A VISIT to Mansfield should include a drop into the Mansfield Visitor Information Centre which opens every day (except Christmas Day) between 10am and 4pm.
At the center there are many displays including artworks from the Aboriginal Exhibition Gallery.
Mansfield has just become the fifth venue for the North East Aboriginal Art Trail and currently has on display at the Mansfield Information Centre are pieces by Patrick Butcher Jnr and Evelyn Omeenyo.
Over 200 fine Aboriginal Art works are on display across four wonderful venues in Victoria and one just over the border at Albury.
The North East Aboriginal Art Trail takes you through some of the most scenic areas of the North East and may be comfortably covered in one day.
Venues on the Art Trail include Rutherglen, Tarrawingee, Myrtleford, Albury and now Mansfield.
The Aboriginal Exhibitions Gallery is the sole Victorian representative of Lockhart River Arts Indigenous Corporation and carries a large stock of their 'Art Gang' members' works.
While at the Mansfield Information Centre though take a browse around the other displays – the Man From Snowy River film anniversary, the 'Forest of Faces' and the many books, maps and information pamphlets available as well as suggestions on gifts and hampers – all produced by local people.
The Forest of Faces was produced for the opening of the center some 20 years ago and features the images of 264 local people, many of whom have had long family histories in the district since the 1830s.
There are brief histories on each of the photos also available.
And, while there, ask the assistants on hand about where to go, what to see in and around Mansfield, road conditions for Mt Buller, Mt Stirling and beyond.
Some of the staff at the center have more than 25 years' experience in guiding visitors around the Mansfield district and have a wealth of knowledge to impart.
The Mansfield Visitor Information Center is situated on the left hand side of Maroondah Highway just over the hill from the entrance to town when coming from Melbourne.
