We love going to the Grampians for its incredible range of outdoor adventures, like MacKenzie Falls and the Grand Canyon. And this winter, the Grampians will also be the home of an exciting new cultural destination. Take a drive to Halls Gap and check out the Wama Foundation, an art and environment precinct. This precinct will include the National Centre for Environmental Art, Australia’s first gallery that’s exclusively dedicated to showcasing art about the natural world, and the social and political issues that come with that. It will also feature an array of gardens, filled with native plants and wildlife. The Wama Foundation will open at 12pm on Saturday July 5.
Wama Foundation
National Centre for Environmental Art
The gallery will launch with its inaugural exhibition, End & Being. This exhibition will feature works by Western Australian artist Jacobus Capone. It will confront the escalating climate change crisis, and document a physically demanding performance from both above and beneath the Bossons Glacier in France. This exhibition coincides with the UN’s declaration of 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation.
Exhibition curator José Da Silva hopes that visitors will take a moment to slow down and reflect on our relationship with fragile natural systems. “Jacobus and I are deeply honoured to be part of Wama’s inaugural exhibition and to present a project that, like Wama, seeks to foster a dialogue between art, humanity and the environment,” he said.
The gallery will continue to host exhibitions across a range of artistic mediums and genres that will look at the natural world.
Gardens
Take a stroll through the sprawling gardens of the Wama Foundation. These gardens include the Gariwerd/Grampians Endemic Garden, the Jallukar Grasslands and ephemeral wetlands.
See over 500 plants and almost 60 species throughout the space. Many of the plants are rare, endangered or critically endangered. Over half of the plants can be found in the surrounding region.
As you meander through the gardens, look out for outdoor artworks as well as local wildlife like cockatoos, kookaburras and turtles.
Opening weekend
Look forward to a range of activities for all ages during Wama’s opening weekend. Set across three days, you’ll find lots to see and do, with collage workshops, invertebrate ID workshops and a series a talks. Find something to eat and drink from the Wama Foundation cafe, or check out one of the food trucks on site. There will also be music from DJs to soundtrack your weekend.
The Wama Foundation will launch with Stage One on July 5. This will include the art gallery and the gardens. Meanwhile, Stage Two will enhance the visitor experience with a sculpture trail, nature play areas and accessible boardwalks.
Keep an eye out for updates via their website and social media.