Lisa Dennis
The newly created RedShed Arts Workshop in the former Railway Goods Shed at Newstead will finally open its doors this Saturday.
The community and local artists are invited to go along and be part of the opening celebration that has been some nine years in the making.
VicTrack contractors have been busy completing the finishing touches on the building in recent weeks and the not-for-profit community group has begun the process of fitting it out for purpose and can’t wait to show it off.
Newstead residents Bob Clutterbuck and Carol Porter – who have had long careers in the arts and especially printmaking and screen-printing – and their dedicated committee have been the driving forces behind the project.
Bob being a member of Melbourne’s renowned Red Letter Press and Carol being a member of Red Letter Press and later Red Planet – back in the 1980s and 90s.
Posters and t-shirts created by the organisations were legendary, bold, colourful and an important piece of our social history – a way the community members shared their events and championed their causes, well before the creation of social media.
The pair said the local project had been in development for more than nine years after the group initially opened discussions with VicTrack about building a shed next to the adjacent Newstead Arts Hub in the former railway station building.
“We weren’t able to erect a shed on the land due to heritage restrictions, but we opened a dialogue about the restoration of the Goods Shed as a potential space for the organisation,” Bob said.
The building has been restored as part of VicTrack’s Community Use of Vacant Railway Buildings Program.
Works on the building began back in April with the floor levelled out, the walls painted and the roofing repaired, and amenities installed.
“The floor used to tamper down towards the track so goods could be rolled onto the trains, which used to drive straight into the shed. It has taken extensive work to level the floor alone and cover it in floating floorboards to make it suitable for use,” Carol said.
The RedShed Arts Workshop committee has been busy building benches and installing equipment it has purchased and has been donated to prepare the space for use.
The RedShed Arts Workshop will be opening early next year with classes for artists and community members who want to learn new skills in the fields of painting, drawing and printmaking. There will also be art forums and art-based activities for all. Watch this space.
The community can visit the new venue, accessed via Church Street just over the tracks from the Newstead Arts Hub, between 2pm and 4pm this Saturday October 29.
There will also be an ‘Artists Information Day’ this Sunday from 2pm to 4pm for local artists to learn more about the project and join the dialogue on plans for classes and workshops.
