About us

McClelland is a truly unique art gallery and sculpture park set amongst 16 hectares of natural bushland. Since opening in 1971, it has operated as a private art institution governed by a board of Trustees. At McClelland we showcase the value of Australian culture through a focus on sculpture and its connection to the environment. We are the only gallery dedicated to sculpture and spatial practice in Australia.

Focused on the expanded field of arts with nature, McClelland champions a consolidated, multidisciplinary approach to the development, presentation and embedding of unique experiences drawn from across Australia’s artistic community, providing employment opportunities for artists, curators, educators, academics, tertiary students, performers, musicians, and through various creative industry partnerships and collaborations.

Our Purpose

To promote public understanding, education and the experience of sculpture and contemporary artistic practice connected with a unique Australian environment.

Our Vision

To be Australia’s preeminent open air arts institution that champions the unique value of Australian culture and its connection to the environment.

What We Do

McClelland collects and safeguards a rich cultural legacy and extensive art collection, while presenting a diverse program of changing indoor and outdoor exhibitions with a focus on contemporary spatial practice. McClelland supports contemporary artists to develop, create and present their work, and manages a range of significant commission programs including the Southern Way McClelland Commissions, and previously the biennial McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award.

In addition to these programs, our innovative educational and public programs for people of all ages are a resource available for schools and the wider community. These address everything from contemporary art, personal wellbeing, and the local environment.

An important and unique aspect of McClelland is the group of three guilds and community groups whose studios are located on the grounds. These independent organisations cover a wide range of skills from painting and drawing, wood turning, to spinning and weaving. They actively promote these activities to the wider community, through workshops, open days and memberships, and in doing so they extend Harry and Annie May McClelland’s vision of an artistic centre for the wider Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region.

We are committed to working with our local and regional community, partnering with arts and community organisations and supporting art practice in a sustainable way.

Our Values

• Artistic and scholastic rigour
• Respect for Australia’s first nations people, their country and waters
• Space and time for contemplation beyond our everyday life
• Positive experiences and access
• Innovation
• Environmental sustainability

What we offer

A unique, discovery-based experience of iconic Australian art and sculpture in an open air environment within a safe and welcoming setting.

McClelland’s History

McClelland’s natural bushland and park setting is the legacy of a talented and artistic brother and sister, Harry and Annie May (Nan) McClelland, whose family settled in the Frankston district in 1912.

The McClelland family became the centre for a bohemian group of creative personalities drawn from all strata of Victoria’s social life including Sir Daryl Lindsay, Percy Leason and W. B. McInnes.

Harry was an artist and philanthropist, and his sister, Annie May (Nan), a poet and entrepreneur who hosted the first children’s radio program on the ABC.

The land on which McClelland is situated was originally the site of Harry’s painting studio and was known as ‘Studio Park’. Annie May bequeathed the land and the holdings of her Estate to honour her brother’s memory by establishing the Harry McClelland Art Gallery and Cultural Hall.

The gallery opened in 1971 and features the first bespoke modernist gallery designed by architects Munro and Sargent to be built in regional Victoria.

Harry’s studio is still to be found in the grounds.

McClelland Now

Today, McClelland’s unique outdoor sculpture collection showcases over 100 works by prominent Australian sculptors such as Inge King, Lenton Parr, Clement Meadmore, George Baldessin, Robert Owen and Norma Redpath along with recent acquisitions including Rick Amor, Lisa Roet and Ken Unsworth. In addition, three indoor gallery spaces accommodate changing exhibitions and collection displays of works on paper, photography, painting and sculpture.

Since its establishment in the 1970s from the vision and benevolence of Annie May McClelland, McClelland has expanded significantly through the inspirational contribution of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE. In the last decade McClelland has doubled the size of the Sculpture Park to 16 hectares, increased visitation, acquired significant works and forged public/private partnerships to consolidate its role as an artistic hub and the focus for cultural tourism in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula regions.

McClelland also acknowledges the significant support provided by a range of government, philanthropic and corporate partners who make our programs and operations possible. It is important for McClelland to continue to expand and cultivate its community support, and to ensure its financial base into the future. We are a not-for-profit organisation committed to ensuring accessibility to all and rely on donations and philanthropic support to continue our work.