Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute

Paper bead-making with Faye Heininger | 27 July - Session 2 of 2 | Now fully booked
2022-07-27 10:30 - 12:30 (Australia/Melbourne) | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
Faye Heininger
Faye started Lilli Pilli Beads (a paper bead jewellery and accessories company) after moving to Ballarat in September 2019. She has a background in art and started creating art in high school. She has a diploma of Interior Design, a Certificate III in Visual Art and has worked in marketing for almost 30 years, running her own company for 15. Her loves are drawing, art/art galleries and architecture, and is a self-taught bead-maker.
Unique jewellery
I make beads from paper and turn them into jewellery. My jewellery is lightweight, comfortable, beautiful and are bespoke creations. I am always looking for sustainable materials to include in my bead creation and jewellery making process.
Workshop outline
This workshop is designed for adult beginners. It is an opportunity to learn new skills and to create your own bespoke, single-strand paper bead necklace.
Format
The workshop will be a two-day course.
Session 1 will be a four-hour session where you will learn to make paper beads. In this session, I will teach you how to:

Pick the right paper.
Create different bead shapes.
How to roll and create desired bead shapes, and
How to seal your beads.

Session 2 will be a two-hour session focusing on the build and assemblage of the necklace and you will learn how to:

Create your necklace using the sealed beads made in session 1.
Select some complimentary jewellery findings to enhance your beads, and
Learn a simple sliding knot to complete the necklace.

What is provided

All materials.
Bead paper.
Glue & sealer.
Findings (acrylic beads to put between the paper beads).
Nylon cord rope.
Baby wipes.
Silk bag for finished jewellery.

Tools you will use

Craft mat.
Bead rollers.
Paint brushes.
Pin nosed glue pots for application to beads.
Flocked bead design boards.
Water pots.

Paper beads | Faye Heininger
Paper bead-making | Faye Heininger
A brief history of paper beads
The creation of paper beads has been said to have started in England as far back as the Victorian age. Young ladies would get together and spend their time creating paper beads out of beautifully elaborate wallpaper scraps.
To create their paper beads, knitting needles were used and trimmed wallpaper scraps were wrapped around them to form the beads. The beads would then sealed and polished with bees wax.
These Victorian women were said to have created beaded curtains and room dividers with their paper beads. Today we can only imagine how beautiful these creations were.
Paper bead making made a comeback in the 1920s and ‘30s when young women were making the beads smaller and using them in the creation of jewellery.
They also used knitting needles to create their paper beads, but they used newsprint and other printed papers which created much smaller beads. These crafty women also started to use their perfumes on the finished beads, creating scented paper beads. This was a time when perfumes were extremely expensive and hard to come by, so this was a way they could wear their favourite scents every day.
In recent times
Creating paper beads in the modern era is pretty much the same as in the Victorian era and early 2oth century, except that a wider variety of papers are easily obtainable, like rice paper, construction paper, and a lot more. The various types of paper we now use clearly adds character and texture to the final product.
There are now plenty of tools and resources to help in the creation of paper beads. Apart from endless paper products, there are also many sophisticated hand rolling tools, glues, and sealers to take the final bead products to the next level.
In the Philippines, paper beads are helping local communities generate income. This is also a way to resolve serious waste management problems.
In Uganda, paper beads are made in co-operatives as part of development projects. Many women in Uganda make paper beads from recycled materials and can provide for their families by selling the beads and jewellery pieces that they make.

More about Lilli Pilli Beads & Faye Heininger

Purchase & confirmation
To attend these sessions the cost is $95 for the two sessions (price includes GST), discounts apply to BMI members and Concession holders. This workshop will have a limit of 8 attendees per session.

Book 20 & 27 July

Become a BMI member

Other payment options
If you do not wish to pay on-line please contact the Library on (03) 5331 3042 or email to reserve your place.

Community Art Project
If you have an idea for a Community Art Project then we would like to hear from you.

Community Art Project

This workshop is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

Day Tour of the Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute
2022-07-26 14:00 - 15:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
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 Day Tour

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The Reading Room | 26 July
2022-07-26 10:30 - 12:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
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 Interest. We welcome your feedback through this form as we progress this great new initiative.
Expression of Interest to participate >
JULY SESSION
The discussion in July will not be on a pre-determined book but will be a readers choice format.
For more information go to

This event is a BMI Community Cultural Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

BMI Fundraiser | Carols in Winter | Ballarat Singers & Little Brass Band
2022-07-25 17:00 - 19:00 | BMI – Humffray Room, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
Join us for Carols in Winter with The Ballarat Singers & The Little Brass Band | Audience Participation Encouraged.
An evening of fun good cheer and sing-a-long…It’s cold outside so what better way to warm up our minds and hearts than with carolling harmony.
We are thrilled to have The Ballarat Singers & The Little Brass Band to take us on the journey.
Fundraiser
The funds raised for this event will go towards a gallery hanging system to display some of our wonderful collection of heritage photographs and other works of art.
Bar Open
The bar will be open from 5pm and to warm things up even more ‘mulled wine’ will be on offer.
Fundraising raffle
Bring along all your loose change and stand the chance of winning some great prizes on the night (Floral gift voucher, wine hamper and more to come…) Tickets $5 each or $10 for 3.
Prizes

First prize – Sunbeam Breakfast Essentials (toaster & kettle) and quality Michael Unwin Wines
Second prize – Boronia Florists Floral Voucher & UFS Natio Pack
Third prize – Chocolate, wine, & French, hand-painted tea towel & UFS Natio Pack
And more…

Competition prizes

Body wash & beauty pack
UFS Natio pack

Inclusions
A song-sheet and light nibbles (including fruit mince pies).
Acknowledgments
We are grateful for the support of the following organisations in the staging of this important fundraising event.

