Art Education Update: Term 1, 2021
Friday 21 January 2021
Hi everyone,
Happy New Year!
2021 is showing signs of great promise, vitality and creativity… together we can make all these happen in our new normal !
Already we have an action-packed series of events and exhibitions over the next few months for you and your students to engage with, so please check out the following highlights:
Highlights
EDUCATION ROUND TABLE FOR TEACHERS
3-6 pm Thursday 25 February 2021
As a site for two-way art education for all, we here at the gallery want to know how best we can engage with you and your students, so we would love to hear directly from you at our Education Round Table session.
You are warmly invited to attend – there will be:
– welcome and refreshments
– a quick preview of ARTEXPRESS which is being installed that week
– a forum facilitated by our Director, Dr Gerry Bobsien.
Please RSVP by Tuesday 23 February – email artgallery@nullmaitland.nsw.gov.au
HUNTER REGION VISUAL ARTS HSC DAY 2021
Friday 26 March 2021 *
*event tentative, dependent on Covid restrictions
A day for HSC students and their teachers to explore aspects of bodies of work by hearing from artists, curators and HSC Visual Arts markers.
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ARTEXPRESS
27 February – 30 May 2021

ARTEXPRESS is a joint venture of the NSW Education Standards Authority and the Department of Education in association with Maitland Regional Art Gallery.
You are invited to visit ARTEXPRESS with your students – bookings are essential – please email artgallery@nullmaitland.nsw.gov.au
JESS JOHNSON AND SIMON WARD | TERMINUS
20 February – 2 May 2021

Jess Johnson and Simon Ward, Terminus 2017-18 (still), virtual reality experience in five parts: colour, sound. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Commissioned with the assistance of The Balnaves Foundation 2017
Inspired by Sci – Fi, comics and fantasy movies, Terminus is a virtual reality (VR) installation that transports the viewer into an imaginary landscape of colour and pattern by human clones, moving walkways and gateways to new realms.
Come with your students and have a unique Terminus experience at MRAG – check
Terminus information for Schools and groups FINAL
an NGA touring exhibition
Check out Terminus Education Kit here: johnsoward_educationresource
MADE/WORN | Contemporary Jewellery and Place
13 February – 2 May 2021

MADE/WORN: Australian Contemporary Jewellery, Liam Benson, Coat of Arms, 2009. Image: Steven Cook
Celebrating diversity and inclusivity, Made / Worn includes the work of 20 contemporary jewellery artists working in Australia now. From intimate pieces to large scale works, the contemporary jewellery in this exhibition explores the act of making is worn on the wearing art.
ADC touring exhibition
MADE/WORN education kit is here: MADE-WORN Education Kit_FINAL
SATURDAY | When commercial artists go rogue
13 March – 6 June 2021
Commercial artists go rogue! Six young creatives respond to a non-commercial brief with each allocated a day of the week to explore and collaborate in theirown medium.
JUST NOT AUSTRALIAN
8 May – 1 August 2021

Hoda Afshar, Dog’s Breakfast (detail), 2011, archival inkjet print, 61 x 88.9 cm, courtesy of the Artist
Just Not Australian brings together a group of 20 living Australian artists across
generations and mediums to deal broadly with the origins and implications of
contemporary Australian nationhood.
This timely thematic show will look to showcase the common sensibilities of satire,
larrikinism and resistance in order to interrogate and interpret presenting and representing Australian identity.
Check out the Education Resource for this exhibition:
MGNSW touring exhibition
SHADOW BOXER | MRAG Collection
5 June – 8 August 2021

Karla Dickens, Pound-for-Pound #3 (detail), 2019, mixed media, 161 x 41 x 41cm, Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2020.
The boxing ring has long been a compelling site for artists. It has produced many books, songs, paintings and films. What is it about the fight that speaks to artists through the ages and why do some contemporary artists respond so vividly to its grit, history and contest? Shadow Boxer will highlight this cultural fascination and showcase the work of contemporary Australian artists who explore ideas of race, gender and class and the sheer physicality of Boxing in their work.
BARKA, THE FORGOTTEN RIVER |Badger Bates & Justine Muller
12 June – 5 September 2021

Justine Muller, River of Hope (detail), 2018, river clay footprints, sand and found objects sourced from the Barka around Wilcannia
Barka, the forgotten River reflects the love artists Badger Bates and Justine Muller have for the Barka, or Darling River – “our mother and the blood in our veins” – and its people, the Barkandji. Poetic and political at once, the work of these 2 artists reach to the past to inform the future, because all time is one. Motivated by a deep concern for the collapse and near-disappearance of the Barka-Darling River – something that will have ripple effects Australia-wide – works in the exhibition by Badger span the past two decades combined with Muller’s more recent responses to the region and its people. They take the form of ceramics, leadlight, lino print, wood and steel sculpture, and painting, in addition to a multi-media installation.
Checkout the full exhibition program HERE
MRAG Collection
The MRAG Collection comprises more than 6000 paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs and limited edition prints, by Australian and international artists.
Explore some of the artworks of the Maitland Regional Art Gallery Collection HERE. Our complete Lionel Lindsay and Charles Blackman collections are now online and we will be progressively adding more of our Collection for you to discover. Have fun exploring!
Collection Catalogues of past MRAG exhibitions of artworks from the Collection are also available HERE.
And remember, we can always arrange for you and your students to look at selected artworks that are part of the MRAG Collection. Please contact us to discuss.
Enquiries
For all enquiries email artgallery@nullmaitland.nsw.gov.au or call the gallery on 4934 9859
We look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!