New England Regional Art Museum

Packsaddle Exhibition 2024
2024-10-25 17:00 - 2024-11-10 16:00 (Australia/Sydney)
Packsaddle is an annual art exhibition that has been raising funds for NERAM since 1985. Each year the Packsaddle Exhibition presents a diverse range of paintings, original prints and sculpture by leading Australian artists, providing local collectors and art lovers the opportunity to purchase great artworks to start or build their own collections, while also supporting NERAM.
The 2024 fundraising exhibition runs from 25 October – 10 November with the opening night on Friday 25 October.
Opening Night Event: Friday 25 October
Viewing from 5.00pm | Selling from 6.00pm
Opening remarks by Madeleine Tuckfield Carrano, Gallery Director and owner of Artsite Contemporary

Packsaddle 2024 Program of Events

Saturday 26 October 10.30am: Packsaddle floor talk with Madeleine Tuckfield Carrano
Saturday 3 November 10.30am: Packsaddle floor talk
Sunday 10 November 1.00 – 4.00pm: Pick up Party for customers to collect their works

Packsaddle Talk: Madeleine Tuckfield Carrano
2024-10-26 10:30 - 11:30
Join us on the opening weekend of the 2024 Packsaddle Exhibition to hear from guest speaker Madeleine Tuckfield Carrano, Gallery Director and owner of Artsite Contemporary.
Living and working in Sydney, Madeleine Tuckfield-Carrano has travelled extensively around Australia, Europe, Asia and America, gleaning visual experiences that inform her art making. She has exhibited painting, photography, found object constructions, prints and works on paper, with more than 25 solo exhibitions, and numerous curated, group and finalist award exhibitions in Australia and Internationally.
Artist, Curator/Director of Artsite Contemporary Galleries, Madeleine Tuckfield-Carrano has been acknowledged as one of Australia’s leading contemporary painters and printmakers. Whilst she has multiple Post graduate qualifications including from The University of Sydney, Alexander Mackie College, Sydney College of the Arts, and with a Masters from the University of NSW, she would describe herself as a visual archaeologist layering observation, and meaning, into her own interlaced reality.
Tuckfield-Carrano works are held in Public and Corporate Collections including: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT; Art Gallery of NSW Archive Collection; Art Gallery of Western Australia Collection; Australian Broadcasting Corporation Collection; National Gallery of Australia Archive Collection; The MAGAM Collection, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney NSW; Electricity Trust of South Australia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chile; Tama Art University, Japan.

Drawing the Landscape
2024-10-27 10:00 - 13:00
Drawing the Landscape: en plein air with Isabelle Devos
Coinciding with the current exhibition Drawing from the Collection we have a Sunday morning workshop in landscape drawing. Join local artist Isabelle Devos in the Black Gully reserve at NERAM to learn how to capture the landscape en plein air.
This workshop is for beginners to intermediate levels, learning composition, lines, shading, using graphite and pen+ink.
What is en plein air? This term translates directly to in the open air, and is used to describe the process of painting or drawing a landscape outdoors.
If the weather is not good, the group will work in the Packsaddle studio from photos. Participants are asked to bring a photo of their favourite landscape just in case.
For adults and 16yrs +
DATE | Sunday 27 October
TIME | 10am -1pm
VENUE | Black Gully & Packsaddle studio NERAM
COST | General price $57 / FoN & CC member price $52
BRING WITH YOU | A5 or A4 sketchbook, photos of landscapes you would like to draw, picnic rug or outdoor camping chair, sun protection, hat for outdoors. BYO morning tea or tea/coffee is available at Six Counties Cafe at NERAM.
MATERIALS SUPPLIED | the following materials will be available to use or you are welcome to bring your own. A range of graphite pencils, 2H, HB, 2B and 4B (suggested brands: FaberCastell, Blackwing, Derwent). Black artist ink pen, eg: Pigma Micron, Artline. Kneadable eraser or other types of good erasers. Ruler.
Minimum number needed to go ahead is 8, maximum participants 14. Bookings close 9am Friday 25th October.

Image credit: Photograph supplied by Isabelle Devos

Packsaddle Floor Talk
2024-11-02 10:30 - 11:30
Packsaddle Floor Talk
Saturday November 2 @ 10.30am
Join NERAM director Rachael Parsons for a free floor talk on the works and artists that are in the 2024 Packsaddle Exhibition. Hear about the exhibition’s links to the official Royal Tour and artist Warwick Fuller, who was the Australian artist chosen by the King to join them on their tour of Australia and Samoa, and many other interesting facts and details.

