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Exploring our enduring love affair with summer, ‘Local Summer’ features selected works and historical photographs from the Town Hall Gallery and Boroondara Library Service Collections that celebrate the Australian sunshine, landscape and carefree days. This exhibition provides a nostalgic glimpse into summers past; a time of year for enjoying outdoor barbeques, sharing gifts, playing sports, burning our feet in the sand, and watching sunsets on balmy nights.

Combining artworks, historical and civic memorabilia from the past municipalities of Kew, Hawthorn and Camberwell, the Town Hall Gallery Collection aims to nurture a sense of community and shared history as well as enhance public spaces and community wellbeing. The Collection highlights the diverse cultural interests and social history of the Boroondara community.

Items from the Collection can be viewed online at Town Hall Gallery Collection database.

Two people standing at the top of diving boards, ready to dive into the pool.
‘Divers at Camberwell Southern Pool’, 1963, photograph, 22 x 17cm, photographer unknown, Boroondara Library Service.
View through doorway to two people sitting outside a shop.
Matthew Sleeth, ‘Untitled #2’ from ‘Rosebud’ series, 2003–05, type C print, 123 x 148cm, image courtesy of the artist, Claire Oliver Gallery and Kronenberg Mais Wright. Donated to the Town Hall Gallery Collection through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program in 2017.
Children around a table at Christmas, wearing paper hats and eating.
Matthew Sleeth, ‘Untitled #23’ from ‘Rosebud’ series, 2003–05, type C print, 123 x 148cm, image courtesy of the artist, Claire Oliver Gallery and Kronenberg Mais Wright. Donated to the Town Hall Gallery Collection through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program in 2017.
A large group of children at a swimming lesson.
A 'Herald learn to swim' class in progress, instructress Miss Sue Pincus, 196?, photograph, 21 x 15cm, photographer unknown, Boroondara Library Service. First published in the Herald Sun Newspaper.
A busy pool.
Northern Pool, Balwyn 1959-1963, photograph, 16.5 x 38.5cm, photographer unknown, Boroondara Library Service.
Children playing in a wading pool.
New wading pool built at the Camberwell Central Pool, 1963-4, photograph, 21 x 25cm, photographer unknown, Boroondara Library Service.
4 people in bathers standing on the beach.
Elizabeth Prior, ‘Iron Man Spectators’, 1994, oil on board, 107 x 78cm, Town Hall Gallery Collection.
View over fields with mountains in the background.
Shirley Bourne, ‘Late Summer’, 1968. Oil on board, 78 x 92.5cm, Town Hall Gallery Collection. 
Thick bushland looking out to the ocean.
Hal Barton, ‘Costal Bush’, 1990, oil on board, 98 x 88cm, Town Hall Gallery Collection.
Padocks and farmhouse.
John Dudley, ‘Summer Corryong’, 1982, oil on board, 67 x 77.5cm, Town Hall Gallery Collection.
Man wearing a hat, standing at a bar with a drink.
Eric Thake, ‘She’s Warm Alright’, 1966, print on paper, 19 x 14cm, Town Hall Gallery Collection.
Children standing on stairs looking up at a tall Christmas tree.
The library Christmas tree, c.1946, photograph, 20.5 x 25cm, photographer unknown, Boroondara Library Service.
Person doing a handstand, and a sheet spread across the floor.
John Brack, ‘Girl on Mat’, 1976, lithographic print on paper, 70.9 x 50.4cm, edition 21 of 25, Town Hall Gallery Collection.

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