Arts
Arts should be challenging, it should be reflective, it should be controversial, it should be uplifting, it should be scary, it should eb everything. Art basically reflects life and life is all of that. Eva Gaitatzis
Ballet performance at the Festival of Arts held in 1967 to mark the proclamation of the new municipality. (Photo: Irvine Green; Doncaster/ Templestowe Album, MCC)
We cannot explore the artistry inherent in every form of art and craft practised in Manningham but we can explore a common thread - how an environment draws artists to a place. It is true to say that some would practise their art no matter where they lived. But it is also true that an environment can inspire and influence artists and, in turn, breed in the inhabitants of that place a sense of custodianship for its culture.
Gary Presland, in Aboriginal Melbourne: the lost land of the Kulin people, gives a glimpse into the cultural life of the first people to inhabit the place we now call Manningham in his recreation of CA Late Autumn Camp at Templestowe5. Presland describes women gathering vegetable rushes to make items of jewellery and attaching kangaroo teeth to ochre-coloured kangaroo skin to make necklaces. Artistic expression is also inherent in corroborees. The men prepare to perform dances by painting designs on their bodies with white clay. They dance to express their feelings or to tell a traditional story in a ceremony of welcome. Meanwhile the women provide the music - chanting, beating drums made of skin which they stretch with their legs, clapping hands and hitting sticks and boomerangs. The scene illustrates something reflected throughout Manningham's history - the practice of diverse art forms as absolutely integral to culture. (1 Gary Presland, Aboriginal Melbourne: the lost land of the Kulin people (Ringwood, Victoria: McPhee Gribble, 1985, rpt 1994), pp. 72-85)
It was in this area of Manningham also that a major development in the artistic expres- sion of a more recent culture took place. The familiar works and artists of the Heidelberg School are well documented in the literature of art criticism and history. The name 'Heidelberg School5 is widely used to indicate Australia's first national art movement, now associated with more localities than one, and with many more artists than Fred McCubbin, Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton. Its origins, however, are usually traced to work resulting from the camps these artists organised around Melbourne in the mid-1880s so as to practise plein-air painting and impressionist techniques. In the first of these camps, the artists were inspired by the landscapes around Box Hill, Heidelberg, Alphington, Templestowe and Diamond Creek, where they stayed in the bush and sketched what they saw. The resulting work of these artists came to be known as the Heidelberg School.
When we use the name 'Heidelberg' we talk of the school, not the suburb. Consider, though, the views that can be seen when looking out across the Yarra River from the Heidelberg area - they are of Bulleen, Templestowe and beyond. Artists of the Heidelberg School painted many scenes within the present-day City of Manningham. The Heidelberg Artists5 Trail, a series of information boards that follows the course of the Yarra, marks the sites where works were painted, giving insight into the landscape of the time. These boards are also reminders that people today value this facet of Manningham’s cultural heritage.(2 The entire Fleidelberg School Artists’ Trail extends beyond the boundaries of Manningham, where the sites depart from the Yarra River)
The Impressionists of the late nineteenth century who are celebrated on the information boards today found places in Manningham where Australian art history established its identity. Before the Heidelberg School was identified and labelled as such, artists had painted works depicting scenes in and around the localities linked with that school. Louis Buvelot’s painting Summer Afternoon, Templestowe (1866) is significant in the history of the visual arts in Manningham because it identified Templestowe as a place capable of inspiring art. Later, the Heidelberg School artist David Davies, who had been at Eaglemont in the 1880s, moved to Templestowe, linking the area with Australia’s first national art movement.
Buvelot would have had no idea about the way Templestowe would look 150 years later or what an association of the Heidelberg School with this area would inspire in subsequent generations. But this association would undeniably influence the development of the arts in Manningham.
The fondness Clara Southern (Mrs John Flinn) felt for Warrandyte and her fellow artists there is evident in the following passage:
Penleigh Boyd, who was the bright star of later days, has alas passed away, but he has left many charming canvases of the place. I always feel that he did his best work here, and I do wish that restless spirit of his hadn’t taken him abroad ... A little farther up the river, Frank Crozier has a studio; after a trip abroad he has settled down to work amongst us again ... Jo (she is still known by this name) Sweatman, who comes up regularly, has a studio next to mine and is doing well; while Charles Wheeler, Harold Herbert, Louis McCubbin (walking well in his dear old fathers footsteps) and other well known painters come and go. The dear old place is as paintable as ever, and I often think how Corot would have reveled in it. Source: Moore, volume I, p. 82.
As paintable as ever
Let us explore Warrandyte as a well-known example of the way a place - a landscape - can attract painters to it. Warrandyte’s reputation as an artist’s idyllic haven had its beginnings over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through the enthusiasm of Clara Southern. A successful artist, Southern shared studios in Collins Street, Melbourne, with her good friend Jane Sutherland, who appears to have been the only female member of the Heidelberg School. In 1905 Southern married John Flinn, a Warrandyte miner, and subsequently took up residence at Blythe Bank on Warrandyte-Research Road. From around 1908, Southern encouraged a younger generation of landscape artists to join her at Warrandyte - painters like Penleigh Boyd, Harold Herbert, Charles Wheeler, Jo' Sweatman and Louis McCubbin (son of Fred). (3 Although the township sits in the City of Manningham, the northern part of Warrandyte exists in the Shire of Nillumbik. People who live and visit there, however, generally do not make any distinction based on municipal boundaries. When we use the term ‘Warrandyte’s reputation’, therefore, it must encompass the whole of the area, not purely the Manningham side. See also Janine Burke, Australian Women Artists 1840— 1940 (Collingwood, Victoria: Greenhouse Publications, 1980), pp. 28, 30; Juliet Peers, More Than Just Gumtrees: a personal, social and artistic history of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors (Melbourne: MSWPS in association with Dawn Revival Press, 1993), p. 273; Jo Faurence, interview, 2 February 2001)
Jo Sweatman moved next door to Southern on The Hill in 1910. Her cottage and studio were called The Kipsy. Although Sweatman resided across the river in North Warrandyte, she was a much-loved artist of the area and member of the Warrandyte village. Sweatman had many friends south of the river with whom she socialised, among them Olive Houghton, herself an amateur artist. Her son Eric Houghton remembers plaguing his mothers friend as she attempted to paint on the banks of the Yarra. As a toddler in about 1937, he would follow Sweatman around, constantly trying to 'help' her paint - reaching for her brushes and straining to add to her artworks. (4 Eric Houghton, personal communication, 30 June 2001)
Frank Crozier was one of the early painters of note who lived in Warrandyte. He was an official artist of the Great War, and many of his paintings are in the Australian War Museum. He lived almost next door to Selby, a guesthouse in Tills Drive. Selby used to accommodate many visiting artists, who would include the house as a subject in their works. (5 Jo Faurence, personal communication, 10 January 2001)
Penleigh Boyd returned from England in 1913 and built his home on the north side of the river in Warrandyte, cjust around the corner from where Clara was - his is on Kangaroo Ground Road, The Robins'. He was well known for his paintings of scenes in Warrandyte. He entered into the life of the town, and was the first president of the Warrandyte branch of the equivalent of today’s Returned and Services League (RSL). (6 Jo Faurence, interview, 2 February 2001; see also Warrandyte Historical Society, ‘Past Painters of Warrandyte’, (exhibition catalogue, c. 1976). Mr P. Boyd was the President of the Warrandyte Sub-Section of the Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial Feague of Australia (RSSIFA); see the Reporter, vol. XXXI, no. 17, 7 May 1920, p. 2)
By the middle of the twentieth century Warrandyte had become renowned as a spot favoured by painters. The Yarra River, which acts as border between the present City of Manningham and Shire of Nillumbik (formerly the Shire of Eltham), is one natural feature that inspired many works. The village of Warrandyte also inspired paintings. In Evensong (c. 1910), Southern painted the view of the village looking west from her vantage point on The Hill. Similarly, Sweatman’s The Village depicts the township from the north side of the Yarra looking south-west across the Warrandyte Gorge. It is interesting to note that with the exception of Frank Crozier, the majority of Warrandyte’s famous painters throughout the first half of the twentieth century lived north of the river. Southern, Sweatman, the Boyds, and Danila Vassilieff all lived on the cEltham side'. (7 An exotic Russian emigre, the painter Danila Vassilieff arrived in Melbourne in 1937, where local modernists gave him an enthusiastic welcome. He built his home, Stonygrad, in Warrandyte (north of the Yarra). See Janine Burke, The Eye of the Beholder: Albert Tuckers Photographs, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Melbourne, 1998, pp. 16-17). No matter where their houses were, however, artists came into town for much of their social and artistic life, and influenced the social and cultural character of Warrandyte.
