principal features. The applicational of traditional techniques such as superimposing grids and geometric forms did not work in this instance. When found, the hidden key produced some surprising results.

Discovering the key to the composition of Gaddi's painting, and the steps involved in making its new frame, are the subjects of this presentation.

Rob (now retired) made historically accurate picture frames for 25 years. Clients included the National Gallery of Australia, the NGV, the Art Gallery of South Australia, major regional art galleries, artists and private clients. Rob is a co-curator of the CAM exhibition FRAMED.

Please join us for the the opening celebration of Groundswell - a group exhibition of changemakers featuring local artists Arkeria Armstrong, Aunty Kerri Douglas, Melinda Harper, Judith van Heeren , Kate Just, Ruth O'Leary, Anna Read, Anna Schwann and lIka White.

Light refreshments provided by our generous sponsors Boomtown Wines and Love Shack Brewing Company