Here I am, writing about other people’s exhibitions and I don’t think I’ve mentioned the exhibition I’m most closely involved with- A Brush with Heidelberg, at the Heidelberg Historical Society closing on Sunday 27 November 2016.
As you would know if you live in Melbourne, Heidelberg has a long connection with artists. Most famously, the ‘Heidelberg School’ of Australian Impressionists (Roberts, McCubbin, Streeton, Withers etc) stayed in Eaglemont during the 1890s and painted ‘en plein air’ in Heidelberg and the surrounding districts. Then, there’s Heide, named for Heidelberg, across the river where John and Sunday Reed attracted modernist painters like Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and Joy Hester.
But other artists- some well known, others less so- have been attracted to Heidelberg, painting the river and its surroundings and also the quaint village of Heidelberg which somehow retained some of its earlier charm.
This exhibition has reproductions and original paintings of Heidelberg scenes, juxtaposed where possible with photographs of the same vista today. If you know Heidelberg at all, you’ll see familiar buildings and landscapes, and perhaps learn about the history of the building or the painter.
The exhibition, located at the old courthouse in Jika Street (opposite Heidelberg Gardens) is open on Sundays between 2.00 and 5.00 p.m. Entry is $5.00. The exhibition is on for only a few weeks more, closing at the end of November on Sunday November 27.
And we were delighted to receive a commendation for our exhibition at the 2017 Victorian Community History Awards.
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 
Some long time ago, I was delighted to see the explanatory posters in Heidelberg, describing the viewpoints across the landscape, painted by the Australian Impressionists (especially Roberts, McCubbin, Streeton). Are they still there?
Yes, they are part of the Heidelberg School Artist’s Trail that goes through Melbourne, from Warrandyte, through Heidelberg, to the Dandenong Ranges. The boards are still there, although some have disappeared and others are in poor repair. There’s a map of the Heidelberg boards at http://www.heidelbergcentral.com.au/pages/view/large_map_trail_information_1