GLEN EIRA
ARTISTS SOCIETY
Geelong Art Society
A Heritage of Local Art
An old stop-over for Cobb & Co coaches during the gold rush, the heritage building Shearers Arms Gallery- home to Geelong Art Society (GAS) has an intriguing history. It sports a beautiful gallery which supports established and emerging artists and a culture of arts and crafts and 'traditional' art along with stone and sandstone carving workshops to name a few. In this new series, we will be introducing you as GEAS members to other art societies, and GAS is such a welcoming place to start.
Upon entering this quaint building, which has undergone a long process of restoration, we see spacious tall-ceiling rooms with old world charm that echo slightly as you walk through. Each of them are home to various art works and activities. Walk a little further and eventually you'll see a smile from one of their volunteers. Today, it's Rosie Notini whose connection to the society goes way back.
​
"My mum was a traditional artist living in the district and we lived in Geelong in the early 70s," Rosie tells.
​
"So I have a big connection to Geelong but never got a chance to paint or join the society until I retired seven years ago."
Photo 1: Frontage of Shearers Arms Gallery
Photo 2: GAS member, Rosie Notini
Upon chatting about her connection to the art society she mentioned that she felt it's what her mother would have wanted. She still has all her art gear and 'beautiful brushes' and says "I feel like I owe it to her as she would have liked it if I had become an artist when I could have, but I chose to do something else and never had a chance to do it for fifty years."
"Now I'm painting my socks off and loving every minute of it," Rosie says.
​
And as for her experience as a volunteer at GAS, Rosie says she enjoys being in the committee as she is learning a lot and enjoys the outdoor group which she says is "a lot of fun except very weather dependent because we've nearly been blown off cliffs!"
"Summer is best," she says noting the coastal environment they tend to paint in.
​
"Spring is terrible because you never quite know what you're going to get."
​
"When I took over it was in April, May and it was getting cold and they just said 'let's just keep meeting and painting' and fortunately on a Tuesday morning that studio was empty so we sat in there and we had it to ourselves which we did either still life…and we do figure drawing so it's less intimidating (than life class)," she says.
"I said dress up if you want to and bring something," explains Rosie.
"Like one day a guy brought a trumpet…so we try and alternate and that's been a lot of fun…we had one guy come in, he's an athlete and he's a master runner and he rocks up with his very short shorts, very shapely legs and sneakers and he got down and crouched like he was going to take off in a race," Rosie says painting the scene of these unique experiences.
​
"I don't know how he managed to hold it for twenty minutes but that's a really challenging thing to draw. So we do have fun. You learn something from it."
The society itself, she says are mainly retirees, and they have a planned schedule of exhibitions back to back throughout the year. The themes range from seasons like 'New Year', to 'Autumn' through to concepts like 'Wine and Dine' and 'Journeys' as well as a 'Seniors' exhibition.
​
There is also a gallery aptly called Red Room which hosts art by an artist of the month.
"People can hire the Red Room for a price," explains Rosie.
"We have childrens workshops here and that's one of our biggest sources of income," she says..
The workshops run at the society's premises each evening throughout the week and are well attended by children from Primary to Secondary. The classes are taught by volunteers with teaching credentials.
"We generate a lot of kids that are interested in art from that."​
Photo 3: Red Room
Among some of the enjoyed offerings at GAS are portrait sessions.
"With portrait we paint the same person for three weeks in a row," she explains.
"The first one is water colour, the next one I'm having a play with mum's pastels and then I might do an oil, depending on the drawing or sketch."
Photos 4 & 5 - Interior and exterior of purpose-built studio
Other classes include sandstone and limestone carving classes which are held in the large, built-for-purpose sunlit studio which was built in the 1980s thanks to a generous donor. Rosie explained how it even has a mirror so students can see various angles of the example they are being taught from.
Other art forms the society celebrates include line work, photography. GAS also hold mixed-media classes.
You can visit Geelong Art Society during Office and Gallery Opening hours, 11am-3pm Tuesday-Friday, 1-4pm Saturday- Sunday. GAS are closed on public holidays. For more information, head to www.geelongsociety-weebly.com.
Photos 6 & 7 - Gallery spaces on the premises
This article was written and compiled by Melissa Parkinson, April 2025