Nestled at the foothills of the Gariwerd/Grampians National Park, the WAMA Foundation is proud to announce the official opening of the National Centre for Environmental Art and the Grampians/Gariwerd Endemic Botanic Garden.  The Weekend at WAMA will take place on Saturday, 5 July (12 pm – 6 pm) and on Sunday & Monday, 6 -7 July (10 am – 5 pm).

After 14 years in the making, the gallery will launch with its inaugural exhibition End & Being, featuring an amazing work by Western Australian artist, Jacobus Capone.  Capone confronts the escalating global crisis of planetary warming and focuses attention on our impact on the natural world.  A cafe is available for coffee & lunch.

During the weekend, WAMA will conduct guided tours of the botanic garden.  With the support of the local community and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, the Grampians/Gariwerd Endemic Botanic Garden is one of Victoria’s newest regional botanic gardens.  This collection of endemic flora means that the plants can only be sourced from the Grampians region.  In addition, they are often inaccessible to the general public due to their remote location. 

With over 30% of the State’s flora, the Grampians region is a biodiversity hotspot. The complex terrain and multiple habitat areas are responsible for the 70+ endemic species located within the national park.  The fires in the Grampians during February and December 2024 have placed new emphasis on the significance of ex-situ collections and their role in restoring rare, endangered, and critically endangered species that might otherwise be lost forever.

Since its first planting in July 2022, the plants in the Grampians/Gariwerd Endemic Botanic Garden have more than doubled their size.  Already, the garden contains nearly half of the Grampians’ region endemic species, and work continues to augment this collection for future conservation, education, and the sheer enjoyment of seeing these special plants.