The Ballarat Singers & Little Brass Band
Bakers Delight, Sebastopol, Fruit mince pies
Boronia Florists | Floral Gift Voucher, raffle
UFS Dispensaries Ltd, Natio packs, raffle prizes
Michael Unwin Wines, Raffle prize
BMI Volunteers

Tickets
$10 per person | Tickets also available at the Library

BUY TICKETS

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Download Song Book

Ballarat Singers & Little Brass Band

Ballarat Singers & Little Brass Band

Little Brass Band

Ballarat Singers & Little Brass Band

Little Brass Band & Ballarat Singers

Little Brass Band

Little Brass Band

Ballarat Singers

The Conductor

Little Brass Band & Ballarat Singers

Ballarat Singers

Ballarat Singers

Ballarat Singers

Little Brass Band

Little Brass Band

Paper bead-making with Faye Heininger | 20 July - Session 1 of 2 | Now fully booked
2022-07-20 10:30 - 14:30 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia

Day Tour of the Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute
2022-07-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
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 Day Tour

Subscribe Newsletter

Become a BMI Member

Ballarat Film Society - High Ground
2022-07-14 19:00 - 21:30 | BMI – Minerva Space, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350
Stars: Guruwuk Mununggurr, Wakarra Gondarra, Jack Thompson, Simon Baker, Callan Mulvey and Aaron Pedersen.
We present this film to celebrate NAIDOC Week, 2022. This is the first film that director Stephen Maxwell Johnson has made since Yolngu Boy, 20 years ago. Set in the 1930s Northern Territory, where two cultures collide in the violence perpetuated by a subjugating force. Frontier violence prevails but so do local tribal custom, religious beliefs, and familial dynamics, all in the midst of a war of resistance. The film was years in the planning and inspired by the 1911 Gan Gan ‘punishment expedition’. Four stars from David Stratton. Source: Amalgamated.
Australian Frontier Wars Drama.
Australia, 2020, 104 min
Director: Stephen Maxwell Johnson.
Ballarat Film Society Program

BMI Fundraiser | The Phantom of the Open
2022-07-14 18:45 - 20:00 | Regent Cinemas Ballarat, 49 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
Dont miss this opportunity to support the BMI and see a great film.
A heart-warming British comedy starring Oscar Winner Mark Rylance, the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, the worst golfer to ever the play the British Open.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN tells the remarkable true story of Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator and optimistic dreamer from Barrow-in-Furness who, with the support of his family and friends, managed to gain entry to the 1976 British Open qualifying, despite never playing a round of golf before. With pluckiness and unwavering self-belief, Maurice pulls off a series of stunning, hilarious and heart-warming attempts to compete at the highest level of professional golf, drawing the ire of the golfing elite but becoming a British folk hero in the process.
Starring:

Academy Award® Winner Mark Rylance as Maurice,
Academy Award® Nominee Sally Hawkins as his wife Jean, and,
BAFTA nominee Rhys Ifans as his nemesis Mackenzie.

The extraordinary story of an ordinary man, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN is an uplifting and moving comedy drama about pursuing your dreams and shooting for the stars, no matter what hand you’re dealt.
Fundraiser
This event will support the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute with on-going maintenance and upgrades required for our Grand Staircase.

Tickets
$20 per person | Tickets also available at the Library

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Exhibition of works Lillipilli Beads, Faye Heininger
2022-07-04 10:00 - 2022-07-28 16:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
Image: Lillipilli Beads, courtesy Faye Heininger
Exhibition of Works
Prior to Faye’s workshop on 20 July she will have a selection of her work on display in the Library. If you would like more information on Faye’s work or attend her workshop go to our events page prior to 20 July or pop into the library for an information sheet.
Commission earned for works offered for sale during the exhibition will support the on-going maintenance of Our Heritage Collection.
Our Collection
Also featured in this display will be items that relate to jewellery craftmanship from our Heritage Book & Heritage Newspaper Collection, Preserving Ballaraat’s history for future generations.
This display will only be open during normal Library operating hours.

Fay’s Worshop 20 July

Lillipilli Beads

Arts and cultural activities
If you would like to provide feedback on BMI activities you have experienced or have suggestions on what you would like us to consider then we would like to hear from you. Please complete the feedback form.

