Art Experience

Installation view of a woman looking at David Noonan's 'Only when it's cloudles', at TarraWarra Museum of Art in 2022. Artwork is a large scale, black and white collage featuring a woman putting on a man's hat from behind. Installation view of a woman looking at David Noonan's 'Only when it's cloudles', at TarraWarra Museum of Art in 2022. Artwork is a large scale, black and white collage featuring a woman putting on a man's hat from behind.

David Noonan: Only when it’s cloudles’, installation view, TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2022. Photo: T J Garvie

We are an intimate museum with big ideas. Two remarkable buildings set the stage for exploration.

Discover the visible art storage with modern and contemporary artworks from the collection, see curious and imaginative commissions and exhibitions in the gallery, book an art tour and explore the sculptures in the grounds while enjoying the serenity and changing seasons of the breathtaking setting.

Photo: James Henry

Visible Art Storage

The TarraWarra Museum of Art collection is one of the country’s most important collections of Australian art from the 1930s to the present day. The Museum’s permanent collection was established through the generous donation of over 600 artworks by founding patrons, the late Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AO. Through the Centre’s innovative display system of 64 art storage racks positioned behind a 46-metre-long secure glass wall, the general public have year-round viewing access to a curated selection of works by some of Australia’s most significant modern and contemporary artists.

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Eugenia Raskopoulos, diglossia #1–8, 2009 , Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Purchased with funds provided by the Contemporary Collection Benefactors 2016. installation view, (SC)OOT(ER)ING around Su san Cohn and Eugenia Raskopoulos, TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and MAIS WRIGHT, Sydney. Photo: Keelan O’Hehir

Exhibitions

We champion curatorial freedom and offer an intimate, sensory experience that sets the stage for visitors to appreciate and learn about original and iconic artworks up close and immerse themselves in Australian art, architecture, First Nations culture and Country. The Museum produces nationally and internationally significant and unique thought-provoking exhibitions that provide fresh perspectives on the visual arts. Drawing inspiration from our location, exemplary collection and current ideas, we aim to engage with audiences to develop a deeper understanding of the worlds that artists create.

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Sculptures

A circular walking path, designed by Kate Seddon Landscape Design, begins with a welcome area near the lower carpark, before heading up past Callum Morton’s Valhalla, and across the entry road with Jeffrey Smart-inspired arrows that continue as arrow-shaped steps up the hill. An unmarked walk takes visitors alongside the rammed earth façade of the Museum, and then back down the hill again past the vines, pausing at a lakeside deck, before turning in a serpentine form which reflects the curves of Clement Meadmore’s Awakening, and returning to the lower carpark.

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Tickets and Tours

Landscape photo looking over the lake at TarraWarra Museum of Art, looking towards the building and mountains in the background Landscape photo looking over the lake at TarraWarra Museum of Art, looking towards the building and mountains in the background

Free Experiences

Entry to the Museum grounds and outdoor sculptures is free and unticked during Museum opening hours. Coming in March 2024, visit the foyer of the new Centre for free! 

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A woman stands looking out a window in a gallery hallway, with a long corridor lined with artwork on both sides. A woman stands looking out a window in a gallery hallway, with a long corridor lined with artwork on both sides.

Ticketed Entry and Tours

Experience curated exhibitions inside the Museum’s gallery, featuring major new works by artists. Create a memorable experience for your social, community or corporate group, and book an exhibition tour led by our qualified Museum guides, or book an education tour for your school or tertiary group. 

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Architecture

Designed by Allan Powell, TarraWarra Museum of Art gently arcs away from the earth in concert with the contours and hues of the surrounding landscape. Reflecting on the Museum and its unique context in an interview in 2017, he observed: “It’s not a building, it’s a state of mind”. 

Explore

Visit

We are an intimate museum with big ideas. Two remarkable buildings set the stage for exploration. Discover the visible art storage with modern and contemporary artworks from the collection, see curious and imaginative commissions and exhibitions in the gallery, book an art tour and explore the sculptures in the grounds while enjoying the serenity and changing seasons of the breathtaking setting.

LEARN MORE

TarraWarra Museum of Art

Explore modern and contemporary artworks up-close in our award-winning gallery designed by the late Allan Powell. Established in 2003, the Museum has built a reputation for presenting a unique program of exhibitions curated to inspire curiosity and support emerging and established artists to make new work.

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Render of path with trees and buildings - representing the new Eva and Marc Besen Centre Render of path with trees and buildings - representing the new Eva and Marc Besen Centre

Eva and Marc Besen Centre

The latest addition to the Museum, the Eva and Marc Besen Centre, offers something novel and unexpected – visible art storage of over 300 works, a learning centre and a performance space – designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects. Observe the panoramic display of 64 storage screens holding the Museum’s significant collection as you arrive, and book yourself an art tour to appreciate the iconic artworks gifted to the nation by renowned philanthropists, the late Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AC.

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Aerial photo of TarraWarra Museum of Art when the tree lined property had tones of yellow trees and fields in Autumn. Aerial photo of TarraWarra Museum of Art when the tree lined property had tones of yellow trees and fields in Autumn.

Grounds and Surrounds

TarraWarra Museum of Art is situated at the apex of a hill, offering a spectacular, resonant and panoramic experience of the Yarra Valley—Wurundjeri Country—with spectacular views of the surrounding mountain ranges and distant Toolangi rainforest across planted vines, native bushland and farmland.

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