An Aspiration in the Making.

The Forest Hive is a state-of-the-art, carbon neutral Indigenous Cultural Art destination, educational, performing Arts, music, and art centre in Olinda, at the heart of the Dandenong Ranges.

It remains our aspiration that every child in the hills has access to music and art education, to provide a place for artists at all stages of their careers to learn, flourish, and share knowledge. It is vital to develop new systems for our children to access the Arts in an affordable way. A closed circle business model will provide funding for learning programs from eco-tourism, corporate functions, philanthropy, and corporate investment.

The creative heritage of Yarra Ranges is central to our identity. Moving into the future, Yarra Ranges will be recognised internationally as a place for livability, significant history, natural environment, living cultures, art, contemporary practise, local Artisans, and creative industry opportunities.

Yarra Ranges Council Creative Communities Strategy Involvement in the arts can facilitate social cohesion. When Aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities are brought together, it provides opportunities for people to reflect on their individual and shared experiences.

The Arts Ripple Effect: Valuing the Arts in Communities the Forest Hive would provide opportunities for cross cultural collaboration and help to grow awareness of the cultural and creative practises of the oldest continuous culture in the world, sharing knowledge.

Since 2017 our committee has continued to engage with and lobby all tiers of Government towards feasibility. Our strategy is to move forward within the private sector to forge private-government investment for the project.