Arts & culture feedback form

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This workshop is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

Fanny Lumsden's Deep in the Fallow Tour
2022-07-01 19:00 - 23:00 | BMI – Minerva Space, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350
Fanny Lumsden and her band The Pack are bringing fallow out on its last hurrah. After its wobbly start in 2020, to its incredible list of accolades including the ARIA for Best Country Album; five-time CMAA Golden Guitars including Album of the Year and Female Artist of the Year; AIR Country Album of the Year; making the AMP Awards top nine Australian Albums of 2020; and even slipping in there with an APRA finalist for DIG, this album really has proved its worth.
Having recently released Fallow + Variations, an entire new version of the album, Fanny and her band are determined to wring this baby out with one final lap of honour… but more importantly share the songs – live – with you – in rooms – where you can all bask in the glory of live music together. Just off the road from supporting Paul Kelly throughout regional Australia, and simultaneously celebrating 10 years of her own touring brand, The Country Halls Tour, Fanny brings her notoriously entertaining live show to theatres and listening venues to highlight the stories, harmonies and musicianship of fallow.
Fanny will be joined by special guest Jenny Mitchell who is an award-winning New Zealand songwriter and storyteller.
Shows are family-friendly and open to anyone.
VIP doors open 6:00pm.
General Admission doors open 7:00pm

Painting with Geoff Roderick | 29 June 22 | Now fully booked
2022-06-29 10:30 - 13:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
Image: Seville Oranges (detail) | Geoff Roderick
A workshop in painting basics.
In these sessions Geoff will be using water based artists quality Gouache (poster paint). Geoff sites five reasons for choosing this medium to teach.

It is opaque, (unlike watercolour which is transparent) this means freedom of expression as it’s easy to cover any marks not needed or wish to change. The tube colours are mixed with each other and white to create shades and tones (as in oil painting) these exercises could lead a student on to other mediums such as oils or acrylics.
It’s very quick drying. It is generally used on paper. It can be painted over immediately with other colours. It dries to a matt finish.
It can be applied in different thicknesses over and over each colour, making it easier to learn and experiment with colours, shapes and composition.
Being water based, cleaning of brushes and any spills or drips on clothes will wash out easily.
He has had 40 years experience with this beautiful painting medium.

What Geoff will supply
For initial classes he will supply:

plastic palate,
brush,
prepared paper A4 size
and, Primary colours and white Gouache paints.
He will also provide water glasses and rags for cleaning brushes.

What you will learn
We propose to set up a simple still life for the students to learn the elements of painting ie.

Colour
Tone
Temperature
Intensity
Shape & Texture

Four part series
The series of workshops will be structured to suit each attendees standard. There is a clear advantage in being able to attend all sessions to make the most of Geoff’s experience as a tutor.
Why not register for the BMI Newsletter >
more about Geoff Roderick

More

Purchase & confirmation
To attend these sessions the cost is $33 per session (price includes GST), discounts apply to BMI members and Concession holders. This workshop will have a limit of 6 attendees per session.

Book – 29 June

Become a BMI member

Other payment options
If you do not wish to pay on-line please contact the Library on (03) 5331 3042 or email to reserve your place.

Community Art Project
If you have an idea for a Community Art Project then we would like to hear from you.

Community Art Project

This workshop is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

The Reading Room | 28 June
2022-06-28 10:30 - 12:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
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 Interest. We welcome your feedback through this form as we progress this great new initiative.
Expression of Interest to participate >
For more information go to

Books That Saved My Life | Michael McGirr
More about the Author.

JUNE SESSION
Here are forty texts to read at some stage in your life- forty texts that can enrich you in all manner of ways. Some are recent, like Harry Potter; some ancient, like Homer and Lao Tzu. There are memoirs (Nelson Mandela), poetry (Les Murray) and many of the world’s great novels, from George Eliot’s Middlemarch to Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Our guide, in entertaining short essays about personal encounters with each of these works, is Michael McGirr- schoolteacher and former priest, reviewer of hundreds of novels and lifelong lover of literature.
His humour and insight shine through in stories that connect the texts he has selected with each other, and connect us to them. Never prescriptive, and often very funny, this book is an invitation to reflect on-and share with others-the extraordinary gift of reading. ‘It is a gift that is taking me a lifetime to unwrap,? McGirr writes. ‘The excitement has never worn off.?
About the Author
Michael McGirr is the bestselling author of Snooze- The Lost Art of Sleep, Things You Get for Free and Bypass. He has reviewed almost one thousand books for various newspapers; his short fiction has appeared in Australian and overseas publications; and he has been a publisher of Eureka Street and fiction editor at Meanjin.
Review a title
Why not review a book for the benefit of our members. We will publish these reviews in our social media and website from time to time.

My Book Review >

This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

Painting with Geoff Roderick | 22 June 22 | Now fully booked
2022-06-22 10:30 - 13:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
Image: Seville Oranges (detail) | Geoff Roderick
A workshop in painting basics.
In these sessions Geoff will be using water based artists quality Gouache (poster paint). Geoff sites five reasons for choosing this medium to teach.

