The Convent Gallery is located in the

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

region of Daylesford, in Central

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The Convent Gallery's origins date back to the 1860s gold rush, home to the Gold Commissioner, and then known as 'Blarney Castle'. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

purchased the building in the 1880s for the local parish presbytery, where it was home to the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

for ten years. In 1891

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Thomas Joseph Carr Thomas Joseph Carr (10 May 1839 – 6 May 1917) was the second Roman Catholic archbishop of Melbourne, Australia. Early life Carr was born near Moylough, Galway, Ireland, and educated at St Jarlath's College, Tuam, and at St Patrick's College, ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

envisaged a "source of light and edification" for the Central Victorian community of

Daylesford, Victoria Daylesford is a spa town located in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, within the Shire of Hepburn, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately 108 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. First established in 1852 as a gold-mini ...

. In 1892, the building was deemed appropriate for

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s and boarders and the Holy Cross

Convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for girls was opened. It was the first Victorian establishment outside of Melbourne by the

Presentation Sisters The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by the Venerable Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The Sisters of the congre ...

. In 1904 the new

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

was completed and in 1927 the parlour, dormitory and music rooms were added. The convent lacked adequate heating and required a large amount of upkeep, inside and out. In the 1970s it was decided that more suitable accommodation should be found for the nuns. The school was closed in 1973 and at the suggestion of the head nun Sister Mary Agatha Murphy, the building was presented in 1975 by the parish of St Peter's to the wider community of Daylesford for its use as a

Community Center Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

for arts and education under the direction of a Committee of Management. By the end of 1977, 28 local groups were using it every week with an average weekly attendance of 250 people. It was sold in 1988, needing a great deal of repair and restoration. It was sold to Tina Banitska, a well-known local

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

ceramicist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whi ...

. The building retains many of its Victorian architectural features, and is located on the slope of Wombat Hill overlooking the Central Highlands twin towns of Daylesford and

Hepburn Springs The traditional land of the Dja Dja Wurrung, Hepburn Springs is a resort town located in the middle of the largest concentration of mineral springs in Australia, situated in Victoria, 48 km northeast of Ballarat. At the , Hepburn had a ...

. The Convent now houses eight individual galleries, featuring new local and international artists every 8 weeks, the original restored chapel, a museum with the history of the building set up by the nuns themselves, retail selling one-off clothing and jewellery pieces, pottery, local wines and produce, a Mediterranean style cafe`, New York style

penthouse apartment A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distingui ...

, two glass fronted architecturally designed function rooms, Daylesford's first world class wine bar, scenic views and of picturesque gardens.

References

The information on this page is the history recorded by the nuns, from the order of the

who once taught at the school, and the ex-students who once attended. Some of the information is taken from the Convent History book, written by Brenda Morgan,

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

journalist with The Australian Newspaper, published in 1991 Arrarat. Historical Information sourced from the archives of the Presentation Convent, Windsor, Melbourne, Victoria. The part about the Community Education center is sourced from the Daylesford newspaper of 1977 and a poem written by Canon Page, Anglican Vicar of Daylesford called The "Center" of Attention written 9/12/1977

References

External links

*http://www.conventgallery.com.au/ {{coord, 37, 20, 31.19, S, 144, 08, 53.86, E, display=title, region:AU_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Art museums and galleries in Victoria (Australia)