Art trails: Gippsland jewels

This trail begins at Langwarrin, forty-five minutes drive from the centre of Melbourne and passes through the city of Morwell to finish in the riverside city of Sale. The waterways of this region were important natural features that led to the establishment of urban centres by the first Europeans in the mid 1800s. Today the area is well known for its heavy industry and Gippsland is one of the biggest producers of open-cut mining in the country.

McClelland Gallery

The trail starts with the McClelland Gallery in Langwarrin near Frankston. The McClelland Gallery is a modern gallery which features a beautiful sculpture park filled with diverse contemporary works in steel, bronze, wood and basalt.

Latrobe Regional Gallery

Travel east to arrive in Morwell, in the heart of the Latrobe Valley and home to the Latrobe Regional Gallery. The area is renowned as the birthplace of Australian Studio Glass and the gallery has an impressive collection of works in glass as well as a rich collection of contemporary Australian painting, sculpture and ceramics post-1971.

Gippsland Art Gallery

Continue east to arrive in Sale at the junction of the La Trobe and Thomson rivers. While grazing and agriculture remain important activities in this area, Sale is now most active as a service centre for the offshore oilfields and local associated industries. The Gippsland Art Gallery has a collection of locally-inspired works and houses several temporary exhibitions a year.

Pictured above from left are: a snippet from the virtual reality tour of La Trobe Regional Gallery, Untitled by Mike Brown (Gippsland Art Gallery) and a view of the sculpture park at McClelland Gallery.