It is opaque, (unlike watercolour which is transparent) this means freedom of expression as it’s easy to cover any marks not needed or wish to change. The tube colours are mixed with each other and white to create shades and tones (as in oil painting) these exercises could lead a student on to other mediums such as oils or acrylics.
It’s very quick drying. It is generally used on paper. It can be painted over immediately with other colours. It dries to a matt finish.
It can be applied in different thicknesses over and over each colour, making it easier to learn and experiment with colours, shapes and composition.
Being water based, cleaning of brushes and any spills or drips on clothes will wash out easily.
He has had 40 years experience with this beautiful painting medium.

What Geoff will supply
For initial classes he will supply:

plastic palate,
brush,
prepared paper A4 size
and, Primary colours and white Gouache paints.
He will also provide water glasses and rags for cleaning brushes.

What you will learn
We propose to set up a simple still life for the students to learn the elements of painting ie.

Colour
Tone
Temperature
Intensity
Shape & Texture

Four part series
The series of workshops will be structured to suit each attendees standard. There is a clear advantage in being able to attend all sessions to make the most of Geoff’s experience as a tutor.
Why not register for the BMI Newsletter >
more about Geoff Roderick

More

Purchase & confirmation
To attend these sessions the cost is $33 per session (price includes GST), discounts apply to BMI members and seniors. This workshop will have a limit of 6 attendees per session.

Book – 22 June

Book – 29 June

Become a BMI member

Other payment options
If you do not wish to pay on-line please contact the Library on (03) 5331 3042 or email to reserve your place.

Community Art Project
If you have an idea for a Community Art Project then we would like to hear from you.

Community Art Project

This workshop is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

Toying With The Classics - Ballarat Symphony Orchestra
2022-06-19 14:30 - 16:00 | BMI – Minerva Space, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350
The Ballarat Symphony presents classical music with a twist. A Toy Symphony with real toys.
Beethoven letting the cat out of the bag. Mozart outdoing P.D.Q. Bach. And Haydn being more surprising than the Surprise Symphony.
Music by famous composers…with something funny happening!
Conductor: Hugh McKelvey
Program:
– Beethoven: Symphony No.1
– Leopold Mozart: Toy Symphony
– W.A. Mozart: Musical Joke (presto)
– Haydn: Symphony No. 45

Painting with Geoff Roderick | 15 June 22 | Now fully booked
2022-06-15 10:30 - 13:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
Image: Seville Oranges (detail) | Geoff Roderick
A workshop in painting basics.
In these sessions Geoff will be using water based artists quality Gouache (poster paint). Geoff sites five reasons for choosing this medium to teach.

It is opaque, (unlike watercolour which is transparent) this means freedom of expression as it’s easy to cover any marks not needed or wish to change. The tube colours are mixed with each other and white to create shades and tones (as in oil painting) these exercises could lead a student on to other mediums such as oils or acrylics.
It’s very quick drying. It is generally used on paper. It can be painted over immediately with other colours. It dries to a matt finish.
It can be applied in different thicknesses over and over each colour, making it easier to learn and experiment with colours, shapes and composition.
Being water based, cleaning of brushes and any spills or drips on clothes will wash out easily.
He has had 40 years experience with this beautiful painting medium.

What Geoff will supply
For initial classes he will supply:

plastic palate,
brush,
prepared paper A4 size
and, Primary colours and white Gouache paints.
He will also provide water glasses and rags for cleaning brushes.

What you will learn
We propose to set up a simple still life for the students to learn the elements of painting ie.

Colour
Tone
Temperature
Intensity
Shape & Texture

Four part series
The series of workshops will be structured to suit each attendees standard. There is a clear advantage in being able to attend all sessions to make the most of Geoff’s experience as a tutor.
Why not register for the BMI Newsletter >
more about Geoff Roderick

More

Purchase & confirmation
To attend these sessions the cost is $33 per session (price includes GST), discounts apply to BMI members and seniors. This workshop will have a limit of 6 attendees per session.

Book – 15 June

Book – 22 June

Book – 29 June

Become a BMI member

Other payment options
If you do not wish to pay on-line please contact the Library on (03) 5331 3042 or email to reserve your place.

Community Art Project
If you have an idea for a Community Art Project then we would like to hear from you.

Community Art Project

This workshop is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

LaNCE TV - Live in Concert with Motor City Sounds
2022-06-10 21:00 | BMI – Minerva Space, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350
We are excited to bring you a much anticipated live event.
Join us in the beautiful Minerva Space at the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute, for a night of pure entertainment and cheesy disco classics with Ballarat’s most notorious television duo Lance DeBoyle and Gabriella Labucci.
This event will be broadcast live to community television station C31 Melbourne and to selected Facebook pages.
Lance and Gabriella will be joined by Ballarat’s premiere big band – Motor City Sounds, with special appearances by Dani Fry and Stella Savy and live voice-overs by Mr. Randal Smith.
Finger food and a glass of bubbles will be waiting for you on arrival
Doors open 8.15pm, show starts 9pm.

