By Tyler Wright
The Dandenong Ranges Open Studios will mark 20 years in the community this year, showcasing the work of more than 50 local artists.
Over the years, the event has seen over 7500 studio visitations each weekend.
Tracey Roberts has been a part of the program for 14 years, showcasing visual art from her studio in The Patch.
“I have a garden full of banged up old musical instruments which I plant…some of the things are still playable, but they’re well past their use by date. Some are damaged beyond repair, but it’s a really beautiful place for them to see out their life and to return from the place they came from.,” Roberts said.
“It’s a metaphor for life, if you like…people of all ages can enjoy my open studios experience; there’s concerts, they can sit and talk to me, have a look at all the artwork that I have all around the dome and in the windows of the dome as well.”
The annual open studios group exhibition, ‘Transcend,’ will run from Friday 31 March to Saturday 13 May at Burrinja Gallery, showcasing artists’ takes on nature, community spirituality and interior worlds.
“The other thing that’s interesting about this year is that it’s the 20th anniversary of Open Studios, there are a few additional things happening, including a really beautiful art book [Hidden in the Hills: the artists of the Dandenong Ranges]… which will be launched before Open Studios in middle of April,” Roberts said.
“It’s a limited edition book that represents over 50 artists all across the hills, many of whom are Open Studios artists; and it’s going to be a really beautiful coffee table art book for people to get an insight into the artists that live up here in the Dandenong Ranges and how we became to be artists and what inspires us and how we produce our work and a general ethos.”
The fact that Open Studios is still going after 20 years, Roberts said, is a testament to the event’s quality and success as an experience for people from all over Melbourne.
“It’s good to be able to have people think about things in a different way. And that’s the role of an artist, really, is to try and create work to encourage people to discuss, think about different ways of seeing the world; the good, bad and the ugly, to promote conversation and discussion, and not just to make life more beautiful and interesting, but to actually encourage people to think a little bit outside of the box and to appreciate that people do see the world in different ways and it can be quite intriguing and unifying as well.”
Dandenong Ranges Open Studios will be held Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 April 2023, with painters, sculptors and videographers alike sharing their work with the public.
Burrinja Gallery is located at the corner of Glenfern Road and Matson Drive in Upwey.
