Portland C.E.M.A. (Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts) was formed in 1945. In 2025, as part of its 80th Birthday celebrations, a series of taped interviews from the 1980s and 1990s were digitised with the assistance of Glenelg Shire Community Grants. (Arts and Culture) The variable quality of the original recordings has meant digitisation has not been possible for all interviews. Transcripts have been provided where possible.The series of oral history interviews (1983-1990) captured the memories of some active early members of the Portland Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts. First hand memories of the formation of the organisation in 1945, early activities of its groups, fundraising and building of the CEMA Arts Centre provide a window into community life in Portland and District in the post WW2 era. Recent digitisation (2025) has preserved deteriorating cassette tape recordings. community arts., oral history - portland c.e.m.a.

From Portland Town Council Art Programme. Sponsored by PTC's Art Program, the Theatre Board of the Australian Council, Portland 150th Anniversary Committee, Portland CEMA and the Myer Foundation.Poster for theatrical production. The central image is a retouched photograph of a group of people (men and women) outside a building. The building is made of wood. The people are standing in front of the building and on its roofless verandah. They are dressed in clothing of c1910's. The image is black and white with some items of clothing hand coloured in with red, orange and yellow. The entire poster is covered with approximately 61 signatures. On lower left is a reproduced newspaper clipping of paper addressing a welcome home ceremony for Gallipoli soldiers. In pale yellow in background is a map of Portland Bay. In orange mount in black and gold frame. Below image are the words: "Portland Bay Swells! Devised by Ken Harper and the Portland Community." Below this are details of performance times and ticket details. Mounted in peach matt. Black wooden frame with glass.Front: (no inscriptions) Back: (no inscriptions)

Abstract scene of a rainforest. Image of trees in greens, browns, blues and yellows. Strong brush strokes and bold shapes give the impression of dense trees. It is darker towards the bottom and lighter at the top giving the impression of light falling through treetops from the sun. Mounted on cream matt in pale green frame, with glass glazing.Front: Enid Denton (lower right) (brown paint) Back: Rain Forest $600.00 Enid Denton, Smith Avenue, Croydon 3136cema, portland artists society, female artist, female, female artists, trees, abstract

CEMA Art Collection Winner of 1968 Portland Art Society Prize for the category of other media.The painting is depiction of a field which is predominantly yellow with patches of red. The largest red patches are in the lower right corner and centre left side. Another focus point of the work is a large yellow mound slightly off centre which may represent a haystack. The background is a light blue sky. The work has a painted wooden frame with material mount and glass covering only the paint surface.Front: Huntington (signature, lower left) Back: ISABEL HUNTINGTON "POPPIES IN FLANDERS FIELD" (1968) (typed label) Yellow Sticker: 1968-cema, portland artists society, wwi, female artist, world war i, the great war

CEMA Art collection. Winner of 1966 Portland art Society Art Prize for category oil. Included in the 1999 "Salvage" exhibition at CEMA Arts Centre.AbstractAbstract depiction of a person with a bunch of bananas completed in shades of red, brown and black. The focus of the work is the standing human figure with brown clothing and red skin tones. The person is looking to their right at the bunch of bananas they are holding. The work has a two tiered wooden frame and exposed canvas.Front: Von(lower left, etched into black paint) Back: Taped label:"Banana Grower" Yvonne Cohen Porter St Templestow $ 90.00 Glued label: Yvonne Cohen :Banana Grower"(1966) Yellow sticker: 1966cema, portland artists society, female artists, female, women, bannana, agriculture

CEMA Art Collection Winner of Portland Artists' Society Prize for category Oil.The painting portrays a standing female figure. She has straight black hair which sits just above shoulder length. she has a short fringe. She wears a blue and green dress with orange markings. She is depicted as looking at the observer and holds something in her right hand which is held across her body. The background is a mixture of purple, green and blue. The work has a thick wooden frame and exposed canvas.Front: - 63 AMOR (lower right, black paint) Back: ELMA AMOR HERBST "GIRL" (1963) (lower left, typed label)cema, portland artists society, female artist, women, female artists, female portrait, portrait painting, portrait

