Gallery public programs

Freeform knitting and crochet workshop

Sunday 15 March
Glen Eira City Council Gallery

Time: 10am-12pm 
Tickets: $7, bookings required 
Ages: Suitable for adults

Freeform knitting and crochet is a creative way to make all kinds of things — from bags and clothes to blankets and sculptural art. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn the basics of freeform by combining knitting, crochet and surface embellishment. You’ll explore how to create without following a pattern, and how to mix techniques to make a piece of fabric that feels whole and connected.

Bring along your own tools — knitting needles, crochet hooks, yarn needle, scissors and some yarn. A small starter kit will be provided. If you have any special yarns you’ve been saving, feel free to bring them along. You’ll leave with a small sample piece (called a ‘scrumble’) and the confidence to start your freeform journey — no pattern required.

Make a Pocket Sketchbook with Gail Stiffe

Sunday 22 March
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
2pm—4pm

In this class you will learn to make a simple fabric covered sketchbook to fit into a pocket. I will supply jeans, precut board, buttons, glue, thread and some sample curtain material for the covers and watercolour paper for the pages. You may wish to bring your own fabric for the book covers or you could use the excess denim. 

Participants should bring sharp scissors, a ruler and a tapestry needle. The pocket could be turned into a small shoulder bag but that would need to be done at home.

Tickets: $7 
Bookings required.

Drop-in sit Sit and Stitches sessions

Saturday 14 March
Saturday 21 March
Saturday 28 March
Saturday 11 April
Saturday 18 April
Glen Eira City Council Gallery

Time: 1pm-5pm
Tickets: Bookings not required—just drop by!

Bring your stitching project and enjoy a relaxed Saturday drop-in session, with time to chat with an artist.

Live Sunday Sessions: Katankin

Sunday 15 March
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
2pm and 3pm (two 45-minute sessions)

Melbourne indie-folk artist Katankin writes music that testifies to love, faith, and hope. With her haunting voice, poetic lyrics, and delicate fingerstyle guitar, Katankin unflinchingly explores the human condition.

Relatively new to the Australian folk scene, Katankin has already made her mark. Her debut EP, The quiet shimmer of the world, earned a 2023 Music Victoria
nomination, and her 2024 debut album, Said the starling, was nominated for Contemporary Folk Album of the Year at the 2025 Folk Alliance Australia
Awards.

Free.
Bookings not required.

Mini Improv Quilt workshop with Karryn Argus

Sunday 29 March
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
2pm—4pm

In this hands-on workshop, participants create a small improvisational quilt using hand stitching. Choose to appliqué an intuitive fabric design or piece together three fabrics in a simple patchwork, focusing on slow making, experimentation, and material play.

Bring along your sewing kit, scissors, needles, threads, and scrap fabric, to use and share.

Tickets: $7 
Bookings required.

Craftivism Workshop with textile artist Nicole Kemp

Sunday 12 April
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
10am—12pm

Nicole Kemp will support, guide and empower your creative practice.
Get started and create a small textile panel expressing your thoughts and experiences about what it is to be a woman today.

This is a safe space to express yourself freely. BYO, sewing kit, scissor, needles, threads, and scrap fabric, doilies, fabric table napkins, re-use and recycle. Maybe you are already working on a piece, just bring it along too.
We encourage you to share ideas and materials on the day.

Suitable for adults. Free
Bookings required.

Live Sunday Sessions: Mukul Jiwnani

Sunday 12 April
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
2pm and 3pm (two 45-minute sessions)

Mukul Jiwnani is a Melbourne-based singer-songwriter, guitarist, and DJ. He began playing music at the age of six and has been performing professionally since 2012. An autodidact, or largely self-taught musician, Mukul also holds a master’s degree in music performance and has an exceptional understanding of his art and instrument.

Over the past decade, he has performed at numerous festivals, weddings, and corporate events, amassing more than 1,500 shows. Mukul incorporates looping techniques into his sets to create rich, layered soundscapes, using percussion and other musical elements to enhance the listening experience.

Free.
Bookings not required.

