What we're looking forward to this year...

2009 may be a hard year to beat, but we think 2010 is going to be even better. We have plenty of exciting things lined up this year, and we can't wait to introduce them to you!

Our exhibitions program is looking rather spectacular. To start things off in the gallery (opening Thursday 21 January) is Divertissement, a collaboration by Chris Headley & Darren McGinn in Gallery 1 & 2, and in Gallery 3 we've got Adam Cruickshank working his magic on mass-produced items in Reverse Cargo. Other artists to look forward to in 2010 include Adele Varcoe, Nicholas Jones & Warren Harrison, Linda Hughes, Dell Stewart & Andrea Eckersley, Karla Way & Natalia Milosz-Piekarska, Meredith Turnbull & Bridie Lunney, Timothy Macleod, plus many many more. Wow!

It's looking to be yet another bustling year in COUNTER, and not to mention enCOUNTER as well. With a fresh lick of paint and display windows windex-ed clean, the shop looks spick and span and ready for 2010. Our retail team have got tons of tricks up their sleeves and with new work regularly debuting on the shop floor, well you'll just have to come check it out for yourself won't you!

2010 is also set to be 'the year' for our monthly emerging artisan's market, Craft Hatch. In February Craft Hatch will form part of the Sustainable Living Festival program and to coincide with this, will showcase environmentally friendly, sustainable work. Following up in March, Craft Hatch has made its way into the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival cultural program and will feature fashion-orientated products. Definitely one to watch! All in all it's set to be a big year, with plenty of exciting projects in the pipeline including collaborations with the Melbourne Writers Festival, a special Craft Cubed market, plus more exciting stuff...

In the meantime, you have little ones (aged 8 to the not-so-little age of 20), then be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming Craft Victoria x ArtPlay x Signal workshops that'll be rolling out throughout the year. With 4 workshops in total, each hosted by an exhibiting Craft Victoria artist/s, be sure to sign up to the ArtPlay and Signal newsletter to keep up to date. The first workshop for the year will be facilitated by Adam Cruickshank. His ArtPlay workshop (for kids aged 8-12) entitled Awesome Prizes has since sold out, but keep your eyes peeled for his Signal workshop (for kids aged 13-20) of which details will be announced very soon.

As they say, 2010 is going to be great!