Arts & Culture
A modern vibrant city relies on its community to give it life. Central Geelong is home to the region’s major arts and culture facilities, providing residents and visitors alike with plenty of choice.
Geelong Gallery
Geelong has one of Australia’s finest regional galleries. The Geelong Art Gallery Located in the arts precinct, next to the historic City Hall, the gallery features some famous examples of early Australian painters, plus a wide-ranging contemporary collection. One of the most well-known is the Bush Burial by Frederick McCubbin.
National Wool Museum
Australia's fortunes once hinged on the success of its wool industry and Geelong was at the centre of the action. By 1840, wool was being exported from Geelong to London to meet demand from the mills. In 1868, Geelong established its own woollen mill, the forerunner of a new industry that flourished well into the 20th century. So it's only fitting Geelong is the site of the National Wool Museum, at the waterfront end of Moorabool Street.
The National Wool Museum is a living tribute to Australia's wool industry and is housed in a beautifully restored 1872 bluestone wool store. Here visitors see and hear the story of wool - from sheep's back to completed garment. The place is filled with working machinery, including a 1912 Axminster carpet-making loom. There are interactive displays, great "yarns" told by people who played a part in the industry and lots of sheep. The museum also hosts regular national and international temporary exhibitions.
Ford Discovery Centre
Ford Motor Company has played a key role in Geelong's development since the early 1920s when the giant car maker choose this city for its manufacturing plant. That history and behind-the-scenes secrets of car-making are presented in an exciting and hands-on way at Waterfront Geelong's Ford Discovery Centre.
The centre takes visitors on an amazing journey through the whole car-making process, from concept and design to production and assembly. Visitors see production robots in action and even get the chance to install an engine into a car. There are crash-test dummies, special cutaway vehicles showing the inner workings of a car and a race simulator to try. The centre has an impressive display of historic and modern cars, including the world-changing Model T, the ground-breaking utility, the first XK Falcon, "muscle" cars and the latest Ford models hot off the production line.
Arts Precinct
The precinct is around Little Malop and James Street. Walk these streets and you’ll literally wander upon galleries, museums, historical buildings and cultural facilities. Whether large institutions like the Geelong Performing Arts Centre and Geelong Gallery in Lt Malop Street, or intimate spaces like Karingallery in James Street or the Metropolis Gallery on Ryrie St, there’s something for everyone.
Old Geelong Gaol
The Old Geelong Gaol opened in 1853 and operated as a high security prison until July, 1991 and remains much the same as it was when it closed. Other exhibits include a fully re-appointed cell typical of the day, two 'Loss of Priveleged' cells, and cell 47, where a prisoner painted a 'Window of Freedom' on the wall. You can visit the 'Watchtower', see the cells and parade ground, the doctor's surgery, the tailor shop, and the recreation room with its murals. The small, unheated and unsewered cells where prisoners were incarcerated for up to 14 hours at a time, the solitary confinement cells and excercise cages are a grim reminder of the Victorian era and the illustrate the change in attitude to penal detention over the past two decades.
"Dare to be scared tours" at night
Australian Ghost Adventures run night tours of the gaol. "Dare to be Scared" 1st Saturday of each month 7.30pm; Adults $20, Children under 16yo $10 or family $50 (2 Adults & 2 Children) 9.30pm; Adults $20, Children under 16yo $10 or family $50 (2 Adults & 2 Children) 11.15pm; Adults only $30, (This tour has more explicit content) Tours run for approximately 90minutes. Tea and coffee provided.
Geelong Heritage Centre
Victoria's largest regional archive and resource centre, with a wide collection drawn from public, private, commercial and individual sources, is located in Geelong. It handles more than 10,000 inquiries annually, providing help with family histories, school projects and general historical research. Among the centre's records are: municipal rate books, indexed church, hospital and cemetery registers, 19th century births, deaths and marriages (all states) indexes, immigration lists, arrivals/departures 1839-1923, biographical registers, Geelong and district historical publications, newspapers, maps and plans from 1850-1950, and hundreds of images depicting life in Geelong 1850-1940.
National Trust Properties
Victoria's National Trust owns and operates two historic properties in the Geelong suburb of Newtown that provide a glimpse of the lifestyles of Geelong's more affluent citizens.
The Heights
The prefabricated, 14-room timber house was imported from Hamburg, Germany, in the mid-1850s for Geelong businessman Charles Ibbotson. Other buildings, including stables, dovecote, water tower and timber outbuildings, were constructed on site. There have many modifications and additions over the years, including an internal remodelling in the 1930s. The home is set in 1.6 hectares of National Estate-registered gardens, regarded as a significant example of a large 19th century landscaped urban garden. The Heights is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11.30am-4.30pm, and public holidays, except Good Friday and Christmas Day.
Barwon Grange
Dating from Geelong's early settlement, Barwon Grange looks out over the Barwon River. Merchant Jonathan O'Brien and his wife, Ann, developed the house before 1856 and a detached kitchen was added in 1871. Today, the house is filled with antiques, matching the original O'Brien family inventory, and is one of the most intact collections the trust owns. Barwon Grange is open 11am-4.30pm Wednesdays and weekends, September to April.
Churches
Early Geelong settlers were quick to establish the familiar trappings of their previous lives and this included churches. One of the earliest built was St Andrew's Presbyterian, Yarra Street, in 1841. Today it is St John's Lutheran Church. The Anglican Christ Church, erected at the top of the Moorabool Street hill in 1843, is believed to be the oldest church in continuous use in Victoria. Not to be outdone, the Catholics built St Mary of the Angels on a prominent hilltop site overlooking the city and bay in 1854. It was finally completed in 1931 with the construction of its landmark spire.