Many of Sweatman’s canvasses clearly identified scenes that are now in Manningham, such as the first four paintings mentioned in this 1937 local newspaper report:
Jo Sweatman’s Exhibition of Paintings -The Exhibition of paintings by Miss Jo Sweatman opened on Tuesday, May 4, at ‘The Athenaeum’ [Melbourne]. Visitors were captivated by their charm and beauty, and there was special appeal to Warranditians in many of them, who noted the various spots in their locality so realistically portrayed. These, numbering 35 in all, include 'Wonga Park Road’; The Little Creek’; 'Jumping Creek’; The Sloan’s Road’; and 'Reflections’, the last being a particularly beautiful study. Source: Croydon Mail and Mount Dandenong Advertiser, vol. 14, no. 18, 13 May 1937, p. 3.
Changing colours, changing shadows
Like Warrandyte, Wonga Park is a place that attracts painters into Manningham to this day as it boasts some beautiful views to inspire artists. Along its roadsides, visiting painters can be seen at their easels, capturing something of the atmosphere; once, a local artist used to give roadside painting classes there. Resident Janice McBride is a prolific contemporary painter, printmaker and theatrical designer who exhibits widely in galleries all round Victoria. She has lived in Wonga Park for the past twenty-five years. McBride is known locally for numerous exhibitions and her design of the stained-glass windows in St Gerards Catholic Church, Warrandyte (1982-84), as well as for her work as an entertainer. She uses her married name, Bissett Johnson, when she performs as a musician, and has done performance painting - illustrating songs as they were being sung - with the Complete Arts Company in Scene Stealers (1997, 1999). She creates works in her studio in Wonga Park. McBride notes that there is always something different to see in Wonga Parks sunsets, open vistas and skies - especially the night-time skies before electric night lights recently started to intrude - and finds it to be a place that inspires even artists unconcerned with representational art: £The landscape here is amazing even if you're a contemporary artist. It’s the way the light falls across the valley, the changing colours and the changing shadows.' (8 Janice McBride, personal communication, 29 June 2001)
Hothouse
Support for artists is vital to the development of the arts, and an extraordinary example of an environment created to foster arts is seen at Heide, the home of Sunday and John Reed. The Heide Museum of Modern Art is found beside Banksia Park, Bulleen. On a Sunday afternoon the surrounding gardens lend an atmosphere of serenity to the art enthusiast’s visit. With a vigorous exhibition program each year, the gallery aims to carry on the work of the original occupants in fostering contemporary art.
Next door to the more modern Heide Museum of Modern Art, and currently undergo- ing restoration, stands the Reeds' original Bulleen residence Heide (now known as Heide I), identified as being of national art historical significance'. (9 Carlotta Kellaway, Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study: Additional Historical Research (City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1994); Context, Wonga Park Heritage Study, p. 58). From 1935, when the Reeds moved to Heide, until the 1970s, they welcomed to their home artists who were to become major figures of Australian art. Inspired by the intellectual stimulation and material support the Reeds provided, the artists of several radical art movements would emerge. In the 1940s the Reeds extended hospitality to their close circle of friends who formed the Angry Penguins' (so called because they were rebelling against tradition symbolised by men’s black and white evening dress - the penguin suit'). To one of the Angry Penguins, Albert Tucker, Heide felt like a pressurised 'hot-house5 because of the intimacy of the artists there, but, as his adored wife, artist Joy Hester, was Sundays closest woman friend, Tucker had little option but to remain. The atmosphere certainly seems to have sparked artworks that were to receive international acclaim. Perhaps the best known of the Angry Penguins is Sidney Nolan who painted the famous Ned Kelly series at Heide (1946-47). (10 MoMA, ‘Mission Statement’, AR, 1997, p. 3; Caroline Ambrus, Australian Women Artists: First Fleet to 1945: history, hearsay and her say (Woden, ACT: Irrepressible Press, 1992), p. 158; Burke, The Eye of the Beholder, p. 14; MoMA, ‘The Ned Kelly Paintings: Nolan at Heide 1946-47’, AR, 1997, p. 16)
Top: Heide I in Bulleen, purchased by John and Sunday Reed in 1930. The house was originally part of a dairy farm. (Photo: DTHS)
Heide II on the Yarra, built by the Reeds from 1966 to 1968. It was judged the most outstanding building in 1968 by the Victorian Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. (Photo: DIHS)
Heide’s association with the Angry Penguins makes it a site of great importance to Australian art because there the group formed the first Australian art movement to gain international recognition. There is another interesting connection as well. Apparently, it was the works of Heidelberg School artist Arthur Streeton that prompted Nolan to explore land- scape prior to working on his two paintings of the Yarra Valley in 1944 and the famous Kelly series. As Richard Haese remarks, there was an extraordinary association of the Heidelberg area with two such major turning points in Australian art as were brought about by Nolan and the Impressionists before him'. (12 Marilyn McBriar, Interpreting the Past: the Yarra Valley Metropolitan Park, report for the M M BW Metropolitan Parks Division, c. 1983, p. 93. McBriar cites her personal communication with Richard Haese)
Continuing links with later art movements demonstrate how relevant this site has remained to Australian art. In the 1950s, artists associated with Heide included Charles Blackman and Ken Whisson; in the 1960s it was the Annandale Imitation Realists; and the 1970s at Heide II saw the developments of conceptualism and abstraction'. (13 MoMA, ‘Mission Statement’, AR, 1997, AR, 1997, p. 24). John and Sunday Reed left an endowment to ensure Heide’s future; in 1980 the Victorian State Government acquired Heide II and the Heide Park and Art Gallery was established. In 1993 it became known as the Museum of Modern Art at Heide. Also in that year, an extension to the original award-winning David McGlashan-designed house, built in 1967, enhanced the gallery facilities. (14 Carlotta Kellaway, Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study: Additional Historical Research (City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1994); Context, Wonga Park Heritage Study, p. 58. Kellaway quotes Architect, July 1968, p. 7 as her source. David McGlashan was from the firm of McGlashan and Everist)
In March 1997 Heide I was acquired, uniting the two places that housed Heide’s history. With a major redevelopment in 2001 to incorporate Banksia Park as a sculpture park, Heide aims to continue its contribution to international contemporary art for decades to come.
Sidney Nolan, described by art historian Richard Haese: Athlete, poet and painter each act was for Nolan one facet of a whole. Who else could so casually, yet so assuredly, work on paintings upon the refectory table at H eide while also talking with friends? Who else could sustain an innocence of the eye with such a sophistication of means? Nolans outward image completes the picture: visualize the artist aboard a Melbourne tram, wearing conventional bohemian corduroy trousers but sporting an exquisitely darned and patched sports coat of many colours with a large pink rose in the lapel. Source: Haese, p. 193.
