Last weekend of school holidays at Bayside GalleryÂ
Join us at Brighton Town Hall for Art Tree by Polyglot Theatre and find your magic, connect through colouring, and draw â everywhere!
The Great Art Detective is the ultimate gallery game these holidays. Follow the clues in our exhibitions Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection and Encounters with Port Phillip Bay, and if you crack the case, youâll earn a limited-edition exhibition badge to show off to your mates. Create your own artwork inspired by Gregory Alexanderâs 10 Wednesdays at Ricketts Point to add to our display wall or take home.
Looking for an activity that can be done on-the-go? Get your creative juices flowing and enter the Ellen JosÊ Student Reconciliation Awards.
Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition supported by The Australian Government through Visions of Australia.
Bayside Gallery open ANZAC Day â¤ď¸
Itâs the final weekend to visit our current exhibitions Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection and Encounters with Port Phillip Bay.
Bayside Gallery will be open from 1pm to 5pm on Saturday 25 April.
Art Tree by Polyglot Theatre đł
Art Tree by Polyglot Theatre invites you to a gentle, creative play space with natural materials. Find your magic, connect through colouring, and draw â everywhere! Spread your branches and reach for the sky, you are the art.
Using colourful paint pens, children and families can make their mark on locally foraged natural materials such as leaves, sticks and seed pods. Together with Polyglot artists, everyone adds to a community of sculpted trees. Play with wands, trace a line on the floor and explore the drawing branches of Art Tree.
When:Â On until Saturday 18 April
Time:Â Drop-in sessions:Â 10:30am to 12:30pm | 2pm to 4pm
Where:Â Brighton Town Hall
Suitable for: Families and children aged 3-10 years. All children must be accompanied by a parent / guardian. Due to the size and nature of some materials, children under 3 must be closely supervised, and we recommend that extra adults attend.
Cost:Â FREE
Polyglot Theatre is assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts funding and advisory body, and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
You’re invited to the 2026 Bayside Painting Prize opening event đźď¸
Her Worship the Mayor, Cr Debbie Taylor-Haynes and Councillors of Bayside City Council invite you to the opening of the 2026 Bayside Painting Prize.
Exhibition dates:Â 1Â May to 14 June
The Bayside Painting Prize is a celebration of contemporary Australian painting. The finalist exhibition brings together a broad range of artists from across Australia, whose varied approaches to the painted medium convey the breadth and diversity of Australian painting.
Featuring a non-acquisitive Major Prize of $25,000, a $10,000 Beckett Local Prize (acquisitive), and a $1,000 Peopleâs Choice Award, this is the only annual painting prize held in Melbourne and provides a fresh insight into current practice.
This year’s judges are Jacqueline Doughty, Assistant Director-Curatorial, Art Gallery of Ballarat; Dr Shelley McSpedden, Senior Curator & Head of Exhibitions, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne; and Joanna Bosse, Curator, Bayside Gallery.
When:Â Thursday 30 April
Time:Â 6pm to 8pm
Where: Bayside Gallery, Corner Wilson Street and Carpenter Streets, Brighton
Opening event bookings are essential. Please RSVP by Wednesday 29 April.
Last chance to win â¨
Calling all Bayside primary and secondary school students đŁ
Do you enjoy art or creative writing? Enter the Ellen JosĂŠ Student Reconciliation Awards these school holidays and express what reconciliation means to you in a sport jersey design or writing piece. Thereâs up to $500 awarded in each category.
Artwork templates are available from your local Bayside Library or on our website.
Entries close Thursday 30 April.
Image/art credits in order of appearance:
1. 1&4: Encounters with Port Phillip Bay 2026, installation views, Bayside Gallery. Photos: Mark Ashkanasy. 2-3: Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection 2026, installation views, Bayside Gallery. Photos: Mark Ashkanasy.
3. Art Tree 2024, Abbotsford Convent. Photo: Sarah Walker.
5. Artwork courtesy Alan M, Sandringham East Primary School, winner of the Prep to Year 3 category of the Ellen JosĂŠ Student Reconciliation Awards 2025.