CEMA Art collection Winner of 1966 Portland Artists Society Art Prize for the category of Any other mediumThis print depicts a large fish completed in black and brown on a pink background. The fish is portrayed from a side view and has a large body, small tail and blue eye. Predominately pink, the background features smaller areas of black, purple and brown. The work has a natural wood frame with grey mount and glass.Front: TROPICAL FISH (2) 4/10 LT (orange paint, lower left) LESBIA THORPE__________________.(along bottom, pencil) Back: TROPICAL FISH No 2 ) LESBIA THORPE ) FLAT 5 10 FORDHAM AVE )Handwritten, black ink CAMBERWELL VIC ) $23 unframed ) Typed: LESBIA THORPE "TROPICAL FISH No.2" (1966) Yellow sticker: 1966 Red sticker: 10cema, portland artists society, femal artists, female artist, fish

Programme for official opening of Woolcock gallery at the C.E.M.A. Arts Centre, Portland, Wednesday 21 February 1990. Cream, A4 paper, folded in half, black print, City of Portland Coat of Arms, on the front.advertising, programme, portland arts centre, cema, collin woolcock, woolcock gallery

CEMA Art Collection Winner of 1962 Portland Artists' Society Prize for the category Painting. Included in the 1999 "Salvage" Exhibition at CEMA Arts Centre.The painting depicts several trees on a multi-coloured ground with mountains in the background. The trees in the foreground are linear and completed in shades of browns and pinks. The work has a white, gold and blue hand-painted frame with exposed canvas.Front: Werther '62 (bottom right, brown paint) Back: PORTLAND "DEAD WATTLES" 40 GNS FRANK WERTHER COTTLES BRIDGE VIC per MAYNE NICKLESS (white chalk) Red sticker: 32 Yellow sticker: 1962cema, portland artists society

Art CollectionThe picture depicts trees with emus hiding amongst them. The trees are a cluster in the middle of a white background that gradually gets darker around the bottom and top edges. Mounted on a wooden backing which extends further then the picture, giving it a natural frame. No glass.Front: Malseed (brown paint, lower left.) Back: 1969- (Yellow circle sticker, top) 114 (small white sticker, top) Portland Art Gallery Trust (just short of top, white chalk) Nancy Malseed Environment 111 (1969) (strip of white paper, printed, top right) Malseed Environment 3 N.F.Scema, portland artists society, nancy malseed, female artist, women, women's art

CEMA Art Collection Winner of 1962 Portland Art Society Art Prize for the category Drawing or Print.The print is an abstract depiction of a waterfall in shades of brown, black, blue, green and cream. The brown, blue and cream are used to create the background while the black and green provide the work with texture through the use of line. The work has a simple wooden frame with white mount and glass.Front: Robert Grieve Grampians Waterfall 9/18 61 (bottom of work, lead pencil) Back: 1962 (top left, lead pencil)cema, portland artists society, local history, portland, grampians

Winner of Portland Art Society Art Prize for the category of watercolours.An abstract depiction of a landscape. The work is predominantly completed in shades of blue, purple and green using a watercolour technique. Further detail has been added to the work using black ink ink and white paint. The work has a painted wooden frame with with white mount and glass.Front: Stephen Spurrier (black ink, lower left) 1966 Back: Stephen Spurrier "Landscape Near Condah" (1967) typed label Watercolourscema, portland artists society

CEMA Art CollectionThe painting depicts the shoreline of a beach with green foliage in the background. Various shades of sand make up the foreground, with a black object in the centre edge of the foreground. To the right of the sand is the blue ocean with the white wash of a broken wave seperating the sand from the water. The background features foliage in various shades of green which meets a blue/purple sky. The work has a painted white wooden frame with material mount and exposed canvas.Front: I.G. HILL 1967 (black painted, lower right corner) Back: White chalk:- ARTIST (underlined) MISS I.G.HILL 42 BOWEN ST. CAMBERWELL(underlined) Price $63 IRENE HILL "BEACH AT DUTTON WAY" (1967) (typed label) Yellow Sticker: 1967 -cema, portland artists society

