Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
4.5
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4.5
48 reviews
Excellent
24
Very good
19
Average
2
Poor
3
Terrible
0
Traveller88Melbourne
Melbourne705 contributions
Apr 2021 • Friends
Beautifully situated amongst landscaped parkland, civic - gymnastic centre & rose garden - this regional gallery is not big but well appointed for smaller exhibitions. One hour will suffice. Plenty of parking, in house clean amenities & a small retail area selling pretty giftware & arty stuff.
The current "Overwintering" special exhibition is about fast diminishing migratory shorebirds. Various artists have contributed in different mediums - painting, linocut, lithographs, fabric, metal, plants, wood etc to convey the flight, plight & conservation efforts to preserve these birds that call our Westernport shoreline home for parts of the year. Aesthetically pleasing & educational.
The foyer currently has delightful nature paintings of Lauren Guymer.
The current "Overwintering" special exhibition is about fast diminishing migratory shorebirds. Various artists have contributed in different mediums - painting, linocut, lithographs, fabric, metal, plants, wood etc to convey the flight, plight & conservation efforts to preserve these birds that call our Westernport shoreline home for parts of the year. Aesthetically pleasing & educational.
The foyer currently has delightful nature paintings of Lauren Guymer.
Written 29 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
phebianMelbourne
Eaglemont, Australia1,019 contributions
Sept 2023 • Couples
What an interesting experience. Well worth a visit. There were some amazing portraits there. Interestingly, the local schools had been invited to submit portraits to compliment the Archbald. My winning portrait came from a local school
Written 1 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeffry b
Essendon, Australia13,742 contributions
Oct 2023 • Family
The Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery has a number of exhibitions, most recently, a touring collection of the Archibald Prize 2023. It's the 100th anniversary of the Archibald Prize. The portraits come in a wide variety of styles, it's certainly fascinating. The Archibald is Australia's most prominent art prize. The Gallery is in a good location, it's a feature of the Mornington Peninsula.
Written 20 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ann T
Pascoe Vale, Australia1,393 contributions
Jun 2022
I've learnt to love Victorian's regional galleries but this is not one of them. Of course, that could just be because of the current exhibition which completely left me cold. I will try again but it wasn't a stimulating or interesting place on this visit.
Written 12 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
fishley2016
Melbourne, Australia84 contributions
Jan 2018 • Friends
The gallery has interesting exhibitions of well- known artists from time to time and often displays historic photos of the Peninsula area. It's a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
Written 1 April 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Frog-Aus
Box Hill, Australia381 contributions
Sept 2022
I went to see the current exhibition about work on paper. The friendly young man at reception was very helpful and enthusiastic and we had a nice chat about the exhibition and art6ists
Written 24 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter S
Rome, Italy4,811 contributions
Jul 2021
Review of Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
The small town of Mornington is one of our favourite places on the Peninsula – straight down the M11 Hwy less than an hour from the SE city suburbs and, once there, an attractive choice of shops and cafes, and a town centre that extends down to a gorgeous sea/beach front - to explore/enjoy. This time, however, we had our sights set on the local railway which for >100 years had linked the town to places north, but then got left behind as transport priorities changed. We wanted to explore the historical centre where the station and marshalling yards had once been located … and which is now home to one more ubiquitous shopping mall. We found a handful of railway memorabilia to one side of the pavement looking rather forlorn. Then we needed to find out more about the heritage line at Moorooduc Station.
Before that, however, there was the contrast with the Mornington Regional Art Gallery (the MPRG) – small, compact, exquisite, full-of- (art) life and interesting. Friendly custodian too. Sure, you can walk there from the town centre but, for first timers the car was an easier option. You’ll find the place out in the suburbs about a kilometre from town in the delightfully green and landscaped Civic Reserve – in reality a 30 ha park with some good entertainment facilities – skating, bowling club, recreation centre and a botanical rose garden. There’s the art gallery too. The place is on the corner of Tyabb Road and Dunns Road. Drive into the reserve and park outside the front of the art gallery. Easy.
Contemporary reporting describes the gallery with modest beginnings in a weatherboard house in the suburbs of Mornington 100 years ago; officially opened 50 years ago in the Civic Centre and then the move into a dedicated building 30 years ago. That first impression of modernity remains – the curved roof of the entrance way – couple of rectangular windows/eyes looking down at you with that wide automatic doorway with dark glass that opens as you approach (as if to swallow you) and inviting you into a large exhibition-cum-entrance hall with services, custodian, shop with stacked racks and more, to the right.
Entry was free-of-charge.