Arts and the city
An association with the Heidelberg School and the Heide Museum of Modern Art gives people in Manningham a sense of involvement in - and perhaps even responsibility to foster — visual arts. This is one of the many aims of the Manningham Gallery. Eva Gaitatzis, Gallery Director, puts it this way: ‘Our core business is the visual arts. We do not create compartments to split the visual arts from music, from intellectual understanding, from reading, from writ ing, from cultural activity. In essence, visual arts is a product of cultural activity.’ (15 Eva Gaitatzis, interview, 9 April 2001)
The gallery opened in 1985 as the Doncaster/Templestowe Civic Art Gallery - the cul mination of fifteen years work by the Arts & Cultural Advisory Committee (ACAC) of the City of Doncaster— Templestowe. The ACAC had begun operating in 1970 as the Doncaster/Templestowe Arts and Cultural Society, but was only formally constituted in 1983 as an official advisory committee of thirteen members - some appointed and some elected - so as to provide the Council with community input as to the spending of arts funding. Amongst other achievements, its activities included establishing the Wurundjeri Festival as an annual event in the municipality, and developing the Cultural Centre with a theatre, meeting hall and art gallery. (16 Correspondence, Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society Collection, ‘Arts Folder’, 1971; Artlink: Newsletter of the Arts & Cultural Advisory Committee to the City of Doncaster-Templestowe, September 1984)
An exhibition of children’s artworks at the Athenaeum Hall, 1967. (Photo: Irvine Green; Doncaster/Templestowe Album, MCC)
With the restructuring of local government in Victoria in 1994, the community-based Doncaster-Templestowe Arts Association decided to withdraw from managing the gallery: 'It was quite a watershed. I think its been very positive for the gallery but its meant re-invent- ing itself. Its gone through quite a process of maturation which I think a lot of services attached to local government have??? (19 Sarah Finlay, interview, 9 April 2001). Over the last three years, since the Cultural and Leisure Services Unit of the Council won the tender for running the gallery, exhibitions have included an extraordinary array of different media: from wood-turning to textiles. Local artists throughout the municipality from Doncaster to Wonga Park have been represented in exhibitions, although touring exhibitions and many artists from outside Manningham feature in the gallery’s program. While resources available to support the arts are typically lean, the Manningham Gallery has found ways to carry out its work effectively: 'I guess where we re lucky is being supported by Council. Even though economic rationalism has played a part in the way we function today - even with those restrictions - we can still do things that (probably) commercial galleries just simply still can't do.' (20 Eva Gaitatzis, interview, 9 April 2001)
The gallery is involved in more than solely mounting exhibitions for people to visit. A fluid cross-fertilisation of ideas with others who share a passion for the arts contributes to the richness of cultural experiences offered through associated programs and activities. Joint artistic ventures may be undertaken with community-based or commercial groups. One example is the display of indigenous culture: 'We have worked with Mia Mia Gallery and they're a commercial operation. We involved them in our program which also then involved Currawong Bush Park which is another facility directly run by Council. It also involved the Economic and Environmental Planning Unit and all of that was co-ordinated through the Gallery.' (21 Eva Gaitatzis, interview, 9 April 2001). Another exhibition, Box Forms, involved co-operation with Heide, with whom the gallery is working ever more closely. Audiences can be reached through activities held in other Manningham arts facilities, such as the Manningham Arts Centre in Templestowe. Workshops held at the Arts Centre have provided practical experience in techniques used in exhibitions held at the Gallery. China Wind, held in March 2001, was one such exhibition. Two artists from Shanghai University were sponsored to come to Manningham and exhibit their work. Workshops in ink-brush painting at the Arts Centre were so popular that they were completely booked out. While the workshops complemented the China Wind exhibition, they also became part of the Womens Health Week project at Manningham because of the benefits to health and well-being of the meditative nature of ink-brush painting.
The various projects that revolve around the Manningham Gallery are enriched by community involvement. Friends of the Gallery members and volunteers remain important to the activities of the gallery today. (22 Fyn Bannister, personal communication, 6 July 2001). The recent move from its former location in a convert- ed car park to a new space at the front of the Municipal Offices - which is expected to raise the gallery’s profile - also demonstrates the Councils commitment to arts in the community.
Mia mia
Westerfolds Manor, Mia Mia Gallery, 2001. (Photo: Helen Penrose)
Mia mia means chouse house’ in the language of the clan I belong to, the Nungar Yamatgee, in Western Australia. Source: Colin McKinnon, Mia Mia Gallery founder, interview, 14 March 2001.
The Mia Mia Gallery sits atop Westerfolds Park, Templestowe, in an English Cottage style house called Westerfolds Manor. It is the most recently established of Manningham's major galleries. Colin McKinnon, its founder, felt that because of Manningham s link with the work of the Heidelberg School and the artists who have worked at Heide, it was essential that Australian Aboriginal art of the highest standard also be represented in Manningham: 'Why was it important to have it in Westerfolds Park? Well, this is the home of Australian arts so all eyes are on excellence out in this area.' (23 Colin McKinnon, interview, 14 March 2001). The most respected artists from around Australia are represented through exhibitions. These artists include Clifford Possum, Gabriella Possum Nungarrayi, Ray Thomas, Kevin Williams, Doctor George Tjapaltjarri Ward, Eunice Napangardi, Lisa Kennedy, Donna Brown and Marie Clarke.
A significant and appropriate hanging space for Aboriginal artists, the Mia Mia Gallery is also a site where Australia’s ancient cultures can express themselves publicly. Visitors witness a combination of visual and performing arts, with Aboriginal songs and dances and the playing of dijeridu enriching the cultural experience. On a Sunday afternoon, Phil Giea, performer and partner in the Gallery, sings, dances and plays, skilfully engaging his audience, deriving his repertoire from a heritage that draws on both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Mia Mia is a place affirming indigenous art and culture in a Western milieu.
Westerfolds Park is a perfect setting for the gallery, which exists in harmony with the environmental management criteria of the Park: 'Phil Hamer, the local ranger down here that we work with on a day-to-day basis, and his staff are just fantastic, very supportive. Again, we had to come in and operate within an already set structure. We operate under Parks Victoria's rules and structure. Now in a lot of other industries, that might deter business, because youve got those restrictions, but park management, environmental management and indigenous issues fit like a glove for me.' (24 Colin McKinnon, interview, 14 March 2001). The setting was a major attraction - because open space and greenery had been retained, the environment of Manningham helped to inspire new artistic endeavour as it had in the past.
Potter's co-operative
If the galleries of Manningham are, in part, inspired by the desire to share art and culture, they also help provide artists with the means to earn a living. An established artistic community together with the support generated by forming a co-operative, inspired potters to make and sell their wares in Warrandyte. Situated on Jumping Creek Road, Potters Cottage is a present reminder of that co-operative venture.
Gus McLaren, Reg Preston and Sylvia Halpern in the Potters Cottage, 1960s. (Photo: WHS)
Stonehouse Craft Potters June 1972: Penny Cearns, Lou Edwards, D ulci Herd, Marie Horton, Waltrud Jurkschat, Margaret Perry, Barbara Ratcliffe, Edna Rule, Jean Shore, Alison Thom Source: Mink, Winter 1987.
The group at Potters Cottage became well known and their works were exhibited in various galleries including the National Gallery: 'They were part of a new era of utilitarian pottery, domestic sets, from about the 1950s, the 1960s, and still continuing at Potters Cottage. (26 Peter Adams, interview, 16 May 2001). The Potters Cottage co-operative remained in the miners house until 1961, when it moved to 6 acres of land in Jumping Creek Road that had belonged to a farming family by the name of Zock. The existing building had to be extended and the influence of Potters Cottage on Warrandyte as a centre for art and craft continued to grow.
One of the previous tenants of a building in the Potters Cottage grounds (which today houses a gift shop) was the Warrandyte Arts Association pottery school. The Potters Cottage co-operative started its own school in 1969 to meet the demand for classes in pottery. The school attracted many locals: 'Most families will have had a number of people who have been for a short or long pottery course at Potters Cottage. (27 Peter Adams, interview, 16 May 2001). Through the classes held there, the school has been instrumental in moulding Warrandyte’s identity as a centre for arts and crafts by attracting and training potters who would, in their turn, perpetuate the towns reputation. The school produced local studio potters, including some of the ten women who went on in June 1972 to establish the Stonehouse Craft shop in the old Selby’s Store on the corner of Tills Drive and Yarra Street. In 1987 the Stonehouse group regularly held exhibitions of local crafts: textiles, woodwork, calligraphy and leadlight. (28 Artlink, Winter 1987, p. 5; Jo Faurence, personal communication, 12 July 2001). A restaurant was opened at Potters Cottage in 1969, further encouraging visitors to linger in Warrandyte, and enhancing facilities and local community life: 'When the restaurant opened, everyone in Warrandyte got a job there - including me, as a waitress'. (29 Jo Faurence, personal communication, 12 July 2001). Potters Cottage became a privately owned business when the co-operative decided to sell to the present owner, John James, in the early 1980s. Both the pottery school and the restaurant, which features a resident jazz trio on Saturday nights, survive today, and the gallery still houses the works of Preston, McLaren, Sylvia Halpern and Elsa Ardern. (30 ‘Artists in Warrandyte’, (brochure) Economic and Environmental Planning Unit, Manningham City Council, March 1998). Integral to the Warrandyte community, Potters Cottage is a cultural landmark in Manningham.
