Looking Back on Year Two

If you’ve been to a workshop at the Rare Trades Centre, you've likely met our formidable Manager, Deborah Klein. She’s been passionate about the Centre's vision since before the doors opened and is the driving force behind our day-to-day operations. 

We asked Deborah to identify the top ten moments that have defined the experience of her Rare Trades Centre over the past year. Here's what she had to say:

2024 marked the Rare Trades Centre’s second year of operation. While it was a different experience than our first, the year certainly had its moments. Thanks to the camaraderie and generosity of my team members, here are the highlights that linger strongest in my memory.

January

“Begin as you mean to continue” may be a cliché, but it’s one that rings true. Fresh from the holiday break, it was exhilarating to get back into it with artisans equally stoked to deliver sold-out workshops in the new year. It was also a privilege to have the Rare Trades Centre represented and recognised at the Creative Ballarat Arts Biz Forum as a key provider of valuable opportunities for artists’ professional development.

CraftLab 24 / Creative Cities

It was exciting to see the Rare Trades Centre's partnership with the City of Ballarat's Creative Ballarat and Craft Victoria teams. We hosted a series of participant forums, professional development sessions leading up to CraftLab 24, and Victorian Creative Cities network meetings. The Centre served as the venue through the year for an array of participant forums and professional development sessions in the lead-up to CraftLab 24, as well as Victorian Creative Cities network meetings, CraftLab 24 workshops, and the big UNESCO Southern Hemisphere Creative Cities Conference.

Lost Trades Fair

The Rare Trades Centre evolved from the vision of Lost Trades Fair organisers, Lisa and Glen Rundell, who envisioned a space to learn and teach traditional trades and craft practices. It was great to work alongside our foundational artisan instructors to promote Centre programming at the 11th annual Lost Trades Fair in Bendigo. Our team braved hellacious heat and teeming masses to bring the word to more than 10,000 enthusiastic visitors attending the Fair over the March Labour Day weekend.

Interstate artisans

2024 saw the Rare Trades Centre host workshops led by interstate artisans who travelled to Victoria for the Lost Trades Fair. This was an opportunity for participants to experience the work of practitioners we wouldn't otherwise bring to the Centre. Highlights included leather plaiting with Bill Webb (Queensland), Matt Mewburn / Eveleigh Works (New South Wales), Ron and Cathy Twaddle / And Woven Cane (Queensland), and Brian Sims Leadlight (South Australia). We also trialed a leadlight restoration session with Brian Sims, forging an ongoing collaboration with the University of Melbourne’s Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation and the National Trust – Victorian Branch.

Japan

This year, I was part of the tourist migration to Japan (my first visit), where I spent time touring artisan woodworking and textile studios and generally experiencing the unique creative culture of the country. Highlights included visiting the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Tokyo and stays in Kanazawa (UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art) and Hida Furukawa, home to the Takumikan Wood Craft Museum. And not to mention the beautiful food and onsen experiences!

Artisan programming

Anyone who knows me understands that creating opportunities for artists is at the heart of my work. Through the Rare Trades Centre’s workshops, I have the privilege of collaborating with skilled artisans from across the country, offering exciting and unique learning experiences. The skills shared and the work created each week are endlessly exciting.

Youth scholarships

All hail the vision and generosity of Ballarat Jaguar and Land Rover in supporting a Youth Scholarship Program for the Rare Trades Centre! The next generation embracing traditional trades is essential for ensuring the continued preservation of these practices. Since launching in late 2023, we’ve hosted 29 scholarship students, each participating in two workshops, with some returning for more. The enjoyment these young people have gained from the workshops is infectious, and I can only hope their new skills are equally transmissible.

Repeat offenders - You know who you are!

It’s always a pleasure to see familiar faces returning to our workshops. I can only hope the delight participants experience being part of our making community is matched by the joy we feel in seeing them back time and time again.

Pecha Kucha

The Pecha Kucha session at the 2022 Rare Trades Symposium was my first taste of what the Rare Trades Centre was all about. Since then, this exceptional forum of ideas, practice, and experiences has grown into a popular quarterly event. Each Pecha Kucha is a singular occasion, bringing thinkers and doers together for a glittering interval of good talk, great refreshments, and fabulous company.

The building

Seeing visitors’ faces when they first step into this architectural marvel, watching the light dance through the space, taking in the breathtaking landscape at our feet, discovering how the space adapts to so many uses, feeling the textures around us, and appreciating the functionality of our workshop spaces—what’s not to love?