Open 10am – 4pm
Saturdays and Sundays
14th – 29th 2026
Opening
6pm Thursday 26th March
Hub will be open from 5pm
Free Entry
Gold coin donations are welcome!
Life with Birds – John Wolseley and Geoff Park
A joint exhibition of works to celebrate birds and the landscapes they inhabit.
in conversation, 6pm Friday 27th March
John and Geoff will discuss their experiences of engaging with landscapes and the creatures that inhabit these places. They will share stories, insights and ideas from lives of observing, documenting and wondering about nature … with a special emphasis on bird life.
Newstead Arts Hub will be open from 5pm for this event.
Since moving to Australia in 1978, John Wolseley has immersed himself in the landscape, an approach which has given rise to a variety of different ways of collaborating with the land itself. His large scale works on paper, watercolours and installations are often based around scientific themes.
Geoff Park is an ecologist, wildlife photographer and field naturalist with a 60-year obsession with birds. Since 2008 with his Natural Newstead blog Geoff has been documenting the nature of the Newstead district through writing and photography with a particular focus on birds.
Life with Birds is an immersive celebration of the birds and woodland ecosystems of central Victoria curated by Geoff Park, presented by Newstead Arts Hub in partnership with Castlemaine State Festival.
Life with Bird brings together a distinguished range of collaborators – artists, photographers, sound recordists, field naturalists, scientists and writers. The various events enable participants to enjoy and learn whilst on the path to a deeper appreciation of the richness of our bird life – which is facing many challenges, especially that of global climate change.
The proceeds of this diverse and rich program of events will be dedicated to a community designed citizen science woodland bird conservation project in central Victoria and to the Newstead Arts Hub.
