How this former tobacco farm was transformed into art wonderland
Landscape architect Jill Burness describes her latest project as both a labour of love and an environmental insurance policy.
For the past three years, she has been part of a team transforming a section of degraded tobacco plantation beneath the Grampians into a botanic garden dedicated to the preservation of endemic plants.
Burness, who formerly worked with Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria for 27 years, said the Grampians contained more than 30 per cent of the state’s flora, with dozens of endemic species, which means they do not grow anywhere else.
“The Grampians is one of the biodiversity hotspots of Victoria,” she said. “It’s truly amazing when you think about it. It’s a relatively small area to contain that much representation of the state’s flora.”
Wama Foundation’s Jill Burness in the endemic botanic garden. Credit: Nicole Cleary
Last year, bushfire tore through more than 76,000 hectares of the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park. An earlier fire in February destroyed more than 40 homes in nearby Pomonal. Burness said the Pomonal fires burnt through 12 months’ worth of seed and tube stock earmarked for planting in the new botanic gardens, while the Grampians fires threatened to do immense damage to rare and endangered species.
But she said the new botanic gardens was now one of three “ex-situ collections” preserving the Grampians’ intricate plant life.
“This is a science collection now. It’s the security policy that we need to maintain the protection of the Grampians long term.”
On Saturday, the Gariwerd/Grampians Endemic Botanic Garden opens to the public as part of the not-for-profit Wama Foundation’s new 16-hectare site near Halls Gap. The project includes the National Centre for Environmental Art, Jallukur Native Grasslands and outdoor artworks.
Wama Foundation chief executive Pippa Mott.Credit: Nicole Cleary
Wama Foundation chief executive Pippa Mott said the project had taken 14 years to prepare, which included rehabilitating the land – a former tobacco plantation that was donated to the foundation.
The foundation has removed non-native plants from the site and built predator-proof fences to keep out foxes, cats, rabbits and deer. A former dam is being rejuvenated as an ephemeral wetland.
One of the first outdoor artworks is a large ring of broad beans from which native grasses and indigenous daisies will emerge once the weather warms. Mott said the natural artwork, titled Spring and created by father-daughter duo Richard and Jemila MacEwan, offered a gesture of hope.
“We’ve irrigated it. So the idea is that year round, through drought or whatever conditions we’re experiencing in Gariwerd, there is going to be this perpetual ring of growth,” Mott said.
Another artwork is an enormous section of ancient red gum tree that has been transformed into a steel stringed instrument that visitors can play with plectrums made from kangaroo ribs. The tree’s cavity has been inlaid with abalone shells, emu eggs, fossils, crystals and quartz.
One of the sculptures on display at the National Centre for Environmental Art Credit: Nicole Cleary
Mott said Gunditjmara archaeologist Tya Lovett worked with fellow Indigenous cultural practitioner and carpenter Tim Sweet to scar the tree by delicately carving out a section of the trunk. The tree might be dead, but Mott said the artwork would continue to grow as artists added to it.
The indoor space features an audiovisual artwork by Western Australian artist Jacobus Capone, End & Being, which documents his interaction with the Bossons Glacier in France.
Mott said the foundation hoped to attract 50,000 people a year by 2027. The new arts precinct is part of a growing tourism economy in regional Victoria based on the creative arts.
Figures supplied by the Bendigo Art Gallery showed the gallery had generated an estimated $113 million in “economic impact” since 2012 through its international exhibition program. Its latest exhibition features the personal belongings of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, including photographs, clothes and medical items.
Mott at the Wama Foundation, which includes National Centre for Environmental Art.Credit: Nicole Cleary
Bendigo Art Gallery director Jessica Bridgfoot said investing in art and culture could have a transformative effect on a regional community. She said Bendigo residents were proud of their gallery and what it had achieved.
“The fact that many local businesses rally behind the international exhibitions with themed offerings adds so much to the atmosphere, and we know that many locals bring their visiting friends and families in to the gallery often,” Bridgfoot said.
The Ballarat International Foto Biennale has also become a tourism attraction for the former gold rush city. Its organisers estimated the Biennale generated $9.7 million in direct economic benefits in 2023, as well as $28 million of indirect benefits.
Later this year the Geelong Gallery will host works from this year’s Archibald Prize, and the Shepparton Art Museum is currently showing the work of celebrated Australian artist Brett Whiteley.
Mott with the artwork created by Jacobus Capone. Credit: Nicole Cleary
This weekend marks the opening of stage one at the National Centre for Environmental Art. But Mott said it would continue to grow.
The plans for stage two include a boardwalk, sculpture trail and a nature play space for children. The Wama Foundation will also add bird hides to help attract the Grampians’ colourful avian life.
“We want people to slow down and spend time looking and experiencing, observing,” Mott said. “That’s all really important to us.”
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