Sculpted features
As motorists driving along the Eastern Freeway approach Doncaster Road, an arresting sight greets them. A steel structure, around thirteen metres in height and twelve tonnes in weight, towers above a wasteland of native grass in between two traffic lights'. (31 Inge and Grahame King, interview, 6 March 2001). The sculpture was commissioned by the Gateways Project which aims to place public art at the forefront in Manningham - literally transforming the three busiest entrances to the City into outdoor art spaces: 'The three gateways project was developed as part of Manningham's Urban Design Strategy with the broad aims of improving the streetscapes within the city and contributing to its image and identity'. (32 Gary Bateman, Urban Designer, personal communication, 16 July 2001). The sculptors of these gateways installations were briefed after the Council had formed working groups in order to identify what the community values about itself. Of the three large-scale sculptures planned, two were completed in the year 2000: Sentinel was installed in September at the western, or Doncaster, 'gateway and River Peel was installed in October at the roundabout on Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street, Templestowe. In June 2001 the Victorian Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects awarded River Peel the Joseph Reed Award for Urban Design; the jury’s decision was unanimous. The awards edition of the RAIA’s official journal described River Peel as 'an icon which captures the history of the City of Manningham in a striking contemporary manner ... It is an ani- mate and elegant urban marker'. (33 Architect Victoria (Official Journal of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Chapter), June 2001, p. 36). In order to celebrate these installations, Manningham Gallery has held exhibitions to place the works in the context of the broader oeuvre of the artists. Public reaction to these sculptures has been and will be as varied as individual inter- pretation: 'It’s really been quite a diverse or polarised response to both works. People have said to Eva they've absolutely adored both works, or absolutely loathed them to the point that they think they are heaps of scrap metal that it would be much better to sell off' (34 Sarah Finlay, interview, 29 March 2001). Some believe it is better to provoke controversy than to prompt no reaction at all. This is part of the philos- ophy of Manningham's - and perhaps Australia’s - foremost sculptor, Inge King: 'You some- times need food for thought!' (35 Inge King, interview, 6 March 2001)
The sculpture Sentinel was conceived as an icon of the City of Manningham casting a watchful eye over the area. The multicoloured crown is the focal point of the work. Its curved shapes symbolise the two creeks of the municipality the Mullum Mullum and the Koonung Creeks. They enclose the blue oval form representing the City of Manningham. Source: Doncaster Gateway 'Sentinel' Inge King, City of Manningham, 2000.
Built to the shape of the land
The challenge of building functional structures that will suit the existing environs has prompt- ed architects to produce some innovative work in Manningham: 'Merchant Builders Pty Ltd were the most innovative project house builder in Australia since the war. They were found- ed by David Yencken and John Ridge in 1965 to produce good architecture designed by the best architects at an affordable price. Each owner could consult with the house’s architect on siting and landscaping. There were more display houses in Manningham than in any other municipality between 1970 and 1989, including Winter Park which influenced the changes in subdivision legislation to enable shared open space as well as private gardens. It was the last project by eminent landscape designer Ellis Stones. The most innovative modernist design in Manningham is the early reinforced concrete, flat-roofed house Naughton House and Factory in Naughton Avenue, built 1946-48. (36 Richard Peterson, personal communication, 1 August 2001)
Other buildings of architectural significance were identified in 1991 in the City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study. The report refers to a house by Robin Boyd in Warrandyte, two houses by Meg Henderson in Lower Templestowe, buildings by local archi- tectural firms - including those by Keith Reid and John R. Reid Architects - and, in Donvale, two distinctive houses by Gregory Burgess Pty Ltd Architects. These two houses in Berrima Road, one of which was built in 1981, rely on an organic plan where geometric shapes are avoided and curved walls are featured. The house at number 42 is a contribution to the development of a uniquely regional architecture for Victoria. Also in Donvale is Worrall, one of Victoria's earliest examples of a modern house, designed and built in 1937-38 by Percy H. Meldrum. (37 Context Pty Ltd et al., City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study: general report prepared for the City of Doncaster and Templestowe (Melbourne: Context Pty Ltd, 1991), p. 151)
Of stone and wood and mud
Publicity for the mud brick h ou se tours was boosted by the media connections of Jock Macneish, known locally for his clever cartooning in the Warrandyte Diary, amongst other talents: Actually, we did a novel thing, thanks to our friend, Jock Macneish he used to work for the A B C (as an acoustic architect). He said, Well get Peter Evans to say something about it , but it wasn't always easy to get Peter Evans to advertise things. So, what we did was to send in our notice wrapped around a mud brick! Jock took it into work and put it on Peter Evans desk, so we got plen y of publicity there. Source: Jo Laurence, interview, 2 February 2001.
Warrandyte is home to some unusual architecture that may be seen to reflect the independ- ence of those who move there seeking alternative living conditions. The work of local stonemason Kevin Sloan and the dwellings designed by Alexa Goyda and Myrtle Houston in the 1930s and 1940s are recognised as 'Warrandyte Style5. The stone houses together with adobe (mud-brick) houses on both sides of the river in Warrandyte were of such interest to the public that the Warrandyte Post Office Preservation Group ran tours of them to raise funds for the restoration of the old Warrandyte Post Office in the early 1980s: 'One of the best moneymaking things we ever did was the mud-brick house tours'. (38 Jo Laurence, interview, 2 February 2001. See also Richard Peterson, Heritage Study: Additional Sites, Recommendations, (City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1993), p. 36)
Architect and heritage advisor to the City of Manningham, Richard Peterson, points out that 'earth construction is, of course, commonplace in the Shire of Eltham, but was not supported in Doncaster and Templestowe'. Only three adobe houses are known in Manningham (all in Warrandyte) and there are two examples of wattle-and-daub construc- tion - one house in Warrandyte and one section of the historic home Friedensruh in Doncaster. In Donvale there are two rammed-earth houses. (39 These were the only two pise de terre (rammed earth) houses known to exist in the City of Manningham in 1993). One of these is the only known one solely designed by Nell Norris, an architect whose other buildings were the result of col- laboration with others. (40 Nell Norris donated the Nell Norris Scholarship to University of Melbourne architecture students. Richard Peterson, Heritage Study: Additional Sites, Recommendations, (City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1993), pp. 53-54)
Many intelligent features
The influence of eminent architect Robin Boyd can be seen in Manningham. Presented with the challenge of an unusual request, Boyd came up with an ingenious design for artists Inge and Grahame King. At the time, in the early 1950s, there was no road leading to their property - all building materials had to be transported over the surrounding paddocks. The Kings did not own a car so they travelled by bus and walked up through the bush for the first two years they lived in Warrandyte. The cleverness of Boyds design was in its flexibility: 'We hadn't any money. He was a marvellous man and he was intrigued with the idea, and he came up with an idea of building a house that could be enlarged as we needed it and could afford it.5 Just one room, measuring 36 x 23 feet, served as living area, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. In the event, however, the house had to be modified in accordance with Council regulations: 'The Council wouldn't give us permission to build a one-roomed house. It wasn't moral, you see. It had to have a bedroom. So we decided, which was a good thing, to wall this verandah in, because for a verandah to face south and west would have been a very bad situation. So we walled it in and that became the children’s room.'
Boyd’s design incorporated intelligent features for making their house more livable. To keep the heat out he specified that 12-inch thick stone be used on the west wall. A raised platform inside featured flaps that could be opened to admit a cool draught from underneath the house on a hot day. 'He had just been to Japan and it was one of his little gimmicks under this platform. There was a concrete foundation but that part was built by the builder - the rest we dug out ourselves because we decided to make a studio underneath, as well.' The design helped to counter the heat of summer - one example of the way the house fitted its environment.
Despite the high esteem in which the Kings held Robin Boyd, he did not have carte blanche'. 'We said we didn't want him to tell us how we were going to live in it - we'd work that out ourselves - so we moved in as soon as there was a floor and a roof, and the walls, and it was watertight'. Boyd’s modular design allowed for rooms to be added as circumstances allowed: 'He had visualised it straight away in a U-shape, as it is now, but we built on'.
Inge and Grahame King outside their new home, 1952 . (Photo: Grahame King)
A quintessential expression of its time
The work of architect Meg Henderson in Lower Templestowe is of particular interest because she is one of few women designers of her generation. (42 M eg Henderson’s initial training was as a medically oriented Science graduate. For many years she has worked at Melbourne University. Part of her house now functions as an office supporting her research in endocrinology). More rare still, she has a qualification in concrete technology and she acted as landscape designer and builder for two adjacent properties. Henderson was introduced to the Templestowe area in the late 1940s when her husband was choosing a site for his agricultural business, the Henderson Seed Company farm, and she was instantly attracted to the undeveloped, open spaces close to the Yarra River. When they decided to build their house in Lower Templestowe in the early 1950s, they engaged the services of a builder who was quite prepared to forego his standard plans and build to his clients' specifications. As Henderson was interested in home design, she drew up her ideas for him. Those drawings were not informed by any architectural study - that was to come later for Henderson - but the design, which minimised passageways, was compact and convenient for the ten years they lived there.