Ballarat Film Society - Herself
2022-06-09 19:00 - 21:30 | BMI – Minerva Space, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350
Stars: Clare Dunne, Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill and Ian Lloyd Anderson.
Sandra, (Clare Dunne), is a young mum struggling to provide her two daughters with a warm, safe and happy home in which to grow up. With very little income and no savings, Sandra perservers to build a house from scratch in Dublin: an ambitious dream whilst trying to escape the grip of a possessive husband and attitudes that make ‘it all too hard’.
A tough social-realist film with characters such as a Peggy, a supportive cleaning client and Aido, a friendly house builder, Herself portrays a world in which empowerment can prevail over callous bureaucratic naysaying.
This month’s film supports the Ballarat Irish Association.
Madman.
Ireland/UK, 2020, 98 min
Director: Phyllida Llyod, (Mamma Mia!, The Iron Lady).

Wendy McCarthy: Don’t Be Too Polite, Girls
2022-06-08 17:30 - 19:00 | The Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
Wendy McCarthy has been a trailblazer in the feminist movement in Australia for over 50 years. At this in-conversation event, she’ll discuss her tireless spirit for activism and change, as recounted in her new book Don’t Be Too Polite Girls.
McCarthy’s inspiring memoir is filled with cautionary tales and insider stories about her experiences as an outspoken advocate for women’s rights in Australia since the 1960s. Throughout her extraordinary career, she has smashed the glass ceiling again and again and forged a path for subsequent generations of women. Throughout it all, McCarthy has remained a country girl at heart, and at this event, McCarthy will appear at Ballaarat Mechanics Institute in conversation with young feminist activist Tierney Khan, for an intergenerational discussion about the importance of finding your own voice and listening to it.
This event will be Auslan interpreted.
The bookseller for this event is Collins Booksellers on Lydiard
Presented in partnership The Wheeler Centre

Painting with Geoff Roderick | 8 June 22 | Now fully booked
2022-06-08 10:30 - 13:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
Image: Seville Oranges (detail) | Geoff Roderick
A workshop in painting basics.
In these sessions Geoff will be using water based artists quality Gouache (poster paint). Geoff sites five reasons for choosing this medium to teach.

It is opaque, (unlike watercolour which is transparent) this means freedom of expression as it’s easy to cover any marks not needed or wish to change. The tube colours are mixed with each other and white to create shades and tones (as in oil painting) these exercises could lead a student on to other mediums such as oils or acrylics.
It’s very quick drying. It is generally used on paper. It can be painted over immediately with other colours. It dries to a matt finish.
It can be applied in different thicknesses over and over each colour, making it easier to learn and experiment with colours, shapes and composition.
Being water based, cleaning of brushes and any spills or drips on clothes will wash out easily.
He has had 40 years experience with this beautiful painting medium.

What Geoff will supply
For initial classes he will supply:

plastic palate,
brush,
prepared paper A4 size
and, Primary colours and white Gouache paints.
He will also provide water glasses and rags for cleaning brushes.

What you will learn
We propose to set up a simple still life for the students to learn the elements of painting ie.

Colour
Tone
Temperature
Intensity
Shape & Texture

Four part series
The series of workshops will be structured to suit each attendees standard. There is a clear advantage in being able to attend all sessions to make the most of Geoff’s experience as a tutor.
Why not register for the BMI Newsletter >
more about Geoff Roderick

More

Purchase & confirmation
To attend these sessions the cost is $33 per session (price includes GST), discounts apply to BMI members and seniors. This workshop will have a limit of 6 attendees per session.

Book – 8 June

Book – 15 June

Book – 22 June

Book – 28 June

Become a BMI member

Other payment options
If you do not wish to pay on-line please contact the Library on (03) 5331 3042 or email to reserve your place.

Community Art Project
If you have an idea for a Community Art Project then we would like to hear from you.

Community Art Project

This workshop is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

The Reading Room | 31 May
2022-05-31 10:30 - 12:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
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 Interest. We welcome your feedback through this form as we progress this great new initiative.
Expression of Interest to participate >
For more information go to

Caleb’s Crossing | Geraldine Brooks
MAY SESSION
Caleb’s Crossing | Geraldine Brooks
In 1665, a young man from Martha’s Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. From the few facts that survive of his extraordinary life, Geraldine Brooks creates a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure.
When Bethia Mayfield, a spirited twelve-year-old living in the rigid confines of an English Puritan settlement – and the daughter of a Calvinist minister – meets Caleb, the young son of a Wampanoag chieftain, the two forge a secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other.
As Bethia’s father feels called to convert the Wampanoag to his own strict faith, he awakens the wrath of the medicine men. Caleb becomes a prize in a contest between old ways and new, eventually taking his place at Harvard, studying Latin and Greek alongside the sons of the colonial elite.
Fighting for a voice in a society that requires her silence, Bethia becomes entangled in Caleb’s struggle to navigate the intellectual and cultural shoals that divide their two cultures.
Once again, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks brings to vivid life a shard of little-known history, and through Bethia and Caleb explores the intimate spaces of the human heart.
released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.
Review a title
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My Book Review >

This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

The Many Roles of Nellie Melba Exhibition Copy
2022-05-17 11:00 - 2022-07-04 11:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
In a celebration of the Ballarat Heritage Festival, Our Collections volunteers have created a small exhibition of images of roles Nellie performed during her stella career (all taken from our heritage collection of books).
They have also collected news items about Nellie’s performances here in Ballarat (from our collection of Heritage Newspapers.
The exhibition will culminate in our program in partnership with the Melba Opera Trust Nellie in her own Write.
Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute Heritage Collection
If you would like further information on how to access our heritage newspapers and books please contact the Library on T: (03) 5331 2042 or E: library@ballaratmi.org.au
Arts and cultural activities
If you would like to provide feedback on BMI activities you have experienced or have suggestions on what you would like us to consider then we would like to hear from you. Please complete the feedback form.

