17/09/2022 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm $12 This engaging, highly informative film is a must-see for communities like Ballarat and Moorabool who are keen to understand the environmental and lifestyle implications of Victoria’s 21st-century mining boom. Filmed over three years, 'Mine-Field' (2022) shows how a farming community in East Gippsland fought a ruthless mining company and won. It reveals the devastating impact…
20/09/2022 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm $10.00 Image: Courtesy Paul Lambeth The Tour (by day) A colourful history of the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute and it’s people. Tuesday’s at 2pm By appointment only, (to organise a volunteer guide we require 24hrs notice). Please complete the on-line booking form. Cost (incl. gst) $10 per person Find out about our Night Tours More Tour Information Enq/Book a…
21/09/2022 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm $12.00 Innovators: Uncovering some of Ballarat's best minds. Session 3 Health : Next generation medical innovations Dr Luke Spencer Ballarat surgeon on the innovations that have lead to surgery as we know it in 2022. Dr Luke Spencer Dr Rodney Luwor Rodney is a researcher, Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute on the leaps and bounds being…
27/09/2022 @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm The Reading Room (2pm in the Library for a start @ 10.30am - 12noon) This volunteer run reading and discussion group meets monthly. It is anticipated that members will read the selected book prior to attendance.If you would like to be a part of this group (free to BMI members) please complete the Expression of…
27/09/2022 @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm The Reading Room This volunteer run reading and discussion group meets monthly. It is anticipated that members will read the selected book prior to attendance. If you would like to be a part of this group (free to BMI members) please complete the Expression of Interest. We welcome your feedback through this form as we…
27/09/2022 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm $10.00 Image: Courtesy Paul Lambeth The Tour (by day) A colourful history of the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute and it’s people. Tuesday’s at 2pm By appointment only, (to organise a volunteer guide we require 24hrs notice). Please complete the on-line booking form. Cost (incl. gst) $10 per person Find out about our Night Tours More Tour Information Enq/Book a…
28/09/2022 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm $12.00 Innovators: Uncovering some of Ballarat's best minds. Session 4 Ballarat industry: At the cutting edge of world of research & development. Ballarat: Old, gold and cold? Or a thriving liveable city of the future? Do we deserve a new motto? Should our reputation remain in the past? Or should we embrace the vision of Ballarat…
29/09/2022 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm NEXT CAD: Subject will be “Russia’s War on Ukraine: Whys, Wherefores and Global Implications”. Keep it in mind in your viewing, listening and reading over the next few weeks. Come along and contribute; leave more aware and thoughtful. (Hey, Thursday 29th is just four days after THE major current affair of September, the Grand Final!!…
29/09/2022 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Last months Summary: Three members met at the BMI on Thursday 29 September at 1.30 – 3.00 pm for the scheduled CAD session. Several apologies received. Subject was the Ukraine situation. Another stimulating discussion. It covered the centuries-old background to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, rooted as it is in break-up of past empires, various peace…
13/10/2022 @ 10:00 am - 1:00 pm $132.00 Image: Courtesy Maggie Dannatt A workshop in Book-making. I made my first book as a teenager, wanting to save all my favorite Don Martin cartoons from all the Mad magazines I had bought. I later learnt basic bookbinding at art school so that I could bind the books I was illustrating. I have made many…
13/10/2022 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Quo Vadis, Aida? is inspired by true events. In Bosnia, 1995, middle-aged Aida is a United Nations translator located in the small mountain town of Srebrenica when the Serbian army ignores a UN peace ultimatum and begins a series of round-ups. Aida’s translation skills come into action when Aida and her family find themselves among 30,000…
18/10/2022 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Free Ballarat Libraries in partnership with BMI Join bestselling crime writer Chris Hammer in conversation with 2022 Indie Book Award winner for debut fiction Lyn Yeowart. Hammer, the multi-award-winning author of Scrublands will be discussing his highly anticipated novel The Tilt. A must attend event for lovers of gripping, homegrown Australian crime writing. Yeowart’s debut novel (The…
Minerva's Secrets Night Tours
Tue 19 May with special visit to Lantern Vaults
Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm.
Linen & Lace Exhbition
Includes Devonshire Tea | $20
Sat & Sun 22, 23 Oct
10am-4pm
Remembrance Day:
A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Recent War Memoribilia
Wed 29 Oct & 5 Nov, 5.30pm.
Coming soon…
Rozzi Bazzani. Stella Day Out: Katia Ariel & Samah Sabawi, Rachael Johns
Coming soon…
Dianne Dempsey, Chrissie Bellbrae, Paula Gleeson, Rozzi Bazzani.
Coming in November…
Stella Day Out, Ballarat, Rachael Johns & Margaret Hickey
Australian Heritage Festival
Minerva's Secrets
25 April – Tour 1 at 7.30pm – fully booked
Tour 2 at 9.30pm – still tickets.
Spring Season, History Talks:
Ballarat's Henry Lawson - The Dragon's Den - Gold! Gold! Gold!
Wed 3, 17 & 24 September, 5.30pm.
Bubbly on arrival & Featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop | $60
The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2026 Calendar
Featuring illustrations from our Heritage Book Collection $40
Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.
Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges.
2 course dinner & lots
of dancing