Henderson then decided to enter a house-designing competition in the Womens Weekly magazine: 'In between bottling tomatoes I was thinking about entering. I thought, 'If I fin- ish getting all these tomatoes bottled, I'll have a go at it'. So it was in a great rush. I didn't win First Prize, but I won something. It was a very successful entry.' Before designing her next home, in Greenslopes Drive (completed in I960), Henderson decided to undertake formal study in architecture at the Melbourne Institute of Technology (now RMIT). Wanting ever to 'maximise what is functional and beautiful', she studied aspects of landscaping, offered as part of the course, applying these studies to her own property and, later, to that of her neighbour. About three years after building her own house, she was approached by the couple who had bought the land next door. They asked her to design their house, for which Henderson under- took further studies in concrete technology. She listened to the Snells to ascertain what they wanted: 'Knowing where they were coming from, I could incorporate their general require- ments - and I think this is what the architectural skill should be: to be able to integrate the person with good style and good proportions, teasing out the essentials of what people want and integrating them into a cohesive style.' (43 Meg Henderson, interview, 27 March 2001)
Hendersons house in Greenslopes Drive can be described as West Coast American in style, giving an 'appearance of a lot of horizontal layers. Set off the ground; service equipment is underneath; it has a broad, sweeping appearance with a strong horizontal emphasis.' (44 Richard Peterson, personal communication, 28 February 2001). She used an 8-foot module in her design so as to achieve more spaciousness than the 6-foot mod- ule which was favoured at the time: 'I like feelings of width. Four-foot and 8-foot sections have a more generous feeling within the height.' The boomerang-shaped house is positioned on the block to gain the advantage of passive solar energy, taking into account the angle and elevation of the sun. The solar plan allows maximum sun into the house in winter and a min- imum in summer. Flexibility to extend the house was incorporated into the design. Henderson’s use of recycled material suited her conservationist philosophy and saved her con- siderable sums of money. Her expansive home cost about the same to build as a simple, small, three-bedroom brick veneer nearby - around £16,000 in I960. Second-hand timbers were obtained from a demolition business and Henderson spent £1,000 on plate glass (from Essendon Airport, undergoing restructure at the time) that could well have cost ten times that figure if bought new.
In 1951 a group of friends were looking to purchase land in Templestowe, the most beautiful part of outer Melbourne . Three of the group wanted their own studios to paint in and were inspired to come to Templestowe by their interest in the Heidelberg School. They had never intended to buy an orchard together, but they saw one by chance because no other properties on the market suited them. The group immediately saw in this orchard the potential for a type of cluster living with a difference . They would privately subdivide the land, but work the orchard as a whole. Alister Knox, who was a follower of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, designed four houses for the property in 1951 when just beginning his career. Knox was a conservationist and each of the distinctive houses was designed to fit in to the existing landscape with least possible disturbance. Source: Valerie Albiston, The Hidden Valley of Templestowe', Doncaster Mirror, 7 June 1978, p. 19.
Needs proofreading
When the Hendersons bought the property in Greenslopes Drive, the land, which had been an orchard, was just a grassy hillside with a few stunted trees that had been eaten down by dairy cows. Over time the young river red gums would flourish, and with these trees in mind Henderson used over-burnt white bricks from St Arnaud to construct her house to pick out the colours - the creams, greys and browns - of river red gum bark. The house is nestled into the surrounding shrubs and trees, but it also sits on the crest of a hill, along a curve of the landscape, so that it overlooks the Banyule side of the Yarra Valley. The hub of the house is an outdoor living area, a patio, tucked into the angle of the boomerang shape. The house is surrounded by vegetation that is visible through the expansive windows and Henderson describes it as an outside-in house: 'I don't have a feeling of being 'in' my house as much as I am in and out at the same time'. The presence of natural surroundings pervades the house: 'Because it’s on a corner and it’s well spaced from other houses, it's very separate, with its own identity'. (45 Meg Henderson, interview, 27 March 2001). The whole has been described as a quintessential expression of its time. It is integrated into and floating above its site with great skill: the garden contributes crucially to this characteristic'. (46 Context Pty Ltd et al., City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study: general report prepared for the City of Doncaster and Templestowe (Melbourne: Context Pty Ltd, 1991), p. 156). With a distinctive style that exists in harmony with its surroundings, Meg Hendersons house appears to be one that truly fits its environment.
Turn on the sun
In November 1978, building of a display house commenced at 32 Rosco Drive in Templestowe. It used natural materials and was designed for low maintenance. Built by Landmark Builders Pty Ltd to a design by architects Cocks and Carmichael, it was the first passive solar energy project house in Victoria. The timing of this project no doubt reflected increasing interest during the 1970s in solar power and other renewable sources of energy.
The award-winning design was based on Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) research. Large windows and a four-pane glass roof panel were positioned facing north so as to derive the best of winter and summer sun. The glass makes the house light-filled and spacious. Deciduous trees complement the design; they shade the windows and protect the house from the full heat of summer but in winter, when the leaves have fallen, light and warmth can enter the house unimpeded. Solar panels were installed along the full length of the roofs northern slope and the houses passive solar heat- ing system, based on a Tromb-Michelle wall, made history as the first time this system had worked in practice. The system is designed to trap the suns heat with a glass-fronted, black- painted brick wall; in a cavity between the glass and the brick, convection currents are set up and warm air is sent through heating ducts. In Melbourne, Bill Charters, assisted by R. W. F. (Bob) McDonald of the University of Melbourne, actually made the system work by discov- ering the precise width the cavity had to be; their achievement allowed Landmark the first successful use of this passive solar heating device to heat a family house, in the world5. To make the house efficient in energy use, it was particularly important to include features that would conserve energy, hence heavy insulation in ceiling, walls and floor, sealed doors and pelmets and, around the fireplace, a bluestone heat store (which can also keep the house cooler in summer). Apart from historic significance, the Solar House has ‘scientific and architectural significance at state level'. (47 Richard Peterson, Heritage Study: Additional Sites, Recommendations, (City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1993), pp. 17-19. The ‘Solar House’ was the first house built on Landmark’s passive solar energy estate in Rosco Drive). As Heritage Victoria has recently registered the Solar House, it is a part of Manningham’s environment that is likely to remain in place for years to come.
Performing Arts
Community-based performance
The richness of participation in performing arts in Manningham is underlined by the exis- tence of numerous performance groups, some of which are highlighted in this history to reflect the overall picture. Also part of the wider story of performing arts in Manningham are individuals who have grown up in the area, but who have had to leave it to make careers for themselves. Pursuing further qualifications takes many out of Manningham and many performers - classical musicians, for example - still seem to require the validation earned by overseas study and experience if they are to enjoy successful careers here in the country of their birth. With Melbourne’s performance venues just minutes away by car, there are not sufficient performing opportunities in Manningham to bring artists back to work in the suburbs. In Donvale, for example, Erich and Ilona von Moller-Harteneck’s three children, born in the 1970s, became professional artists: a cellist, a film director, and an opera singer now in San Francisco. (48 Erich von Moller-Harteneck, questionnaire, February 2001). The mere fact of performers living in the area cannot necessarily be proved to have had a decisive impact on their choice of career. What can be more assuredly followed is the theme of the debt that local arts associations owe to place - for locality is the defining element that the people involved have in common.Saturday night at the movies In addition to hosting live entertainment, the Doncaster Athenaeum Hall was a regular venue for screening films. Eric Collyer remembers going to the pictures as a boy in the 1940s: ‘They used to have picture shows every Saturday night in the Athenaeum Hall. That was when you sat on those horsehair filled, hard cushioned chairs. It was only black and white movies and a small screen in those days, in Cinemascope, and quite often there would be a breakdown the projector would fail, or perhaps the film broke and there’d have to be a ten minute delay while they got going again. But they used to have some of the popular films here, and that’s where you would meet some of the locals. Mrs Woods was at the ticket office and she would sell us the tickets.’ Source: Eric Collyer, interview, 12 June 2001.
The roots of Manningham’s locally based performing arts groups can be traced back to the time when necessity compelled people to make their own entertainment. Early European settlers could use portable instruments such as violins to accompany dancing. Recitations of bush poetry and songs were a means of sharing stories of pioneer life. Early Europeans also brought with them a most potent symbol of home, hearth and their notion of civilisation: the piano. Sing-alongs around the piano were traditional and brought families and neighbours together for amusement.