Arts & culture feedback form

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This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

The Many Roles of Nellie Melba Exhibition
2022-05-17 11:00 - 2022-07-04 11:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia

Ballarat Film Society - Lamb
2022-05-12 19:00 - 21:30 | BMI – Minerva Space, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350
An unhappy couple living on a remote Icelandic farm are reinvigorated by a miraculous discovery in their sheep shed.
Filling the void with a bizarre animal-human hybrid lamb, a passionate attachment begins after naming the new lamb Ada after their lost daughter. Troubles and family strain ensues resulting in extreme drama and weirdness.
Cinematographer Eli Arenson shoots the many farmyard sheep at their height so as to peer up close and personal as they bleat and stare.
Mixing folk horror, family drama and nutty comedy this strange and unusual film would premiere as part of the 2021 Cannes film Festival Un Certain Regard section and was described as a film that, ‘shears expectations with its singularly wooly chills’. The film now joins a recent batch of hip, auteur-driven horror movies that flirt with paganism and folklore so don’t miss it!
Madman.
Iceland, 2021, 106 min.
Director: Valdimar Johannsson

The Yarrowee: Uncovering the secrets of the Ballarat River | Session 5
2022-05-11 17:00 - 18:30 | BMI – Humffray Room, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
The Yarrowee: Uncovering the secrets of the Ballarat River
Session 5
From eel traps to bluestone, our changing use of the Yarrowee
BMI Twilight Talks are back! The series is hosted by Prue Bentley.

Prue Bentley
The bluestone channel
The bluestone channel, which winds its way through the city of Ballarat is a remarkable example of Victorian Blue stone construction. Built to manage the rapid rise and fall of flood waters, which plagued the area around Bridge st, the development of the causeway was a critical component in managing outbreaks of typhus through preventing the mixing of contaminates with drinking water in 1870s Ballarat. In the bluestones of the eastern channel. over sixty different masons’ or ‘bankers’ marks are carved into the hard bluestone of the channel.
This talk will give an overview of the channel and it’s history and discuss the significance of the marks on the bluestone, which is unusual given the increasing obsolescence of the practice in England in the same period.
Dr David Waldron | Senior Lecturer in History, Federation University
Aboriginal weirs and fish traps of Central Victoria
In the 19th century Associate Professor (Dr) Fred Cahir is an award-winning teacher and researcher in Aboriginal History at Federation University Australia. He lives and works on Wadawurrung Country. His research focuses on exploring the valuable contribution that Aboriginal knowledge can provide to Australia’s heritage tourism, resource management and health and education sectors.
Dr Fred Cahir | Researcher in Aboriginal History, Federation University
Bar
The bar in the Humffray Room (level 4) will be open from 5pm.
Tickets | Session cost
The session cost is $8 per person BMI members | $12 per person general bookings.

Book Now

Win a double pass to this Season’s Twilight Talks
SHARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THE YARROWEE RIVER AND WIN TWILIGHT TALKS TICKETS!
What do you love about our Yarrowee River?
We’re collecting stories, pictures, and memories of life on and by the Yarrowee River for our latest series of Twilight Talks, focussing on this important local waterway.
Post your story or picture below, send a message to the BMI Facebook inbox, or complete the form below.
Each week from 10th April we’ll give away a double pass to that week’s talk.
So tell us your tales, and share your pictures!

my Yarrowee

Artwork Image: Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute | Max Harris Image Collection | Albert Hall, 1953 (detail) | MH1615

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The Yarrowee: Uncovering the secrets of the Ballarat River | Sesson 4
2022-05-04 17:00 - 18:30 | BMI – Humffray Room, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
The Yarrowee: Uncovering the secrets of the Ballarat River
BMI Twilight Talks are back! The series is hosted by Prue Bentley.

Prue Bentley
Session 4
Liquid gold down under, and the “sludgy” history of Yarrowee Creek
A Sludgy History of Yarrowee Creek
Ballarat’s mining heyday was not kind to Yarrowee Creek. Between 1851 and 1914 the Yarrowee was dug over, redirected, channelised and dredged. It became the receptacle for tonnes of liquid mining waste and was a conduit for diverting that waste to communities downstream. Susan will talk about how mining changed the Yarrowee and what was done to try to stop it.
Susan Lawrence | Professor of Archaeology at La Trobe University
Prof. Peter Dahlhaus
The importance of groundwater systems of Ballarat.Groundwater is often the subject of myths and mysticism. Although it is an unseen resource, groundwater has been critical to the cultural, social, environmental and economic prosperity of Ballarat. Groundwater supplies our rivers and wetlands, mineral springs, agricultural irrigation and urban water supplies. This talk outlines the groundwater systems of the Ballarat district and the holistic values these groundwater systems bring to our communities.
Prof. Peter Dahlhaus, Principal Research Fellow at Centre for eResearch & Digital Information, Federation University
Bar
The bar in the Humffray Room (level 4) will be open from 5pm.
Tickets | Session cost
The session cost is $8 per person BMI members | $12 per person general bookings.