Hyperbolic Crochet Workshop with Rebecca George

Sunday 19 April
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
2pm—4pm

There is a connection between crochet, mathematics and shapes found in nature. In this workshop you will learn the mathematics behind the growth of crochet stitches in the round to make any shape. With a hook and a single loop of thread, crochet is an ideal medium to enable three-dimensional drawing in air. Flowers, leaves, coral and jellyfish tentacles have negative curvature and follow hyperbolic geometry. You will come away with the skills you need to make any sculptural shape from amigurumi (soft toys) to artwork, without the need to follow a pattern.

Materials will be supplied, but please feel free to bring your own hook and yarn to work with.
Suitable for all crochet skill levels, from complete beginner to experienced.

Tickets: $7 
Bookings required.

Slow Stitching & Sashiko: A Practice of Presence with Joy Barrett

Sunday 26 April
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
2pm—4pm

Slow down, settle in, and explore the gentle art of slow stitching and Sashiko. This workshop is perfect for beginners — no experience needed. You’ll learn simple, meditative stitches that let you layer cloth using your own rhythm and intuition, transforming small fragments into a piece that is uniquely yours.

Your finished work can become a patch for a beloved garment, an embellishment for a bag, or a tactile keepsake to hold onto. Please bring your own scissors and any fabrics you’d love to incorporate. A curated selection of additional fabrics will also be provided.

Tickets: $7 
Bookings required.

First Nations weaving workshop

Sunday 10 May
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
10am—12pm

Come and learn about First Nations weaving techniques with an artist from The Torch, surrounded by the amazing works on display in the Confined 17 exhibition. Listen to the artist’s family’s stories about the cultural tradition of weaving and learn how to make a woven basket or a piece of jewellery.

Suitable for adults. Tickets: $7
Bookings required.
All materials supplied.

Live Sunday Sessions: Olivia Meg

Sunday 10 May
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
2pm and 3pm (two 45-minute sessions)

Back by popular demand! Get ready to be captivated by the versatile vocals of Olivia Meg, a gifted Arrernte artist currently based in Naarm. Blending elements of indie, folk and rock, Olivia has coined her own genre — ‘sad girl indie folk rock’ — reflecting her refusal to conform to norms, and her commitment to authenticity.

Her music dives deep into human emotion, offering candid, reflective lyrics that strike a chord with listeners. Through her sincerity, the melodies resonate deeply with the audience, creating an immersive and emotionally resonant experience.

Free.
Bookings not required.

Confined 17 Floor Talk

Thursday 28 May
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
1pm—2pm

Learn more about The Torch and the themes explored in the exhibition Confined 17 with The Torch Creative Director, Kent Morris, and an artist from the exhibition.

There will be live painting sessions with a Torch artist in the Gallery each weekend during Confined 17.

Free event. Suitable for adults.
Bookings required.

Confined 17 Screening and Q & A with First Peoples artists

Friday 29 May
Glen Eira City Council Theatrette
1pm—2.30pm

Join us for a Screening and Q&A with First Peoples artists with lived experience of incarceration on Friday 29 May, 1pm.

The screening will showcase interviews captured on Country and within the artist’s homes. Each interview shares the personal and creative journeys of artists, told in their own words. Following the screening, join artists featured in the interviews alongside the production team to dive deeper into their stories and learn more about their experiences.

This event is presented as part of Reconciliation Week 2026, an annual event dedicated to inviting all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Tickets $10. Mob Tix $0 (discount code MOBTIX)
Bookings required.

First Nations weaving workshop

Sunday 14 June
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
10am—12pm

Come and learn about First Nations weaving techniques with an artist from The Torch, surrounded by the amazing works on display in the Confined 17 exhibition. Listen to the artist’s family’s stories about the cultural tradition of weaving and learn how to make a woven basket or a piece of jewellery.

Suitable for adults. Tickets: $7
Bookings required.
All materials supplied.

Live Sunday Sessions: John James

Sunday 14 June
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
2pm and 3pm (two 45-minute sessions)

John James is a dynamic First Nations Wiradjuri singer/songwriter from Sydney whose sound spans alternative rock to R&B. He has already made a name for
himself in the industry, with three hit songs that have appeared on both Apple Music and Spotify Playlists.

His first single, WAKE, was featured on Apple Music’s first playlist and Indigitube’s First Sounds Vol 5, which is a compilation of 12 tracks showcasing First Nations artists from across the country. With his captivating performances and polished sound, he is an artist to watch.

Free.
Bookings not required.