Venues for entertainment
In 1871 a public hall was opened in Doncaster and, in addition to housing the districts first public library, it provided a venue for entertainment. Although small, the Athenseum Hall was built through the efforts of local people and afforded more space than a family home, allow- ing greater numbers of people to gather under one roof. In 1882 a Mechanics' Institute Hall opened in Templestowe; it was converted to a supper room in 1922 when a new Templestowe Memorial Hall was built. Also in 1882 the Warrandyte Mechanics' Institute was founded; by 1890 a new hall on the northern side ofYarra Street had replaced the original venue; the present hall was built in 1928 and is the home of the Warrandyte Mechanics' Institute and Arts Association (WMIAA). The Wonga Park Hall (also called the Wonga Park Mechanics' Institute) was built in 1908. It was greatly extended in 1926 and further altered in 1977-78 to incorporate a supper room and kitchen. In Doncaster East, community fundraising which began in the late 1920s was responsible for the building of the East Doncaster Hall, completed in 1932, which has since then been a venue for local social functions. Similarly, the South Warrandyte Hall was used for social events such as a farewell dance for local army volunteers in July 1940, regular community singing and the South Warrandyte Show and Carnival mounted in 1941 by the local RSL. The Bulleen Baptist Church (on the corner of Marcus Avenue and Thompsons Road) has hosted the annual Doncaster-Templestowe Eisteddfod Society competitions which date back to 1970 and are now called the Winter Festival of Arts.
In 1987 a Multicultural Arts Festival was held at the Council Offices and grounds. In the early 1980s plans for the Warrandyte High School theatre were revised so as to improve its acoustic properties and usefulness for mounting elaborate productions; semi-professional companies such as Eastern Metropolitan Opera used the theatre in the 1990s. Jock Macneish’s expertise as an architect specialising in acoustics is evident in the plans, which were redesigned in collaboration with a group of people that included Cliff Green: 'Experts say it has the shape and proportions of a provincial Italian opera house - a large performing space and very steep seating for the audience'. (49 Cliff Green, personal communication, 11 July 2001). Venues such as these have been important for mounting entertainment generated by the local community. (50 Carlotta Kellaway, Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study: Additional Historical Research (City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1994); Context, Wonga Park Heritage Study, pp. 44-5, 48-9; Jo Laurence, personal communication, 12 July 2001; Context, Wonga Park Heritage Study, Context Pty Ltd et al., City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study: general report prepared for the City of Doncaster and Templestowe (Melbourne: Context Pty Ltd, 1991), pp. 113, 114; Artlink, Autumn 1986, p. 5; Sarah Finlay, interview, 9 April 2001; Artlink, Autumn 1987, p. 8)
For the community, by the community In August 2001 a public function was held to farewell the Doncaster Athenaeum prior to its demolition . Pam Baragwanath, author of a social history of Victorian Mechanics Institutes, suggests that arrangements should have been made to relocate the heritage building: It is tragic that this building is to be lost to the City of Manningham ! The Athenaeum was the first and best library in the wider district. It was for the community, by the community , voluntarily manned, and kept pace with this burgeoning area for a period of ninety three years from 1871 to 1964 when the Council took over the library. This heritage building, the initial one, should be preserved. Source: Pam Baragwanath, questionnaire, 27 April 2001. See also Baragwanath, 2000.
In 1987 a Multicultural Arts Festival was held at the Council Offices and grounds. In the early 1980s plans for the Warrandyte High School theatre were revised so as to improve its acoustic properties and usefulness for mounting elaborate productions; semi-professional companies such as Eastern Metropolitan Opera used the theatre in the 1990s. Jock Macneish’s expertise as an architect specialising in acoustics is evident in the plans, which were redesigned in collaboration with a group of people that included Cliff Green: 'Experts say it has the shape and proportions of a provincial Italian opera house - a large performing space and very steep seating for the audience'. (49 Cliff Green, personal communication, 11 July 2001). Venues such as these have been important for mounting entertainment generated by the local community. (50 Carlotta Kellaway, Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study: Additional Historical Research (City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1994); Context, Wonga Park Heritage Study, pp. 44-5, 48-9; Jo Laurence, personal communication, 12 July 2001; Context, Wonga Park Heritage Study, Context Pty Ltd et al., City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study: general report prepared for the City of Doncaster and Templestowe (Melbourne: Context Pty Ltd, 1991), pp. 113, 114; Artlink, Autumn 1986, p. 5; Sarah Finlay, interview, 9 April 2001; Artlink, Autumn 1987, p. 8)
A function held (possibly for Empire Day) in the Athenaeum Hall sometime before its alteration in 1914, taken from the stage looking towards the entrance. (Photo: DTHS)
Athenaeum Hall, 1967. (Photo: Irvine Green; Doncaster/ Templestowe Album, MCC)
Templestowe Memorial Hall, 1967. (Photo: Irvine Green; Doncaster/Templestowe Album, MCC)
Harmony of contrasts
Musicians who have entertained at venues in the local community are many and varied. We cannot include them all, but here follows a smattering of examples. In the 1890s pianist Annie Lane taught piano and played at concerts in the school in Warrandyte. Violinist Charles Rose (who also taught music) and pianist John Sloan performed there in the 1910s. In the 1920s Frank Lowe played piano, as did Sam McAuley and Anne (Annie) Jean Pridmore, the latter also a poet who had a hand in composing ballads in the 1920s and 1930s, some of which were sung and recorded by Peter Dawson. (51 Murray Houghton, personal communication, 11 July 2001). In the 1930s Gertrude Robertson was well known in the area as a pianist, and soprano 'Popsy' Wagner (now Mrs Ruby Bone) was known as the 'Warrandyte Nightingale' - she trained with Hector Crawford and Madam Ashton, and was occasionally a featured artist at local dances. (52 Murray Houghton, interview, 9 May 2001; Tom Bone, personal communication, July 2001). Mrs Jess Robinson played piano in the 1940s. In the 1930s and 1940s bands played at the old-time dances: 'Through the 1940s particular- ly it was Milne’s Orchestra who played at the Warrandyte Hall. My parents' generation would do barn dances, foxtrots and waltzes - waltzes were very popular'. (53 Murray Houghton, personal communication, 11 July 2001). In the mid-1950s a music group was instigated with the formation of the Warrandyte Arts Association.
Alas, poor Annie: Anne Jean Pridmore was to suffer a sad fate. As a young w om an in the early 1930s, she was disappointed in love, which drove her to lose her reason, and throw herself into the Yarra River at Warrandyte. Afterwards she was confined for the rest of her life to the Ballarat Asylum. Source: Murray Houghton, interview, 9 May 2001.
The Doncaster and Templestowe Musical Society formed as a result of the interest generated by two complete musical comedies, performed by the Templestowe Christ Church choir and directed by Valma Bolton in 1962 and 1964: 'Everybody was in it, not only the Anglicans; there were a lot of people in it'. (54 Nell Charlwood, interview, 14 June 2001). After their production of The Pajama Game in 1970, the group performed a musical every year, and in 1980 was 'flourishing' with 'a membership of 140 and over sixty in the production crew and cast of 'Oliver'. In November 1985 the Society performed Templestowe Times in the Athenaeum Hall as one of the local events celebrating Victoria’s sesquicentenary. (55 ‘History of Doncaster Templestowe Musical Society’, Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society Collection, ‘Arts folder’, 1980; See also ‘City of Doncaster and Templestowe, Local Calendar of Events, Victoria’s 150th Anniversary’, Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society Collection, ‘150 folder’, c. 1984). In the early 1970s the Doncaster-Templestowe Choral Society, conducted by Harold Blair, was open to all who enjoyed singing. (56 The Age, 25 February 1972, Doncaster-Templestowe feature p. 1). A music society existed in Doncaster in the 1970s and in the 1980s. (57 ‘Arts Centre Opened’ Doncaster & Eastern Suburbs Mirror, 13 April 1977, p. 16; Artlink, Winter 1986, p. 7). In the youth culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s, one of the local rock bands, Frame, used to play regular Saturday- night gigs at venues such as Mechanics' Institute halls; members of Frame were later to find fame after they changed their name to Skyhooks. (58 Jo Laurence, interview, 2 February 2001)
The Doncaster and Templestowe Municipal Band formed when the Templestowe Technical School band was joined by people from the wider community in the mid-1970s; it became a successful concert band, playing at numerous community functions. (59 Artlink, Summer 1988 p. 4). After changing to a big band, they reverted to concert band format, and, in the mid-1990s, additional funding from the City Council allowed them to set up a training band and a big band, both of which lasted for around three years. Having recently celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, the concert band is now known as the Manningham Musicians Association Inc. In the mid-1980s the Arts Association at Warrandyte held an Octoberfest and Musical Evening in the Mechanics' Institute Hall. (60 Artlink, September 1984)
Doncaster/Templestowe Municipal Band playing at the Wurundjeri Festival, 1978. The festival involved dozens of local community groups and associations, including churches and schools, theatre, dance and music groups, sporting clubs and environmental groups. (Photo: Kay Mack)
A Warrandyte festival. (Photo:WHS)
Evolution of exposure to the arts
Children in Warrandyte in the 1950s and 1960s were encouraged at primary school to participate in creative activities: A number of people at the school became interested in theatre and became involved in the arts through the school and through the general culture of creativity around the town'. (63 Peter Adams, interview, 16 May 2001). The Warrandyte Arts Association was formed in 1956. Under its banner, a variety of arts groups developed including: a pottery studio run since the mid-1960s by Marjorie Beecham; a craft group, still very active to this day; and music, 124 painting and drama groups. An offshoot of the drama group - a childrens creative dance class - was led by the 15-year-old local girl Yvonne Mitchell (now Yvonne Reid). Jo Laurence remembers helping out with these classes as disc jockey: 'We just used to rely on records for kids to dance to. So that was our regular Saturday activity, running the kids' classes and consequently, being involved with the drama group. Yvonne used to be very active in those early years on stage as an actress. And I used to do a lot of backstage things. Its hard to imagine it now, but I did have the job of stage manager a couple of times, and the job of doing costumes for the children, and that sort of thing. We all got involved with sets - set painting - and things like that. Its an evolution of exposure to the arts world around here through those sources from a young age.' (64 Jo Laurence, interview, 2 February 2001). In the 1980s and early 1990s the Association held childrens classes in painting and pottery. The Warrandyte Arts Association amalgamated with the Warrandyte Mechanics' Institute in 1986. For thirty years the Mechanics' Institute had been struggling to raise sufficient income for hall maintenance, so the Arts Association took over the Hall after a special public meeting at which the community approved the amalgamation and the effective transfer of the Institute’s property to the Arts Association. Thus the Association became the Warrandyte Mechanics' Institute and Arts Association (WMIAA). (65 Marjorie Beecham, personal communication, 16 July 2001; Pat Anderson ‘Warrandyte’s Very Own Hall: our special responsibility’, WMIAA Newsletter, March 2001)
Paradiddle. (Photo: KayMack)
Local players
It certainly attracts creative people, I think, this environment. All disciplines: sculptors, painters, potters, writers, musicians, dancers too, probably. It’s just that they are all hiding away in the bush and you don’t always know they’re there. Source: Jo Laurence, interview, 2 February 2001.