Acquired by Portland Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) as a winner of its annual Art Price in 1964; later presented by CEMA to Portland Town Council.View of the interior of a cave. In foreground is a triangular pool of dark blue water with lighter highlights. The walls of the cave curve up both sides of the water, meeting at the back of the cave. At back of cave is a ledge with 7 seals on it. One seal is diving into the water. The walls are painted in brown and dark blue, the seals in pale blue with highlights in white.Front: Malseed (lower right, red paint) Back: Nancy Malseed "Seal Cave" Portland Art Gallery Trust, c/c C. Woolcock (upper and mid left, black felt tip pen).sea, seals, coastal, seascape

CEMA Art Collection Previously located in History HouseThe painting depicts a street scene with ten buildings in a line. The foreground represents a road and is depicted in various shades of brown, green and yellow. The row of buildings is a mixture of double and single storeys. The most prominent building is a double storey grey building with four top storey windows and a chimney. The top half of the work is a blue and yellow sky. The work has a gold and black frame and exposed canvas.Front: DEB Back: (No inscriptions)

CEMA Art Collection Previously located in History HouseThe painting depicts a street scene with several buildings and people. The foreground represents a road and is depicted in shades of brown and yellow. Several men stand on the edge of the road and one sits in a horse and buggy. Behind the men are several buildings with wooden fences. The building in the centre of the work is yellow with a white roof and two white chimneys. The top half of the work is a predominately blue sky with lines of yellow, pink and white. The work has a gold and black frame and exposed canvas.Front: DEB Back: (No inscriptions)

CEMA Art collection Previously located in History HouseThe print depicts a night view of a city street. In the foreground are ghosly figures completing a military march along a wide street. On the left side is a large white Remembrance Shrine with three flags hanging on individual flagpoles. In the background are numerous multi-storey buildings with a row of light streetlights in front. The work is completed in various shades of blue and mounted with brown card. Framed with a gold and black frame, the work has an exposed canvas.Front: Brass embossed plate: THE IMMORTAL SHRINE BY WILL LONGSTAFF COPYRIGHT REGISTERED Back: (No inscriptions)

CEMA Art collection Previously located in History HouseThe painting portrays a gorge from the perspective of being in the gorge and looking towards the shore. In the foreground is a small body of water with large brown rocks to the right. Yellow sand extends from the rocks around to the left of the water. The sand stretches from the water's edge to the large cliffs in the background that form the borders of the gorge. The work is mounted and framed in an ornate gilded frame with glass.Front: A.S.Murray (signature lower left) A ROCKY GORGE by A.S.MURRAY (sticker - lower centre on glass) Back: 3132 (small yellow sticker)

CEMA Art Collection. Part of "A Community View" 150 years in Portland Screenprint Exhibition. Part of Angela Gee Residency 1983 and 1984.Laminated screenprint of a fishing boat on slipway. The boat and ground surrounding it are predominantly black with a small amount of orange. The sky is dark blue and fades into a lighter blue on the right side of the work.Front: Norman Poole (lower right) (pencil) Back: 31

CEMA Art Collection Part of "A Community View" 150 years in Portland Screenprint Exhibition Part of Angela Gee Residency 1983 and 1984Laminated screenprint of standing female figure dressed in black and holding a red umbrella. The figure is wearing a red glove and a pink item in her hair. The background is a floral wallpaper print in blues and greens.Front: 8/ 37 A Gee Back: 19

CEMA Art Collection. Part of "A Community View" 150 years in Portland Screenprint Exhibition. Part of Angela Gee Residency, 1983 and 1984.A laminated screenprint of a portrait montage in black on coloured background. The foreground consists of over one hundred small portraits which cover the majority of the work. On the left and top right sides are black outlines of various flora. At the top of the work is black text which reads "1834 Portland 1984".Front: Angela Gee '83 (lower right) (pencil) Back: 20portland, angela gee residency