This is a painting competition where you can create your entry into this Paint the Gardens art competition.
You could bring a picnic along to the beautiful heritage listed Williamstown Botanic Gardens and enjoy their popular outdoor exhibition which showcases the talents of local artists. Bring the family and experience free art workshops, musical entertainment, walking tours, face painting and more. Refreshments will be available on the day.
For some 163 years, this delightful spot has seen many visitors who have enjoyed its twisting paths, crammed shrubs, elegant trees and cool green lawns.
There are patterns of light right through the gardens with fascinating leaf shapes, unusual looking bark, pretty birds and insects and so much more.
Paint the Gardens with its theme of Shapes and Patterns of Williamstown Botanic Gardens now invites you to share a secret vista - your favourite plant or a tree you like or a memory of times past. The competition is to paint what you love about these gardens.
This will be held on 29th April 2019 from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm and they are situated at Osborne Street, Williamstown. The competition presentations will be at 3.00 pm.
The prizes for this competition are as follows:
OPEN
Highly commended: $150 plus $50 voucher
People's choice: $150 plus $50 voucher
2 x highly commended: $50 voucher(s)
These gardens are nestled by the ocean and have some rare and significant trees. A formal palm avenue and a charming Edwardian ornamental pond are among its many attractions.
The Williamstown Botanic Gardens opened in 1860 and they still provide a peaceful setting in which to enjoy a picnic. They are also great for a walk along the intricate pathways or just relax on the cool green lawns.
The gardens were designed by Edward La Trobe Bateman who also designed the Carlton Gardens adjacent to the Exhibition Buildings. By the year 1859, the gardens had been set out and the garden beds had been dug and plantings had begun.
They received donations of plants, seed and cuttings from Ferdinand von Mueller, who was a director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and Daniel Bunce, who was the first curator of the Geelong Botanic Gardens.
As the site was near the ocean, it received coastal winds and they had to plant shelter plantings of wattles and other fast-growing species. These were first established to protect the rare and vulnerable plants that were then introduced.
The Friends of Williamstown Botanic Gardens Inc. is a voluntary organisation established in 2009, just before the garden's 150th anniversary in 2010. It is one of around fifty groups throughout Australia that support and promote a variety of botanic and other public gardens.
The gardens were formally opened in January 1860.
The gardens are an easy 10 minute walk from the ferry service in Commonwealth Reserve. They are also just a few minutes from the Williamstown Beach Railway Station and access is good with firm gravel paths and facilities nearby.
Williamstown Botanic Gardens were one of Victoria's first public gardens and are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as significant for their
"historical, aesthetic, scientific (horticultural) and social significance to the state of Victoria." They are also listed on the National Register and classified by The National Trust of Australia (Vic.)
For more information on the event, click on their
Facebook page.
