The Ballarat Arts Alive ARTBUS has offered networking opportunities to artists and art-lovers for the past two years.

The concept involved participants spending afternoons on buses making trips to studios, exhibitions, heritage trust properties and music events.

The bus trips have been running eight times a year, but with funding for the series winding down, will now be scaled back to only once or twice a year.

ARTBUS coordinator member Kiri Smart said the final two sessions would be held this Sunday and again on June 26.

“The idea is that any events that we run are for networking so artists and art lovers can do what they love,” she said.

“It’s been a really great way to meet people in an intimate setting. In a bus, you really get to spend the afternoon with people you didn’t know at the beginning of the day that you definitely know by the end of the day.

“I’ve certainly see people who are new to town and now I see them around town at arts events because they’ve met people on the trips and are now collaborating.”

This Sunday, ARTBUS will take participants to Learmonth to view The Flock, a sculptural piece recently erected on the foreshore.

Participants will then be taken on a tour at the Learmonth Art Hall, featuring sculpture by Geoff Bonney and time Sedgewick and paintings, drawings and prints by Anne Chibnall. The event will also include artist talks from Sarah Lloyd and Geoff Bonney of well-known former art duo Ratartat.

The outing will then stop at the new studio of Tarli Glover, finishing off with a visit to the Arts Revolution Collective.

The final ARTBUS in the series will feature artists Julie Collins and Derek John and their sculptures at Napoleans. The pair will discuss their plans for the Biennale of Australian Art.

That event will also feature artist Roslyn Lawson and a new collaboration between fashion designer Clare Schreenan of Clasch designs and artist Melinda Muscat.

“You don’t have to be an artist or know a great deal about it, the ARTBUS has been a fantastic way to get a really close up and personal look at the practices and projects of local artists while enjoying some refreshments and meeting like-minded people,” Miss Smart said.

“There is just something about getting together on a road trip - it’s fun to just relax and get on board.”

BAA, which is partly funded by the City of Ballarat and partly through its own ticket sales, is now in conversations to confirm the next two-year program.

Miss Smart said anyone wanting to be involved with the new committee can email their interest to info@baa.mx

Tickets for the upcoming events available at www.baa.mx. Both events leave Ballarat at 2pm and return about 5pm. Tickets are $15-$30.