Book Now

Win a double pass to this Season’s Twilight Talks
SHARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THE YARROWEE RIVER AND WIN TWILIGHT TALKS TICKETS!
What do you love about our Yarrowee River?
We’re collecting stories, pictures, and memories of life on and by the Yarrowee River for our latest series of Twilight Talks, focussing on this important local waterway.
Post your story or picture below, send a message to the BMI Facebook inbox, or complete the form below.
Each week from 10th April we’ll give away a double pass to that week’s talk.
So tell us your tales, and share your pictures!

My Yarrowee

Artwork Image: Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute | Max Harris Image Collection | Albert Hall, 1953 | MH1615
Alfred Hall, 1953 | MH1615

Subscribe Newsletter

Become a BMI Member

BALLART ANZACS: How Ballarat Remembers it’s ANZACS | A Talk with Garry Snowden
2022-04-28 11:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
BALLARAT ANZACS | Talks
Garry Snowden, President, Arch of Victory & Avenue of Honour will facilitate a talk on each Thursday of the display:
Thursday 7 April, 11am | BALLARAT ANZACS: Stories of Courage Sacrifice & Larrikinism | Garry Snowden
Thursday 14 April, 11am | BALLARAT ANZACS: Mining Mud & Medals | Yvon Davis
Thursday 21 April, 11am | BALLARAT ANZACS: The Arch of Victory & Avenue of Honour | Phil Roberts
Thursday 28 April, 11am | BALLART ANZACS: How Ballarat Remembers it’s ANZACS | Garry Snowden
These sessions are free, we would however appreciate registration of attendance, but walkins will be welcomed, each talk will be approximately 40 minutes. Ballarat ANZACs Talks Registration >
BALLARAT ANZACS | Research
Garry with the assistance of Neil Leckie from the Ballarat Ranger Military Museum and Yvon Davis will be available to assist with family research into Ballarat’s ANZACs in the Heritage Reading Room on Tuesdays & Thursdays between 12.00 and 2.00pm.
If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity please complete the enquiry form below:
Special note: If you are expecting to take-away data from your research, please ensure you bring a USB stick or another form of electronic information storage.
Ballarat ANZACs Research Request >
Mining Mud & Medals
Yvon Davis will be on hand to talk about this wonderful book by the members of the Ballarat based Victorian Interpretive Projects group. The book gives an insight into the tunnellers special role in World War One. The book will be on sale in the Library during the exhibition @ $33

Country Victoria’s Own | Neil Leckie
Traces the history of the Ballarat infantry and the units in major cities and towns that form the ‘predecessors’ referred to in the subtitle.
This book will be on sale in the Library during the exhibition @ $25

Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute Heritage Collection
Items from the BMI Heritage Collection will be in display. If you would like further information on how to access our heritage newspapers and books please contact the Library on T: (03) 5331 2042 or E: library@ballaratmi.org.au
Service at the Ballarat New Cemetery | Thursday 21 April at 4pm
At service will take place at the Ballarat New Cemetery to acknowledge the provision of Office of Australian War Graves plaques for the previously unmarked graves of 19 Ballarat ANZACs. This event will be featured in the display and there will be information available regarding the self-guided ANZAC Heritage Walk at the Ballarat Old Cemetery.
The BMI wishes to acknowledge the support of:
Avenue of Honour & Arch of Victory.
Ballarat Ranger Military Museum
Ballarat General Cemeteries Trust
Integra
Ballarat RSL Sub Branch inc.
The BMI Heritage collection volunteers.
Arts and cultural activities
If you would like to provide feedback on BMI activities you have experienced or have suggestions on what you would like us to consider then we would like to hear from you. Please complete the feedback form.

Arts & culture feedback form

Subscribe BMI Newsletter

This workshop is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

MICF Class Clowns | Ballarat Heat

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Big Women | Presented by LadderFrame Theatre

The newest local theatre company on the block, LadderFrame Theatre,…
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Keep the Circle Unbroken – Ballarat

Keep The Circle Unbroken features an incredible line-up of Australian…
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Suffrajitsu & Playing the Ghost | Ballarat Heritage Festival

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The Yarrowee: Uncovering the secrets of the Ballarat River | Session 3
2022-04-27 17:00 - 18:30 | BMI – Humffray Room, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
The Yarrowee: Uncovering the secrets of the Ballarat River
BMI Twilight Talks are back! The series is hosted by Prue Bentley.

