Celebrating 40 Years of Geelong Arts Centre
One of the best parts of celebrating a birthday is reminiscing on fabulous memories while planning and looking forward to all the exciting things the future holds.
We've been trawling through the archives and taking a walk down memory lane, uncovering many forgotten treasures along the way!
We invite you to browse the many wonderful 'artefacts' below, and join us in fondly reflecting on the last 40 years of 'GPAC' and celebrating the illustrious future of Geelong Arts Centre.
Box Office Shakespeare Dress Up Day, 1999
Geelong Folk Music Club at Palm Court, 1990s
“Extravagance” themed Club 100 Gala Dinner, 1986
Official Opening 1981
On the night of April 27, 1981 we celebrated the Opening Ceremony of Geelong Performing Arts Centre with performances from Patrick Thomas MBE, and the very wonderful Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on Wadawurrung Country.
We are thrilled to have seen relationships with staff, performers, crew, and, community and support from our sponsors and the Victorian Government continually evolve over the last 40 years and are honoured to share our love of the arts with the Geelong region.
We look forward to many more years of sharing stories, connecting artists, and creating creative experiences for you all!
Read through our Opening Ceremony programme below.
PLAZA Magazine
Did you know for part of the 1980s GPAC, as we were known then, published a quarterly magazine entitled PLAZA through which readers could learn more about the arts scene in Geelong and beyond?
For $10 a year, members of the community could subscribe to PLAZA and enjoy ticket discounts and other benefits, learn about local community productions and events, and read all about world-class upcoming acts including Australian music icon John Farnham and award-winning international actress Helen Morse.
In celebration of our 40th birthday week, we’re bringing multiple editions of PLAZA into the digital age and sharing them with you. Along this walk down memory lane, we trust that you’ll recognise some names and events, and we hope that you enjoy uncovering a few forgotten treasures along the way too!