People living throughout Manningham have travelled to see Warrandyte Theatre Company performances: 'They had, and still have, a good dramatic society here and they put on wonderful plays'. (66 Nell Charlwood, interview, 14 June 2001). Today the players form one of the busiest WMIAA groups. They mount three or four major productions each year and are involved in performances for other community events, such as the re-enactment of the discovery of gold in Warrandyte on 30 June 2001. One highly successful annual event is The Follies, here described by Warrandyte Theatre Company member, Rae Danks: 'Every year we have The Follies at Warrandyte Festival time. We do songs, and sketches - a lot of them locally written - it’s a cabaret-type thing. We put The Follies on for two or three weeks in the Mechanics' Institute Hall. We set up trestle tables - we've just got new ones (the others were falling apart. I think they had been there since 1928!) - usually twelve tables of ten people (but twelve to fourteen generally squeeze around each table) and people bring their own food and drinks.' (67 Rae Danks, personal communication, 6 July 2001). Fortunate in a long line of talented musical directors, of whom Jack Stringer is the latest, the company has recently spawned a MANNINGHAM From Country to City singing group, Four in a Bar, which developed out of The Follies. (68 Pat Anderson, personal communication, 16 July 2001). There is lively community participation in the performing arts today and the Warrandyte Mechanics' Institute Hall is the venue at which much of this activity takes place.
Born out of a series of workshops, the Foote Street Theatre Company started performing in the municipality in 1975. Ed (Edgar) Seppings, a schoolteacher who wrote drama courses and plays for children, formed the youth theatre company, which gave rise to several other groups. In 1988 they performed plays, musicals and revues and conducted workshops; there were five levels of associated groups catering to different ages: performing company, touring company, youth theatre groups, senior and junior, and Doncaster-Templestowe Youth Theatre workshops. (69 Artlink, Winter 1986, p. 5; Artlink, Summer 1988, p. 5). In 2001 Ed Seppings still runs the Foote Street Theatre Company.
Th e Park Players do one operetta per year in the Warrandyte High School theatre. Based in Park Orchards, they attract young, semi professional performers to their highly successful shows. Students at Warrandyte High have the benefit of a dedicated and talented teacher and head of the Art Department, Chris White. Local artists wrote a musical, as a bicentenary production, for Warrandyte High, The Sallow Wattle (1988); Cliff Green wrote the script and Lee Tindale wrote lyrics to the score by Barry McKimm. M cK im m played trumpet with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for thirty years and since 1998 has conducted the Eltham Concert Band: ‘The Sallow Wattle was Cliff s brainchild a great story based on local folklore, I suppose. The whole aim was to involve the school com m unity and the local community, so all these professional artists helped: Carole Anne Gill and Terry Gill directed, Jock Macneish designed the set, Renee Maddocks helped the singers, Phoebe Briggs was repetiteur the list goes on!’ Source: Barry McKimm, personal communication, 16 July 2001; Cliff Green, personal communication, 11 July 2001.
The Doncaster Pocket Theatre was formed as a not-for-profit, daytime theatre group for women, after an advertisement was put in the local paper in 1974. No experience was necessary to join because the producer and director, Joan van Houten, undertook to train and guide all participants. In 1986 Pocket Theatre was one of four such theatres in the eastern uburbs of Melbourne and its repertoire contained a one-hour program of sketches, which the group performed as fund-raisers. Performing to various clubs and committees in the municipality, the Pocket Theatre demonstrates a sense of commitment to its local community. (70 Artlink, Autumn 1986, p. 2)
An intimate community theatre was created when funding became available through three sources: the Bicentennial Authority, Victorian Government and Local Government Authority, allowing the old Doncaster School building on Doncaster Road to be converted. The plan for the Doncaster Playhouse aimed to retain the buildings historic external appearance while incorporating an auditorium with a floor-level stage, tiered seating for an audience of 108, and amenities for performers and patrons. (71 Artlink, Autumn 1987, p. 6). The official opening in the Doncaster Playhouse was on 16 July 1988 and the first production was Cavalcade 200, a 'story of Doncaster and Templestowe in Drama, Song and Dance5 written by Irvine Green, music compiled by producer Ed Seppings, directed by Paddy Childs-Green and choreographed by Karen Walsh. (72 Artlink, Summer 1988, p. 7). The community theatre project arose in response to a perceived lack of facilities for staging the performing arts in the municipality. During the 1980s, increasing demand for venues made it 'difficult for a theatre group to hire a hall for the time needed to build a set, rehearse and give a series of performances'. (73 Artlink, Autumn 1987, p. 6). In 1984 the Council made available their Councillors' Lounge for music performances, recitations and exhibitions. (74 Artlink, September 1984). In 1985 performers still had to look outside Manningham for venues to mount their productions:
It is recognised that there is a shortage of adequate facilities, and it is important to ensure that local groups be encouraged to use what is available and to be able to plan their programmes with confidence. Too many groups still have to move outside the City for their activities, either to obtain suitable space or lower costs. (75 Artlink, Autumn 1985)
The venues that were available were not altogether satisfactory: 'A public hall is not ideal for a theatre; the flat floor makes viewing the stage difficult, and there can be technical problems in producing some shows'. (76 Artlink, Autumn 1987, p. 6). Despite the difficulties, however, performances have been mounted successfully for many years - local audiences forgive a few technical weaknesses if the performers, and community spirit, are strong.
Wonga Park folklore relates tales of early twentieth century performers, the Bright Lights Theatre Company and the Entertainers; there are also stories of comedy skits and songs in the Wonga Park Hall, and the production of A M idsum m er Night's Dream at St Marks Church. Source: Drew et al., 1984.
Author, author
Writers can be difficult people to track; they don't make much show or noise in crafting their art. Untold numbers of Manningham’s writers may contribute to anthologies of creative writing or attend book readings at the Manningham Gallery. In 1985, for example, Local Story Week was held from 1-5 May in the Doncaster Art Gallery, as one of the events organised by the Doncaster and Templestowe 150th Anniversary Committee. (77 In 1977, the local newspaper reported that a young local poet, Claire Stonia, was published in a compilation of ninety poems: ‘Young Poet’s Work’ DESM, 13 April 1977, p. 7; See also ‘City of Doncaster and Templestowe, Local Calendar of Events, Victoria’s 150th Anniversary’, Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society, ‘150 folder’, c. 1984). Manningham is also home to some writers who are more easily identified.
