Volunteers

Volunteers give thousands of hours each year to the Gallery. They give their time freely and share their skills generously.

They undertake individual projects and they add depth to the visitor's experience of the Art Gallery of Ballarat. If you would like to participate in one of the existing volunteer programs or you would like to offer a your time and skills for a specific project, contact the Gallery.

Special Skills & Projects
Volunteers with specialist skills and knowledge are involved in many areas of the Gallery. Sometimes volunteer skills are matched to an existing task. At other times, volunteers come to the Gallery with a suggested project.

Gallery Guides
The Gallery has a strong, active and vibrant group of volunteer guides who offer free guided tours around the Gallery collections five days a week and all public holidays. They also offer tours for booked groups and tours of many of the temporary exhibitions.  The Guiding group has been an integral part of the Gallery for nearly 25 years and this milestone will be celebrated with an exhibition in late 2013.

Guiding at the Gallery is a rich and rewarding role that also contributes to a wonderful asset to the City of Ballarat and enriches the experience of our visitors.

Being involved with this group opens opportunities to interact with the public and promote the Gallery collection through ongoing learning and to take part in excursions to many art galleries around the country. These have included trips to Darwin, Tasmania and many galleries around Victoria.

The volunteer guides are also members of the Australia-wide guiding organisation Association of Australian Gallery Guiding Organisations (AAGGO).  AAGGO has 19 members from guiding organisations around Australia including all the major State and National Galleries and the aim of the organization is to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas between the member groups and to assist guides to foster an understanding and appreciation of the collections of their gallery.  AAGGO holds a conference every two years and membership is open to accredited guides from the affiliated galleries.

Trainee guides at the Art Gallery of Ballarat are selected through an interview process. The extensive training program takes nine months and this considerable time commitment reflects the richness of the collection of the Art Gallery.  Anyone interested in becoming a guide can contact the Convenor of the Guides through the Gallery. 

Gallery Librarians
Over many years, the Gallery has built an outstanding reference collection, particularly of books and other publications about Australian art and artists. A small team of voluntary librarians keep this valuable resource in order.