Meeniyan

Distinguished and Famous people from Meeniyan

🎵 Ian Bevington

Ian Bevington wanted to bring more live music to South Gippsland, where he lived, and in 1999 helped turn that wish into the Lyrebird Arts Council. Friends, relatives and other volunteers joined the effort. Meeniyan Town Hall became a setting for performances by Australian and international artists, placing a small country hall on touring itineraries. His contribution was that of an organiser and enthusiast, making the conditions in which other people could perform. A community’s musical reputation can owe as much to the person arranging the evening as to the person standing under the lights.

🎨 Dina Goebel

South Gippsland artist Dina Goebel brought her sculptural project Fragile Futures to Meeniyan Art Gallery in 2026. The work examines the tension between wanting to preserve nature and using materials entangled with consumption and waste. Her practice combines natural elements, found objects and contemporary materials, following earlier work in functional art and community creative projects. Workshops in ceramics, sculpture, stonework and mosaic helped shape that varied approach. The exhibition gives Meeniyan a specific connection with her developing body of work, within the town’s continuing role as a place for regional artists to show and discuss what they make.