William Ricketts Sanctuary - ReOpens

Parks Victoria has reopened part of the William Ricketts Sanctuary near Olinda, five years after the June 2021 storms damaged 92 kiln-fired clay sculptures hidden among the trees. Stage 1 Reopening The gates reopened on 3 August 2026, although the gallery and original residence remain off limits. Gates will open daily between 10 am to 4 pm, last entry 3:30 pm. This site is free entry. What you see now is the first stage of reopening, and Parks Victoria is pleased to welcome back visitors while we continue the works. The sanctuary may look a little different due to the storm, but the site continues to be a beautiful and fascinating place to explore. It is unclear how many of the 92 ceramic sculptures can now be seen. But the story of this secluded garden begins long before the storms - with the tale of controversial sculptor William Ricketts. William Ricketts Simple beginnings: Born in Richmond on December 1 1898, Ricketts began his creative life as a young violinist, often playing along with films across Melbourne's first picture theatres. At the age of 35, Ricketts taught himself to sculpt. Moving out: In 1934, Ricketts purchased a log cabin and a four-and-a-half-acre block of land near the town of Olinda - later known as Potter's Sanctuary. Two years after the move, his mother Susan decided to accompany him. Speaking to the Australian Women's Weekly in January 1951, shortly before her death in November of that year, she said "somebody had to see that he was fed and looked after". Art in place: From 1949 to 1960, William Ricketts journeyed into the heart of Central Australian First Nations communities, including with the Pitjantjatjara and Arrernte peoples. The works at the sanctuary focus on Aboriginal stories and legends, as well as the First Nations peoples of Central Australia. However, a number of academics, including Indigenous scholars Marcia Langton and Bruno David, have criticised Ricketts' work at the sanctuary and his approach to Aboriginal culture. In 2003, the pair published a paper denouncing the garden as a "primitivist theme park" depicting an "imaginary .. Dream Time". "I do think it's something of a national treasure, even if it's weird and racist in many ways," Langton told the Australian in July 2021, shortly after the June storms damaged a number of the Mount Dandenong sculptures. "It encapsulates a particular kind of humanitarian take on Australia's race politics at that time." Works preserved: In 1961, the State Government bought Potters Sanctuary from William Ricketts, later renaming it the William Ricketts Sanctuary and opening it to the p/ublic in 1964. Ricketts lived on site until his death in June 1993 at the age of 94. William Ricketts Sanctuary The William Ricketts Sanctuary covers four acres of beautiful fern gully land with 92 ceramic sculptures, near the top of Mt Dandenong. Situated in the Dandenongs in a ferny glade, William Ricketts Sanctuary is a place of beauty and tranquillity, due both to the natural setting and the mystical sculptures half hidden among ferns along the pathways. It is a place for quiet reflection and for contemplation of the essence of the vision of William Ricketts. Many travel across the world to visit this place time and time again. How to Get There Access is via Mount Dandenong Tourist Road, Mount Dandenong (Melway ref: 66 G1). A bus runs from Croydon Station.