The Calligraphy Society of Victoria began in August 1981, initiated by Jan Ferguson and her class members who were enrolled in the first calligraphy course run at the Melbourne College of Decoration.

Nine people attended that first meeting, with seven apologies. A Committee was formed, the name decided upon and a competition for the design of a logo was announced. Suggestions for the title of the newsletter were canvassed – both the logo and title of the newsletter (Postscript) were in use by April 1982.

The first meeting was held at the Melbourne College of Decoration, with subsequent meetings held there and at members’ homes. By Christmas 1981 the membership was 33; by 1990 CSV had more than 300 members. Over the years, meetings were held at the Meat Market Craft Centre in North Melbourne; at St Mary’s College (University of Melbourne); the Centre for Theology & Ministry, Parkville; West Hawthorn Uniting Church, and currently at St George’s Anglican Church Centre, Malvern.

The very first activity of the Society was a three-week exhibition of calligraphy in January 1982 at the CBS Bank on Collins Street, Melbourne, which was very successful in promoting interest in calligraphy. Another exhibition was held there the following year, and CSV has mounted exhibitions at the Meat Market Craft Centre, in a couple of commercial galleries, at the Toorak/South Yarra Library for many years as well as Eltham Library and the Docklands Library. The most recent exhibition was held at Gasworks, Albert Park, to celebrate our 40th anniversary. With the disruption of COVID, our exhibition went online in 2022.

Workshops began early, with “members teaching members” and countless workshops have been run over the years. An early overseas tutor was Tom Gourdie in 1984; Pat Russell, Margaret Shepherd and Rosemary Sassoon also taught workshops in the 1980s. Since then, we have welcomed many international and Australian tutors as well as our talented members’ sharing their techniques and ideas. The annual Summer School in Winter, which became within a very short time an unmissable week-long event, ran from 2002 to 2019 and attracted participants from around Australia and New Zealand.

In 1985 the Royal Melbourne Show invited calligraphy entries in the craft section. Each year (until 2013) CSV was asked to provide judges and assist with the display; many members regularly volunteered to help; many more submitted their artwork.

Promoting calligraphy through demonstrating has been great publicity for the Society at various craft fairs, open days, and festivals. Lettering names on our bookmarks always produces both appreciation and admiration.

CSV has been a source of both skills and friendship for its members from the start and continues to be so with the dedication of its voluntary committees, countless helpers and members.