TarraWarra
Museum of Art

TarraWarra Museum of Art building, looking out over the mountain views in the distance TarraWarra Museum of Art building, looking out over the mountain views in the distance

Yhonnie Scarce, Cloud Chamber 2020
installation view, Looking Glass: Judy Watson and Yhonnie Scarce, TarraWarra Museum of Art
Courtesy of the artist and THIS IS NO FANTASY, Melbourne

Visitors can explore modern, contemporary, iconic and original artworks up close and immerse themselves in art, architecture, and ideas on Country.

Explore modern and contemporary artworks up close in our award-winning gallery designed by Allan Powell. Welcoming audiences since 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.

WHAT’S ON

Admission

  • Adults

    $15
  • Seniors

    $12
  • Concession

    Valid for Health Care Card, Pension Card, Veterans Affairs Card, Student Card
    $10
  • Children under 12

    FREE
  • Museum Members

    FREE
  • Welcome Wednesdays

    *Free for local residents of postcode 3777 and 3775, concession card holders and students (*not including tour fees)
    *FREE
BOOK TICKETS FOR CURRENT EXHIBITION

Save with a Membership

Access a world of art year-round:

    • unlimited entry to exhibitions
    • exclusive member events
    • member-only discounts

Starting at just $30!

FIND OUT MORE

Heather B. Swann: Leda and the Swan, installation view, TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2021. Photo by Andrew Curtis.

Connecting Art, Place and Ideas

TarraWarra Museum of Art is a unique institution within Australia. Located on Wurundjeri Country in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, it was founded by the late Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AC, who not only gifted the award-winning purpose-built Museum designed by the late Allan Powell, they also donated nearly 600 works of Australian art from their private collection. Welcoming audiences since 2003, TarraWarra is a leading not-for-profit public art gallery that features inventive and stimulating exhibitions and programs about twentieth and twenty-first century art. 

The Way We Curate

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. 

David Noonan: Only when it’s cloudles’, installation view, TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2022. Photo: Tourism Australia and Visit Victoria

Commissioned Work

TarraWarra has a strong history of commissioning new work by contemporary Australian artists through both its signature Biennial – established in 2006 to champion Australian artists – and its curation of major solo exhibitions. We recognise and value First Nations peoples as the First Artists and Custodians of these lands and waters, and we proudly commission works which explore the significant Wurundjeri culture of the Yarra Valley. Our community helps us to shape the future of TarraWarra Museum of Art and make it possible for us to commission contemporary artists, deliver exciting exhibitions and creative learning programs and deepen our engagement with communities beyond the Museum.

Join our Donor Circle and support the development of major new works

LEARN MORE

Leyla Stevens, GROH GOH (Rehearsal for Rangda) 2023 (video still), fibre, HD single channel video, surround sound, video duration 00:28:00. Courtesy of the artist.

The TarraWarra Biennial

Inaugurated in 2006, the TarraWarra Biennial has presented the works of more than 200 artists over the course of eight exhibitions to date. Providing a significant platform for each of its seven guest curators to identify and respond to new trends in contemporary Australian art, each iteration has had a distinctive and independent curatorial lens.

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
Render of representation of the Eva and Marc Besen Centre which shows a building with a garden and path out the front Render of representation of the Eva and Marc Besen Centre which shows a building with a garden and path out the front

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.

LEARN MORE
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.

LEARN MORE
New exhibition 'Intimate Imaginaries' now showing!BOOK TICKETS
+