HOME Program Exhibition Opening
2024-11-02 11:00 - 12:30
The HOME Program, in partnership with the Art Gallery of NSW and NSW Department of Education’s Art Unit.
EXHIBITION OPENING | Saturday 2nd November 11am – 12.30pm
VENUE | Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place, 96-104 Kentucky St, Armidale
Celebrating works by Stage 3 students from Drummond Memorial, Armidale City Public, Uralla Central, Bonshaw Public and Ebor Public schools.
This exhibition is part of the HOME program, a collaboration between the Art Gallery of NSW, NSW Department of Education’s Art Unit and Aboriginal communities and regional galleries across NSW. It connects schools to local Aboriginal artists, community, language and culture. In 2024 this program was delivered on Anaiwan country at the New England Regional Art Museum and Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place. This exhibition came together under the guidance of Gamilaraay artist Debbie Taylor-Worley and in collaboration with Widders Consultancy.

Talk: Occupation: Structures of the Berlin Brigade
2024-11-02 14:00 - 15:00
Occupation: Structures of the Berlin Brigade
A Visual Anthropology Research Project on the Built Environment
A politically and culturally conscious approach to urban preservation and development considers public memory and space as a cultural product. This comprehensive visual anthropology addresses how individuals relate to heritage sites over time and political change to offers insight for urban development and heritage management projects.
This photographic project deals with a set of buildings in the former American Sector of West Berlin. These political structures were used or built by the US occupational military following WWII, the Cold War, German reunification, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. (1945 – 1994). The sites share a unique historical context and geographic proximity, lending themselves to place-making research.
As the 30th anniversary of the occupational withdrawal of foreign military from Berlin is commemorated in 2024, I am revisiting this project produced as a masters research at the Freie
Universität Berlin. Gathering the experiences, ideals, and powers implicated at these sites across evolving eras, circumstance and purpose expand our perception of what buildings have meant and continue to mean individually and collectively.

Mike Terry is a photographer and visual anthropologist based in the New England Region.
He earned a B.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Utah in 2010 and was awarded A Fine Art, Music, Architecture and Dance Graduate scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) in 2011 through which he earned a Masters in visual and media anthropology at the Freie Universität Berlin.
Mike has worked as a photographer and filmmaker for commercial and editorial clients internationally.
Since 2014 he has lectured at the Freie University Berlin and the Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft in Berlin where He developed the masters course ‘Space & Place’. From 2017-18 he taught reportage and portrait photography at the F16 Schule für Fotografie in Berlin.
Before relocating to Australia in 2020, he worked as a visual & online producer for the studio of filmmaker Yulia Mahr and the classical composer Max Richter in the United kingdom. Currently, in addition to working as a freelance photographer and filmmaker he is Communications Leader for the School of Environment and Rural Science’s International Capacity Building Group at the University of New England.

Image: Teufelsberg, Berlin-Grunewald. Former US/British listening station. 2013 / 1985

Printing & Letterpress in the Museum of Printing
2024-11-09 10:00 - 15:00
Join the Black Gully Printmakers in the Museum of Printing for letterpress and printmaking demonstrations and displays. Try out the vintage typewriters, add a selfie to a hand printed WANTED poster or print your own Christmas card. Discover the historic F.T.Wimble Collection of type and printing equipment during your time at the Black Gully Festival.
WHEN | Saturday November 9
TIME | 10am – 3pm
WANTED POSTERS | A limited edition of WANTED posters are available to purchase & add your face or family image in while you are there. From 10am – 1pm or until we run out!
WHERE | The Museum of Printing (MoP) NERAM

NO BOOKINGS REQUIRED
If you haven’t visited the Museum of Printing before it is located on the lower level of NERAM, access via the carpark.
More information about the Black Gully Printmakers can be found www.blackgullyprintmakers.com.au

Black Gully Festival
2024-11-09 10:00 - 20:00
The always highly-anticipated Black Gully Festival is set to kick off on Saturday, November 9th, 2024, in the scenic Black Gully Reserve (behind NERAM on the south side of the creek). This free, family-friendly event celebrates the vibrant spirit of Armidale as the weather warms up, offering a day filled with music, art, environmental and community engagement. The festival promises an entertaining experience for attendees of all ages.
FESTIVAL PROGRAM