Those initial impressions roll through – smart, well-appointed, spacious interior – high walls reaching to high ceilings – accentuated by the black and white décor throughout; the rectangles, right angles and straight lines that provide the background for the exhibits (and, for some, tend to overwhelm). Comfortable, womb-like, escapism … and, for us mid-afternoon, empty. Apart from the custodian, we had the place to ourselves. Times of Covid-19, of course.
This contrasts with contemporary reporting of 48,000 attendees back in 2013 for the annual exhibition of Archibald paintings – what, twice the population of Mornington; exhibition numbers of which to dream, and the prestigious nature and national/state interest, sometimes controversial, of this much cherished painting competition. The current year is the centenary anniversary of the Archibald with the 2021 exhibition scheduled exclusively for the Gippsland Art Gallery in Sale in Oct-Nov/21 – just the one stop in Victoria.
For the most part, however, 50 years of the MPRG have been more than sufficient time in which to develop a reputation as the artistic centre for the peninsular with focus upon the unique quality of the light, sea/landscape and natural environment that presents itself - encouraging today’s local artists to explore their creativity, and to build upon the work/times of those earlier artists who once called the peninsula home.
It also helps that the gallery is the national home to the biennial National Works on Paper Award celebrating artwork that is paper based – drawing, printing, sculpture, etc. The Award comprises three component awards – each with a cash prize - and with the associated submissions displayed in the gallery. The next Award is scheduled for Sept-Nov/22.
None of this, however, detracts from the two-fold reality/aim of modern galleries everywhere - first, to capture the interest of their local community sufficient to entice them into the gallery; and second, this thing about cultural relevance – the pleasure, challenge and encouragement that comes, for example with focus upon local artists, displaying collections with messages, attracting touring exhibitions and, a feature that we caught during our visit, highlighting the work of women artists.
There have, of course, always been women artists but protocols, customs, conformity, and prejudice have typically put them at a disadvantage to their male contemporaries; and, not least, with the norms that existed throughout >200 years of first colonial and then national development. Not unexpectedly, the immigrants brought with them their preconceived socio-economic-political opinions of their (mainly) European forebears, which included gender bias/inequality.
Want to know more? Check out the podcasts offered by the MRPG and/or the ‘Walk through with Locals’ guided tours courtesy of their webpages.
Ours had been a casual visit, however, and we had not appreciated the current focus - we were there in July – during an exhibition of work by women artists from the gallery collection that spanned >90 years. The exhibition was linked to the publication of a book in appreciation of women artists. (Photos attached show the work of Margaret Preston, Jennie Watson & Mandy Gunn.)
In the large full-width exhibition room towards the rear of the gallery there was a more challenging offering from 10 artists of landscape images entitled ‘Surreal Landscapes’. Images were both static and moving; they requested you the viewer to explore the subtly, strangeness, dreamlike and absurd interpretations that could be made when considering the background – the historical, personal or social contexts that may apply. A challenging exhibition then - and not easy to appreciate. Having explored selected images up close, walk down the centre of the exhibition and take in the moving images that catch the eye from a distance but not, perhaps, sufficient to encourage you to explore further.
It was interesting and different, but time was racing - we had a train to catch that afternoon.
Peter Steele
29 August 2021
The small town of Mornington is one of our favourite places on the Peninsula – straight down the M11 Hwy less than an hour from the SE city suburbs and, once there, an attractive choice of shops and cafes, and a town centre that extends down to a gorgeous sea/beach front - to explore/enjoy. This time, however, we had our sights set on the local railway which for >100 years had linked the town to places north, but then got left behind as transport priorities changed. We wanted to explore the historical centre where the station and marshalling yards had once been located … and which is now home to one more ubiquitous shopping mall. We found a handful of railway memorabilia to one side of the pavement looking rather forlorn. Then we needed to find out more about the heritage line at Moorooduc Station.
Before that, however, there was the contrast with the Mornington Regional Art Gallery (the MPRG) – small, compact, exquisite, full-of- (art) life and interesting. Friendly custodian too. Sure, you can walk there from the town centre but, for first timers the car was an easier option. You’ll find the place out in the suburbs about a kilometre from town in the delightfully green and landscaped Civic Reserve – in reality a 30 ha park with some good entertainment facilities – skating, bowling club, recreation centre and a botanical rose garden. There’s the art gallery too. The place is on the corner of Tyabb Road and Dunns Road. Drive into the reserve and park outside the front of the art gallery. Easy.
Contemporary reporting describes the gallery with modest beginnings in a weatherboard house in the suburbs of Mornington 100 years ago; officially opened 50 years ago in the Civic Centre and then the move into a dedicated building 30 years ago. That first impression of modernity remains – the curved roof of the entrance way – couple of rectangular windows/eyes looking down at you with that wide automatic doorway with dark glass that opens as you approach (as if to swallow you) and inviting you into a large exhibition-cum-entrance hall with services, custodian, shop with stacked racks and more, to the right.