Prue Bentley
Session 3
How people power is protecting local waterways
Jeff Rootes
Jeff is one of the original convenors of the Friends of Canadian Corridor. In 2012 the large Canadian Forest Blue Gum plantation was going to be removed and the land handed back to the State Government for sale. The convenors saw the opportunity to imagine a different outcome and developed, with the community, the case for a Multi-use Forest Park. That vision and success of the Friends led to the establishment of the Woowookarung Regional Park in 2016. Since the establishment of the Park, Jeff has been secretary of the Friends of Canadian Corridor – an organisation that is now approaching 1000 friends. Jeff lives in Canadian on a small property and is a former teacher.

Jeff Rootes, Secretary of the Friends of Canadian Corridor and the Bunanyung Landscape Aliance
Nick McKinley | Leigh Catchment Landcare Group
Celebrating Landcare in the Yarrowee and Leigh River Catchments. This presentation will provide a snap shot of what activities Landcare Groups are currently undertaking in our catchments, and provide some examples of some of our successful projects.
Bar
The bar in the Humffray Room (level 4) will be open from 5pm.
Tickets | Session cost
The session cost is $8 per person BMI members | $12 per person general bookings.

Book Now

Win a double pass to this Season’s Twilight Talks
SHARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THE YARROWEE RIVER AND WIN TWILIGHT TALKS TICKETS!
What do you love about our Yarrowee River?
We’re collecting stories, pictures, and memories of life on and by the Yarrowee River for our latest series of Twilight Talks, focussing on this important local waterway.
Post your story or picture below, send a message to the BMI Facebook inbox, or complete the form below.
Each week from 10th April we’ll give away a double pass to that week’s talk.
So tell us your tales, and share your pictures!

My Yarrowee

Artwork Image: Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute | Max Harris Image Collection | Albert Hall, 1953 | MH1615

Alfred Hall, 1953 | MH1615

Subscribe Newsletter

Become a BMI Member

The Reading Room | April
2022-04-26 10:30 - 12:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia
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 Interest. We welcome your feedback through this form as we progress this great new initiative.
Expression of Interest to participate >
For more information go to

A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens
APRIL SESSION
A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens
After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.
Review a title
Why not review a book for the benefit of our members. We will publish these reviews in our social media and website from time to time.

My Book Review >

This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

BALLARAT ANZACS: The Arch of Victory & Avenue of Honour | A Talk with Phil Roberts
2022-04-21 11:00 | Soldiers Hill CBD | Pop-up, 512 Macarthur Street, Soldiers Hill, Victoria, 3350, Australia

The Yarrowee: Uncovering the secrets of the Ballarat River | Session 2
2022-04-20 17:00 - 18:30 | BMI – Humffray Room, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
The Yarrowee: Uncovering the secrets of the Ballarat River
BMI Twilight Talks are back! The series is hosted by Prue Bentley.

Prue Bentley
Session 2
What bird or beast is that? The special wildlife of the Yarrowee and surrounds
Gardens for Wildlife Ballarat
Gardens for Wildlife Ballarat is a free, community-based gardening program that helps people provide more wildlife friendly spaces in urban gardens. Rob and Sam are volunteers who not only enjoy their own gardens, but get inspired when visiting other interested gardeners seeking advice about wildlife habitat at the garden scale. They’ll share insights about how creating a garden that is wildlife-friendly can help conserve local plants and animals and create stepping stones for them to move around our neighbourhoods, parklands and waterways. Wildlife gardening has become even more important, since many people have spent more time at home and been able to notice what lives around their home: Connecting to nature in our gardens is not only good for wildlife, but is also good for our health.
Dr Sam Strong | Batchelor of Applied Science (Landscape Architecture) | Volunteer with Gardens for Wildlife Ballarat
Ballarat’s bounteous birdlife
Ballarat and the surrounding region is inhabited by a remarkable diversity of birds. While bird communities have been impacted by historic disturbance and habitat loss what we see today among our birds is a wide variety of species that have proved resilient to change, others that have taken advantage of such change and some that are only just hanging on and continue to be challenged by change. This talk will explore Ballarat’s birds in all their glory and will provide some insight into what the future might be for our birds.
Dr Grant Palmer | Senior Lecturer Environmental & Conservations Science
Bar
The bar in the Humffray Room (level 4) will be open from 5pm.
Tickets | Session cost
The session cost is $8 per person BMI members | $12 per person general bookings.

Book Now

Win a double pass to this Season’s Twilight Talks
SHARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THE YARROWEE RIVER AND WIN TWILIGHT TALKS TICKETS!
What do you love about our Yarrowee River?
We’re collecting stories, pictures, and memories of life on and by the Yarrowee River for our latest series of Twilight Talks, focussing on this important local waterway.
Post your story or picture below, send a message to the BMI Facebook inbox, or complete the form below.
Each week from 10th April we’ll give away a double pass to that week’s talk.
So tell us your tales, and share your pictures!

My Yarrowee

Artwork Image: Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute | Max Harris Image Collection | Albert Hall, 1953 | MH1615
Alfred Hall, 1953 | MH1615

Subscribe Newsletter

Become a BMI Member
