Past Events › Exhibitions

Between the wheezing song of the carousel and the voice of the muse of epic poetry lies the land of Nicola Hensel and John Turier. For twenty six years their home and studio have produced a steady stream of sculptures, drawings, songs and offspring who make things. This show brings their practices together for the first time – and includes a drawing machine a mechanical parade, giant buttons and maps for the ever renewable heart.

Milan’s work comes from an obsession of making things by hand. He has a passion for the everyday, the commonplace, the raw, the hands on, the gritty world of making things that talk about the who, the how and the why of us.

Legacy: Reflections on Mabo celebrates the man behind the game-changing Native Title Act, Eddie Koiki Mabo. Co-curated by Gail Mabo, Dr Jonathan McBurnie and Kellie Williams (Director of Umbrella Studio), the exhibition brings together a selection of over 20 works by Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists in the spirit of reconciliation, twenty-five years after the historic achievement. Each artist has responded to an aspect of Eddie Mabo that they are drawn to, whether it is his life, politics, activism, or legacy. The…

Volunteer snake catcher, educator and natural history illustrator Teresa Purnell presents an exhibition of serpentine splendour.
Teresa’s passion for the conservation of snakes and reptiles drives the artworks in the exhibition SnakeAbout. The detailed natural history illustrations are seen as a tool for teaching people about the peaceful and safe co-existence with reptiles.

Local legend Frank Oakes invites you into a world of wizardry, wonder and fairy tales created through the ancient art of puppetry.

For Suzanne Archer, travel has been one of the most powerful challenges and enriching source of artistic expansion. From travelling with camera, sketchbook and notebook in hand, Archer has amassed a collection of travel journals that have recently begun transforming into artist books. Her journeys have taken her to Europe, Africa, Thailand, China, Bali, USA, and domestically throughout Australia, with this exhibition including a variety of media collected from and in response to the idea of Travel and Self. Suzanne…

Penelope Seidler AM has an intrinsic and layered connection to Maitland. This exhibition unfolds those layers to reveal Penelope Seidler's love of art, her support of artists, her generosity and her ties to Maitland - a personal connection that began more than a century ago in East Maitland where her father, Clive Raleigh Evatt QC (born in 1900), and his two elder brothers Ray and Frank, who were both killed in France during WW1, were born. This exhibition also unfolds…

Nola comes from a long standing tradition of painting en plein air, artwork created ‘in the moment’, painted and worked on in situ. Nola can often be working in her magnificent home garden or out in the field during her many trips overseas. Nola’s subjects are often domestic or people enjoying themselves in a café in the sun. But there are glimpse of grandeur here in Italy, France or in her own backyard.

This exhibition invites current members of the Maitland Region Society of Artists to create a new work of art which celebrates what Maitland means to them. As part of the process each artist will contribute to a poem which will be written and displayed as their gift to Maitland.

Showcasing the hauntingly beautiful collaboration between acclaimed artist Del Kathryn Barton, celebrated director Brendan Fletcher and award-winning visual effects house Method Studios, this milestone exhibition traces the interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s 19th century classic through a sophisticated artistic lens. A shining example of multidisciplinary partnerships across the creative arts, Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose has its genesis in a commission by ArtAnd Foundation (previously Art&Australia), who asked Del Kathryn Barton in 2010 to reimagine a timeless fairytale. Layered…

Stories from Wonnarua Country is a series of artworks made by students from seven local schools who have been exploring what it means to be living on Wonnarua Country today.
The artists have been led by their student colleagues who are the leaders of  their school -based Junior Aboriginal Education Consultative Group.

Operation Art is an exhibition of 50 selected artworks by students from schools across New South Wales who have been invited to create uplifting works for other children. The exhibition is an initiative of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in association with the NSW Department of Education and will include artworks by students from Hunter and the Central Coast schools.