10.00am – 4.00pm – Makers and Community Markets
11.00pm – Welcome to Country and Official Opening

10.00am – 3.00pm Museum of Printing Open

10.00am – 3.00pm – NERAM Family Art Making
7.30- 9.00pm – Astronomy night with the Stars @NERAM cafe

MUSIC PROGRAM
Main Stages

10.00am – Ohmasoulmusic
10.45am – The Kelly Gang
11.30am – Welcome to Country / opening
12.00am – Tandav School of Dance
12.15pm – Khalill Tabor All Sheikh
12.30pm – Bella Frankie Music
1.15pm – The Briny Sea
2.00pm – Kirsty Larkin
2.45pm – Southswell
3.30pm – Buddy Knox
4.15pm – Partyline
5.00pm – El Adimra
5.45pm – Nascent
6. 30pm – Skele Jay
7.15pm – Florin Arc

Finish 8.15pm

Acoustic Stage (NERAM Cafe Courtyard)

10.00am – Maxine & Ben
10.45am – Barney St Band
11.30am – Keith & Luke
12.15pm – Firebirds
1.00pm – Ollie Twohill (Murwillumbah)
1.45pm – Bits of Buzz
2.30pm – Koivu

Finish 3pm
SLOW LIVING WORKSHOP PROGRAM

Clothes Swap – Clothes drop – 10.00 to 11.00am – Clothes swap – 12.00 to 2.00pm

Workshops @ The Community Garden

10.00-10.45 | 1:00-1.45 – Composting made easy
11.00-11.45 | 2:00-2.45 – Wicking bed demo
12.00-12.45 – Growing mushrooms

SUSTAINABLE LIVING ARMIDALE & FRIENDS WORKSHOP PROGRAM

10.00 – 4.00 – Tree of Life Painting – Save our Styx @SLA
10.00 – 4.00 – Platypus Play and Clay @ Bell tent
10.00 – 4.00 – Ephemeral Art @ Bell tent
10.00 – 4.00 – Craft, Climate and equity with Zonta @Zonta
10.00 – 4.00 – Rural Fire Brigade – Explore the Fire truck
10.00 – 4.00 – SNELC and Armidale Urban Rivercare
10.00 – 4.00 – Rising Tide Protestival Connection
10.00 – 3.00 – NERAM Family Art
Bug Walk and Talk – Collect and Identify the Locals! Two sessions (30-11.30 | 12.30-1.30) Meet @ Black Gully creek concrete ramp bridge.
Beyond Halloween: Bats in the Backyard Project. Two sessions (45 to 11.15 |12.30-1.00) @ Biodiversity, Conservation and Science tent
Energy-Efficient Homes: a chat about retrofitting for comfort and savings. Two sessions (10:45-11:30 | 2:00-2.45) @ Electrify Armidale
Manilla Solar – Be Part of Community Owned Renewables (1.00 – 1.45) @ Electrify Armidale
Black Gully Grassland Games and Friends (30-3.00) @ ANTaR Hand in Hand Peace tent @ the Tennis Court wall near the Community Garden.
The Story Telling Circle (30 – 2.30) @ Bell tent
Felted Soap Making Workshop (1.30 – 3.30) @SLA
Have you seen these threatened species? Rare wallaby, pademelon, and orchids (00 to 3.30) @ Biodiversity, Conservation and Science tent
Astronomy night with the Stars – (30pm to 9.00) @ NERAM Café
Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place – Open 10.00 – 4.00. All Welcome.