Entry was free-of-charge.
Those initial impressions roll through – smart, well-appointed, spacious interior – high walls reaching to high ceilings – accentuated by the black and white décor throughout; the rectangles, right angles and straight lines that provide the background for the exhibits (and, for some, tend to overwhelm). Comfortable, womb-like, escapism … and, for us mid-afternoon, empty. Apart from the custodian, we had the place to ourselves. Times of Covid-19, of course.
This contrasts with contemporary reporting of 48,000 attendees back in 2013 for the annual exhibition of Archibald paintings – what, twice the population of Mornington; exhibition numbers of which to dream, and the prestigious nature and national/state interest, sometimes controversial, of this much cherished painting competition. The current year is the centenary anniversary of the Archibald with the 2021 exhibition scheduled exclusively for the Gippsland Art Gallery in Sale in Oct-Nov/21 – just the one stop in Victoria.
For the most part, however, 50 years of the MPRG have been more than sufficient time in which to develop a reputation as the artistic centre for the peninsular with focus upon the unique quality of the light, sea/landscape and natural environment that presents itself - encouraging today’s local artists to explore their creativity, and to build upon the work/times of those earlier artists who once called the peninsula home.
It also helps that the gallery is the national home to the biennial National Works on Paper Award celebrating artwork that is paper based – drawing, printing, sculpture, etc. The Award comprises three component awards – each with a cash prize - and with the associated submissions displayed in the gallery. The next Award is scheduled for Sept-Nov/22.
None of this, however, detracts from the two-fold reality/aim of modern galleries everywhere - first, to capture the interest of their local community sufficient to entice them into the gallery; and second, this thing about cultural relevance – the pleasure, challenge and encouragement that comes, for example with focus upon local artists, displaying collections with messages, attracting touring exhibitions and, a feature that we caught during our visit, highlighting the work of women artists.
There have, of course, always been women artists but protocols, customs, conformity, and prejudice have typically put them at a disadvantage to their male contemporaries; and, not least, with the norms that existed throughout >200 years of first colonial and then national development. Not unexpectedly, the immigrants brought with them their preconceived socio-economic-political opinions of their (mainly) European forebears, which included gender bias/inequality.
Want to know more? Check out the podcasts offered by the MRPG and/or the ‘Walk through with Locals’ guided tours courtesy of their webpages.
Ours had been a casual visit, however, and we had not appreciated the current focus - we were there in July – during an exhibition of work by women artists from the gallery collection that spanned >90 years. The exhibition was linked to the publication of a book in appreciation of women artists. (Photos attached show the work of Margaret Preston, Jennie Watson & Mandy Gunn.)
In the large full-width exhibition room towards the rear of the gallery there was a more challenging offering from 10 artists of landscape images entitled ‘Surreal Landscapes’. Images were both static and moving; they requested you the viewer to explore the subtly, strangeness, dreamlike and absurd interpretations that could be made when considering the background – the historical, personal or social contexts that may apply. A challenging exhibition then - and not easy to appreciate. Having explored selected images up close, walk down the centre of the exhibition and take in the moving images that catch the eye from a distance but not, perhaps, sufficient to encourage you to explore further.
It was interesting and different, but time was racing - we had a train to catch that afternoon.
Peter Steele
29 August 2021
Written 29 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
EndlessTravels
Greater Melbourne, Australia38,672 contributions
Dec 2019
I’ve seen a number of excellent exhibitions at this gallery over the years. The current exhibition- Sublime Sea - is a another interesting one to catch.
Written 17 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Penelope K
26 contributions
Feb 2018 • Couples
There are many different exhibitions displayed at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. Displaying local artists, and visitors from other regions. You can join as a member, where you are informed of all events that take place throughout the year. If you love your art, this is a must.
Written 29 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brodie G
Australia44 contributions
Oct 2018 • Friends
MPRG should be on every art lover's list when visiting the Mornington Peninsula. The work changes on a regular basis, it is always exciting and of an international standard but a little of the beaten track so you need to look. After a stroll around the space, browse in the shop or haggle your opinions over a brew in the foyer cafe. Outside is a stunning Rose garden when in bloom and a short walk will find you meditating by the lake or recharging your artistic ideas at another Gallery, The Oakhill Gallery
Written 7 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Will the archibald be on again this year?
Do you have an exhibition regarding Lady Diana?
Written 17 May 2018
Hi Monika:
No, there aren't any exhibitions on Lady Diana Spencer at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery.
The Archibald Prize 2018 is a touring exhibition and it will be in Geelong 22 September - 18 November 2018.
And it's in three New South Wales regional cities too - Orange; Lismore and Tamworth.
I hope this helps!
Written 17 May 2018
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