Pugh was one of many artists who brought an Australian experience to attention. His landscapes reveal the colour and textures of the natural bush, often with a dramatic emphasis. His reference to the harshness of the bush consistently arises, with angular forms dominating the composition. White Choughs in the Landscape is typical of his representations of the bush as a dynamic environment. White Choughs in the Landscape, 1958, created by Clifton Pugh - a celebrated Australian artist known for his landscapes and portraiture as well as (three-time) winner of Australia’s Archibald Prize. This piece plays a significant role within the Nillumbik Shire Collection due to Pugh’s strong connection to the local land where he settled in Cottle’s Bridge in 1951, purchasing 15 acres and named it Dunmoochin. Artists, potters and others settled at Dunmoochin and formed the Dunmoochin Artists Co-operative in order to collectively protect the land. Numerous renowned artists worked or resided at Dunmoochin including: Rick Amor, Fred Williams, Albert Tucker, Frank Hodgkinson, Mirka Mora, John Olsen, John Percival and John Howley amongst others. Upon his death in 1990 he left an art collection and extensive properties at Dunmoochin to be appreciated and utilised by artists for years to come White Choughs in the Landscape is typical of Pughs' representations of the bush as a dynamic environment. The brittleness and fragility of the landscape is recorded in the surface of the work, where paint is applied in thin layers.Signed 'Clifton Sept. 1958'clifton pugh, dunmoochin, white choughs

The Australian magpie is a passerine native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Renowned for its black and white plumage and distinctive song, the Australian magpie has also established populations in New Zealand and on the Fijian island of Taveuni, where it was introduced during the 19th century. Previously classified as three distinct species, it is now recognized as a single species comprising nine subspecies. Belonging to the family Artamidae, the Australian magpie is the sole member of the genus Gymnorhina and shares its closest relation with the black butcherbird (Melloria quoyi). Unlike the Eurasian magpie, it is not part of the Corvidae family. This specimen was originally misidentified as a white winged chough and is part of a collection of almost 200 animal specimens that were originally acquired as skins from various institutions across Australia, including the Australian Museum in Sydney and the National Museum of Victoria (known as Museums Victoria since 1983), as well as individuals such as amateur anthropologist Reynell Eveleigh Johns between 1860-1880. These skins were then mounted by members of the Burke Museum Committee and put-on display in the formal space of the Museum’s original exhibition hall where they continue to be on display. This display of taxidermy mounts initially served to instruct visitors to the Burke Museum of the natural world around them, today it serves as an insight into the collecting habits of the 19th century. This specimen is part of a significant and rare taxidermy mount collection in the Burke Museum. This collection is scientifically and culturally important for reminding us of how science continues to shape our understanding of the modern world. They demonstrate a capacity to hold evidence of how Australia’s fauna history existed in the past and are potentially important for future environmental research. This collection continues to be on display in the Museum and has become a key part to interpreting the collecting habits of the 19th century.This specimen an Australian Magpie with black and white plumage over the body, mounted on a cedar stand. The specimen has a large straight beak and is in an unusual pose for a magpie, compressing the white patch on the back of the neck. The beak has turned yellow where originally grey, potentially leading to a previous misidentification as a white-winged chough.taxidermy mount, taxidermy, animalia, burke museum, beechworth, australian museum, skin, reynell eveleigh johns, bird, australian magpie, ornithological, ornithology, white winged chough

The Eltham Community and Reception Centre was Australia's first public mud-brick building. Commissioned in 1977 by Eltham Shire Council, led by Shire president (and architect) Robert Marshall, architects Whitford and Peck were asked to design a multipurpose facility in mud-brick and timber. The official opening was performed by the Hon. R.J. Hamer; E.D., M.P., Premier of Victorai on Saturday, April 22, 1978. Architects: Whitford & Peck Pty Ltd Quantity Surveyor: D.J. Cant & Associates Structural Civil Engineers: Charlett & Moore Pty Ltd Landscape: Peter Glass, Dennis Edwards Mech Elec: Lobley Treidel & Partners Pty Ltd Acoustics: Riley Barden & Kirkhope Builder: L.U. Simon Pty Ltd Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p177 The Wiggles performed there, so has the ABC’s Play School. New citizens have made their vows, volunteers have been honoured, school children have performed, weddings celebrated and people mourned at funerals. Since 1978 the Eltham Community and Reception Centre at the corner of Pitt Street and Main Road, has provided a beautiful and quintessential Eltham environment for people from all over Melbourne. Recognised as Australia’s first public mud-brick building, the centre was built partly on the site of the parsonage of the former Methodist Church (now the Uniting Church).1 Commissioned by the Eltham Council headed by President Robert Marshall, architects Whitford and Peck were asked to design a multipurpose facility in mud-brick and timber. Following public consultation, it was agreed to build a centre for dances, exhibitions, films, plays or concerts. The results – at a cost of around $620,000 – captured the Eltham rustic style. The building – in soft tones of mud-brick and timber and immense floor-to-ceiling windows – overlooks the Diamond Creek and sporting fields. Eltham’s strong artistic heritage is reflected in the centre. Although the lighting is not ideal for a gallery and labels cannot be placed on walls, the centre hosts the Nillumbik Art Awards and displays around ten to 20% of the Nillumbik Shire Art Collection, usually for around a year at a time.2 On permanent display, close to the entrance, is local artist Clifton Pugh’s White Choughs in the Landscape. Further to the right is the Walter Withers Gallery, named after a local member of the Heidelberg School of artists. As part of the Eltham Gateway opposite the Eltham Hotel, the centre stands on what was once part of the Eltham Town Centre along this section of Main Road, then known as Maria Street. On the same site once stood the house and flour mill owned by Henry Dendy, best known as the founder of Brighton, although he lived longer in Eltham. Beside the drive is a wheel-rim tool with accompanying plaque, illustrating a technology important during the horse-powered age and now almost completely gone, as has the blacksmith’s shop that had housed it nearby. The implement is a platform for fitting iron tyres to the wooden rims of cartwheels. Beneath it is a capsule placed in 1985 to commemorate Victoria’s 150 years, which is to be opened in 2035. Although the plants, forming part of the landscaping by Peter Glass and Denis Edwards, are largely indigenous and other native species, some exotic plants are protected as an important link with the site’s past. Planted at the front around 1920, is a large Peppercorn tree with two joined trunks growing from the base, and close by is a Bhutan Cypress (Cupressus torulosa). Three other Peppercorn trees fringe the drive. The building includes two halls – the larger seating 250 people – and a large foyer overlooking trees and ovals. Both halls have retractable rear walls providing varying spaces as required, and guests can use several external decks. A site for outdoor theatre has been carved out of the natural slope outside the entrance. The Bricklayers Union refused to use the traditional mud-bricks, which weigh more than 22kg. As a result the mud-bricks were redesigned to reduce their weight and were laid back-to-back to produce a wall of normal thickness.3 The centre’s massive timber frame is reminiscent of timber bridge construction, with infill panels of mud-brick.4 In accord with the rustic style are colossal rough-sawn posts, bolts and steel brackets. The combination of mud-brick, exposed feature timber framing and creative design in this centre, characterises Eltham’s innovative buildings and the social movement behind them from the 1940s to the 1970s.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, eltham community and reception centre, mudbrick construction