Peter Adams, who has had poetry published in the literary journal, Meanjin, has been inspired to write by his experience of living in Warrandyte and the passing of the orcharding era: 'I grew up with romantic things, beautiful things, such as an orchard in flower or in full fruit, and a sense of community with people who cooperated and generally were good to one another. These values and images of a rural upbringing leave their mark and give inspiration to write about it, particularly as it disappears. Maybe it’s the disappearing of it which drives you to record and to write about what you value.' (78 Peter Adams, interview, 16 May 2001).
Don Charlwood, author of biographical and historical texts as well as works of fiction, put only the finishing touches to his war memoir, No Moon Tonight (1956), while living in Templestowe; but his first novel, All the Green Year (1965), owed its existence to his experiences there. As he tells the story, All the Green Year had its beginnings in the 'shocks of teenage rebellion during the period of the Beatles' tour to Australia. At the same time as he was dealing with his childrens teenage rebellion, Charlwood’s father-in-law, who had a hearing difficulty, was living with them. Charlwood relates scenes that took place at the dining table as follows: his father-in-law, who was a great pacifist, would cry, 'The Americans should get out of Vietnam', while the kids would plead, 'We want to go and see the Beatles', 'and I'd be saying, ''Yes, the Americans should get out of Vietnam, and, no, you can't go to see the Beatles.'' One night Charlwood told his children he would put into a book all the trials of teenagers growing up, 'and one of them said 'What would you know about it, anyway?' And that’s how I came to write All the Green Year. I wrote about boys growing up, instead of girls, but that’s where the impetus came from and that was a Templestowe book.' Owing to the travel involved through his work recruiting air-traffic controllers, he actually wrote in all kinds of places but the atmosphere of 1960s Templestowe had a positive effect on his writing: 'I think the peace recharged my batteries, so, although I didn't do so much of the actual writing at home, I recharged my batteries at home'. (79 Don Charlwood, interview, 14 June 2001. D on Charlwood wrote ten books and received an AM for ‘contributions to Australian literature’ while living at Templestowe)
Doncaster/Templestowe Theatre Group rehearses, 1979. (Photo: KayMack) By the early 1970s the group used the Templestowe Memorial Hall twice-yearly for their productions.
Dramatic effect
Amongst other forms of art, writing is celebrated as part of the Warrandyte Festival: 'During the Warrandyte Festival they have an evening of creative writers who read their poems or essays or stories at the local pub; it goes off very well, they're getting more and more crowds every time'. (80 Nell Charlwood, interview, 14 June 2001). The best known of Warrandyte’s writers moved there at the beginning of 1969 and since then has figured in pivotal Australian screenwriting. Cliff Green had previously worked as a primary head teacher at various country schools. While he was trying to break into scriptwriting he was offered a staff position at Crawford Productions: 'I knew I'd have to move near Melbourne to work at Crawfords but, after nine years in the country, I couldn't contemplate living in the suburbs. We had friends here, and Warrandyte attracted me enormously.' Green worked at Crawford Productions for three years on television series including Homicide and Matlock Police. As a freelance writer after he left his staff position in 1972, Green mostly wrote for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC): 'From 1972 to 1980 were very productive years at the ABC'. Green’s first adult drama for the ABC was the film Marion (c. 1973). More recent work for the ABC includes Phoenix, Janus and Mercury (early 1990s), television series which owed their realism to the first-hand observation the writers were permitted in their research of the actual workplaces depicted. (81 Cliff Green, personal communication, 11 July 2001)
One of several movie scripts Green has written is the adaptation of Joan Lindsays novel, the Australian classic, Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). In a way, Green was chosen to write that screenplay because of the place where he lived: cJoan Lindsay had the right in her contract to approve the director and the screenwriter. Now, she was one who didn't believe in coincidence, she had a sixth or seventh sense that everything was pre-ordained. And, because she was related to Penleigh Boyd, she used to come out to Warrandyte to visit him, so when she knew I lived in Warrandyte, she said, 'Oh, you'll be alright, then'.' When Green wrote the original film Break of Day, it contained stories that were based on Warrandyte. It was about a woman painter and had shades of Clara Southern. The stories and character of the place where a writer lives are bound to appear in their material, at least in some fictional form, but Warrandyte offers something additional, although what it is exactly is difficult to define: 'Its very hard to put your finger on - it’s about the creativity of the place that makes it so conducive'. (82 Cliff Green, personal communication, 11 July 2001)
Meeting of minds
In Warrandyte at the beginning of the 1970s, a group of artists decided that good food, (at least passable) wine and good fellowship would counter their generally solitary employment. Cliff Green was one of the members of this group: CI think the idea to do it probably came from David Moore, a painter of some note, who lived opposite (in Webb Street). I think I came up with the name - 'The Lonely Arts Club'.' The Lonely Arts Club was a dinner group for people who worked in the arts, providing one another mutual support. The Club met at members' homes and studios: £We usually got it catered so no-one had to cook and we drank a lot of rough red wine. Anyway, it lasted for a few years, but fell apart because artists are useless organisers'. All kinds of artists were in the Club. Jock Macneish was in it as well as painters and potters, and other writers included Don Charlwood and Sonia Borg. Borg lived in Wonga Park and had worked with Cliff Green at Crawford Productions since 1969: 'Sonia was a producer at Crawfords and she hired me. We collaborated on the adaptation of Alan Marshall’s I Can Jump Puddles, Power Without Glory, Rush and such. We've script edited one another’s scripts. She was very modest and quiet, very dedicated'. Borg also collaborated with Hyllus Maris on Women of the Sun, a ground-breaking television drama about Aboriginal women: 'Women of the Sun was the first Aboriginal-European script collaboration of its type'. (83 Cliff Green, personal communication, 11 July 2001)
Of the municipal border between Nillumbik and Manningham, formed by the Yarra at Warrandyte, Cliff Green has the following to say: ‘We don’t accept that line; we are all Warrandytians - it doesn’t matter on which side of the river we live. The thing about Warrandyte is - people get a great deal of satisfaction out of doing things locally - using their talents in the community, and doing things to a very high standard. I always say, if you want an expert on something, they’ll probably live in Warrandyte - it might take you a while to find them, but they’ll be there. I have a pet theory as to why Warrandyte is the way it is. The most important thing for Warrandyte, apart from the discovery of gold, was that Clara Southern came here and she married a miner. There has never been any division in Warrandyte between the artists and the artisans. Montsalvat could never happen here - the idea of artists living behind a wall is just not Warrandyte. The Warrandyte Arts Association started as a coalition of amateur and professional artists. It’s that level of integration that has a lot to do with Warrandyte’s success. It’s a very, very democratic place. Nobody thinks anything of people wanting to grow up to be an artist or a plumber.’ Source: Cliff Green, personal communication, 11 July 2001.
One of the ideas that sprang from the meeting of creative minds at the Lonely Arts Club was a Warrandyte scholarship to give encouragement and financial support to young artists. Green recalls: cWe all thought what a great thing it would be to set up a scholarship for young artists. The only problem was, artists themselves are an impecunious lot, and we had no money to back up the idea.' It was not until John Cox, a member of the Warrandyte Lions Club, went to Green in the late 1980s or early 1990s for help with ideas for a scholarship scheme that the Lonely Arts Club plan could be revived: 'The Lions Club wanted to instigate a different kind of scholarship - not like most others, where the smartest kid at the school wins/ The Warrandyte Youth Arts Award, currently worth $7,000, is given every second year and is open to people under 25 years of age working in any arts media, 'from paint to jewellery to computer graphics . It is important to note that candidates are assessed on unusu- al criteria: the award is not for artists who have a completed body of work but is for one who shows promise and is at a stage when further professional development is deemed most crucial. Jock Macneish, who has always been heavily involved, is central to the process. £To judge each entrant we find three of the best specialists in the field - top professionals - and we never get knocked back, even though its voluntary. They separately assess the young candidates according to the criteria we give them, and then we debrief them. If we get three glowing reports, we know that particular artist must be good. (84 Cliff Green, personal communication, 11 July 2001; further information courtesy Farley Kelly)
The elements that inspire, generate and foster art have always existed in Manningham. From the palpable atmosphere of Warrandyte to the myriad sights and sounds of rural, suburban and urban life, Manningham is made of places where arts and crafts can thrive. This is something in which Manningham's artists and art lovers alike take pride.
Source: Barbara Pertzel & Fiona Walters, Manningham: from country to city, Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2001. Manningham Council granted permission to reproduce the book contents in full on this website in May2023. The book is no longer available for sale, but hard copies of the original are available for viewing at DTHS Museum as well as Manningham library and many other libraries.
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