VWA Blog

7 Mar 2025

Protect Your Creativity with VWA’s Affordable Public Liability Insurance. Comprehensive Coverage for Artists, Crafters, Woodworkers, Designers, and All Creatives. 

Starting in March, you can take out 6 months of coverage for the remainder of our annual insurance period for $165 

Are you an artist, crafter, or designer in need of reliable public liability insurance? VWA offers comprehensive Public Liability Insurance. Starting in March, you can take out 6 months of coverage for the remainder of our annual insurance period for $165. Perfect for market stalls, exhibitions, fairs, and other creative events. Our coverage includes public and product liability along with VWA membership, ensuring you and your work are fully protected. 

The VWA runs a three year Artist in Residency program for emerging fine woodworkers, which provides a well-equipped and supportive environment at low cost while artists are establishing their practice. An opportunity has opened up for a new woodworker to join the program!

This is your opportunity to join a dynamic, supportive community and gain: 

• Heavily subsidised rent 

• 24/7 access to a fully equipped, high-quality machine room 

• Dedicated personal workspace and bookable office space 

• A supportive, professional woodworking community 

• Promotion of your art, woodwork, and business 

If you’re ready to take your woodworking practice to the next level, this is the perfect time to apply! 

**Don’t miss out**

10 Apr 2025

Enrolments Open for Term 2, 2025.

The VWA School of Woodcraft has been teaching students for over 20 years from our well equipped workshop training facilities at the historic Meat Market building in North Melbourne.

Each student chooses their own project to work on and is provided with expert guidance from our experienced master woodworkers. We cater to all skill levels from novices who want to learn basic techniques to professionals who are seeking to refine their craft.

In addition to a regular classes where students choose their own project, we also have a Fixed Project Class on Monday nights where students build a beautifully design bedside table.

Our Term 2 classes are open for enrolment, with classes already filling up! Enrol here.

7 Mar 2025

A celebration of tradition, craftsmanship and skill. Find lost arts, rare trades and heritage crafts at this annual Lost Trades Event. Meet the makers, see how things are made by hand and watch demonstrations throughout the day. 

When: 8 -10th of March
9:30am – 4:30pm 
Bendigo Racecourse, Hamelin Street / Heinz St, Bendigo East.  

Goods & Chattels was established in 1977 and has traded continuously since that time, with the current ownership operating since June 2008. For over 15 years Goods and Chattles have supplied more than 6,000 customers from all walks of life, a variety of industries and from many different countries. 

Goods & Chattels has a long-established reputation for sourcing and supplying the unusual and difficult to obtain items for furniture restoration. We have also supplied a range of items for the amateur and professional box maker (jewellery boxes to trunks) and woodwork hobbyist. 

Due to changing personal circumstances, we have had to make the difficult decision to close the business and have been working towards this closure over the past several months. We still have a range of items in stock and all full-priced items are now selling at 80% discount. Therds are also a number of samples, display and discontinued items selling at heavily discounted prices. 

Goods and Chattles are happy to email pdf lists of the products they have available. 

Contact: sales@goodsandchattels.com or 07 3391 5764. 

Timber  

We would like to share details of some rare, unique timber for sale with our woodworking community. This timber comes from the south of Japan (Kumamoto) and is estimated to be 100–300 years old. No two lengths are the same, with many featuring beautiful curves and kinks. 

There are around 80 lengths, ranging from 3 to 6 meters long, in varying conditions: approximately 50% are in very good condition (minimal rot or splintering), 25% in good condition (some rot or splintering), and 25% better suited for milling or cutting down for furniture. 

To see more examples of the timber and to inquire about purchasing go to  https://www.instagram.com/tokyotimber/ 

22 Oct 2024

A solo exhibition by VWA Artist in Residence Isabel Avendano Hazbun
Opening night: 24 Oct 6pm-9.30pm
Exhibition dates: 25 Oct – 12 Nov 10am – 6pm
Venue: Meat Market Stables

Industry is an exercise in creating and applying honest sustainability practices within a small designer/maker studio, with the aim of creating a circular economy model. The result is a series of speculative works, some finished some still concepts, where the entire ecological impact of the object is considered: materials, production, use, storage, transport and disposal, compelling a revision of out-dated manufacturing models where sustainability becomes the true measure of an object’s worth.

View more here

26 Sep 2023

The Talbot Maker Space at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre is now offering a suite of programs for people in the community with disabilities. Suitable for those looking  for a social outlet and beginner woodworkers, through to those looking to develop their craft, exhibit and sell work.

Programs range depending on your interest and skill levels.

Contact Program Coordinator, Michael O’Dwyer at maker.space@austin.org..au or visit @talbot_maker_space for more details.

4 Jul 2023

As a benefit of VWA membership, woodworkers can now set up a professional profile and contact details on the VWA website. To set up your profile, log in to your account at: https://vwa.org.au/membership/member-login/ and click the ‘maker profile’ tab. Once you’ve finished, click Save. After it’s been reviewed by us, it will be made public. You can make changes at any time by the same process.

As part of setting up a profile, you can also choose to receive project requests from prospective clients who complete the Custom request form.  It is up to you whether you follow up with the client and the VWA does not charge a commission on this service. To join up to this service, click yes on the ‘Subscribe to Custom Request List’ button at the bottom of your Maker Profile page. 

We will be publicising this service via social media once we have a few more people with profiles set up.

Please note, both of these services are only available to woodworkers.