I blinked and the Art show disappeared in the rear view mirror. The Woodend Lions Art Show (the 49th) was right out of the playbook. Many more entries were gathered , about a quarter of everything hung was sold : happy artists, happy folk taking home treasures and we’re happy to build our coffers to support our community in the coming year. The generous donation of the raffle prizes by Geoff Paynter, Helen Cottle ( has for many years) and the Old Auction room in Kyneton meant the raffle was a hit . That’s a couple of enjoyable phone calls at shows end, after the draw to the winners; pleasingly to local folk who were thrilled.
The days of the show were stinkers, really hot. The St Ambrose hall stayed cool until late afternoon and was a sanctuary to the many who braved the furnace and came to see the art. As usual, and it was often remarked, the standard of work was high. Something for everyone. The judges, as is the want of judges made their decisions by their own lights. The spectacular video Woodend Lion Club Art Show 2024 on Youtube chronicles in detail their eloquent reasoning for each decision and has a number of ’Highly commended’ pieces thrown in for good measure.
It’s a Lions club maxim about helping hands that was heart-warmingly clear in this show. The town folk that turned up to shift the art boards from the shed to the hall and set ‘em up( and packed ‘em down at the end), those that stayed the hang the 300 plus pieces and those that stood in over the weekend during the show itself. There were those who turned up and helped us with the discharge of all the works in record time( the right works into the right hands) on the last day.The pack up was so smooth and with all hands on deck we were home while there was still light in the sky.
There were generous sponsors to some of the prizes and some have history.The photography prize in the name of a Lions club member who was involved in the shows inception and pushed for photography to be included…his family sponsors that prize. Mrs Wiber, a doyen of Woodend past, left as a bequest the backing of the children’s art prizes. The Old Auction House in Kyneton are enthusiastic supporters of the local art scene and some involved have a long association with us. St Ambrose Parish offers the hall to us in the spirit of community generosity, and a grand hall it is… we love it. Oh and the lend of potted plants to embellish the hall…( Nellie’s Shed ). We love that finishing touch. We’re sincerely grateful for all the support given. This is how community is built and how it is maintained.
It’s worth saying that the Club members themselves freely gave of their time, sending out initial info to artists, framing advertising, beating the drum for sponsors, taking art in and discharging it, hanging up the lighting, digitising the entry system and the payment system, dealing with the financials and accounting everyday of the show, filming and editing the video overnight (Herculean) ,making the sales, selling the raffle tickets, being ridiculously charming to everyone, and ringing the forgetful at the end of the show. It’s no chore to ring the prize winners more like a gift… if you could bottle those moments, it’d be a tonic for sure.
A small group of us does all this, grateful for support. Community is built on this kind of effort. We’re always ready to welcome others who are ready to lend a hand. Expect to hear of how this money raised is spent in our village. We have been focused on ‘no-one goes hungry ,no-one goes cold’ and have supported projects to address those goals.
2025 will see the 50th Art Show. We’re planning on something to do that great effort justice.