TALKS AND ACTIVITIES -Details
Aboriginal Cultural Keeping Place
The Aboriginal Cultural Keeping Place will be open all day from 10.00am to 4.00pm as part of the Black Gully Festival. Join live music in the pavilion with Cyril Green, Kathy Kelly and friends. There will be a sausage sizzle and opportunities to dance, take part in cultural learning in the Yarning Circle and explore the many artworks and points of culture. All are welcome. Walk across from the NERAM front grassland during the day via the side (western) entrance, follow the signs into the pavilion and surrounds.
Platypus Play and Clay and Ephemeral Art
Join Sue Eliot – Author of Young Children and the Environment.
Create with nature! Baskets of natural treasures will be available for children to explore the possibilities. Get involved in the Platypus pond and create clay creatures for the Platypus. Learn about this amazing creature. 10.00 to 4.00 at the SLA Bell tent
Dumaresq Rural Fire Brigade
Based in Armidale and one of the largest brigades in the New England District. They cover a large radius around Armidale assisting Fire Rescue and other Rural Fire Brigades. Their volunteers attend approximately 100 incidents a year ranging from grass and bush fires, structure fires, car fires, MVAs and other service and assistance calls. The also attend community events like the Black Gully Festival so they can educate the public on the dangers of bushfires and the regulations on burning during the Bushfire Danger Period. They will bring their big Fire Truck which the kids can explore. 10.00 – 4.00.
Rising Tide Protestival connection
Rising Tides Protestival event on Newcastle’s Nobby Beach will be the biggest yet — anticipating 10,000 people to turn-out over a 10-day period.
Climate Action and Sustainable Living Armidale support a New England Affinity group planning to attend. We are demanding the government immediately cancel all new fossil fuel projects, tax fossil fuel export profits at 78 per cent to fund community and industrial transition and end all coal exports from Newcastle by 2030. Come and find out about the Rising Tide Protestival and how you can participate and/or leave a handprint and message on our local banner that will be going to Newcastle. Currently the world is well on track for over three degrees of warming this century, and there has been no effective climate progress to reduce our fossil fuel industry [in Australia] this year — the hottest year on record. The time to STOP is now.
Zonta Says Now to Gender-Equal Climate Action
Come along to the Zonta Club of Armidale’s stall. Find out why girls and women across the globe are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis. Talk to our club members about Zonta, and how Zonta aims to empower women and men to create a fairer future for everyone. We will be giving away handy information leaflets that can help you reduce your impact on the environment, and there will be fun activities for kids, with prizes, as well as a table full of second-hand books and craft items for sale. 10.00 to 4.00.
Armidale Regional Council
New information on waste and recycling, tips for water saving measures and how to prepare a grab and go pack if you are in bush fire danger. 10.00 to 4.00.
Tree of Life Painting – Save our Styx
A recent report by Forest Alliance NSW (FANSW) found that community surveys in forests were able to identify up to 10 times the number of endangered greater glider den trees, than Forestry Corporation NSW surveys. This includes in places like our local Styx River State Forest. Logging operations in the proposed Great Koala National Park (GKNP) are happening at four times the intensity than other State Forests in the state’s northeast.
Come and find out what has been going on about in our forests and make a Tree of Life Painting, sewing, drawing or writing for our Native Forest Protection quilt. 10.00 to 4.00 @ SLA and NPA.
Armidale Live inc
Armidale Live inc was formed to support all the Arts. At present it supports High Country Theatre, Saturday Magic Theatre and Renew Armidale.
Our most important project at present is the submission of a Precinct and Partnerships grant. The aim is to create an Arts, Culture and Education precinct focusing on the Armidale Mall.
We will be applying for enough money to buy available real estate, refurbish as necessary and repurpose a percentage of the space to an art, culture or education purpose. We have a number of partners in this venture including Armidale Regional Council and a lot of supporters. For a full explanation drop by our tent for a chat and to pick up a full explanation and maybe join us in this very exciting venture. 10.00 to 4.00.
Clothes Swap@ Black Gully
Join us for the Black Gully Festival Clothes Swap, a wonderful and environmentally friendly way to refresh your wardrobe, or you may find something special for a friend or family member. On the day bring along up to 5 quality garments, clean pressed and free from major faults.
The clothes drop off will take place between 10 and 11 am, at the Slow Living and UNE Life tents located at the Tennis Wall near the Community Garden. For each garment you bring you will receive a token which you will then be able to exchange for a garment at the clothes swap event, taking place from 12pm to 2pm. Any remaining clothes will be sold at the end of the day with all proceeds going to a local charity.
Bug Walk and Talk – Collect and Identify the Locals!
Water bugs are great indicators of stream health. Join resident Freshwater Ecologists from the Aquatic Ecology Lab at UNE on a walk along Black Gully to collect and identify (water bugs). Find out who live there and what they can tell us about the condition of their watery home. Everyone is welcome and feel free to pick the Scientist’s brains while you pick out water bugs! Two sessions 10.30-11.30 | 12.30-1.30. Meet @ Black Gully creek concrete ramp bridge.
Beyond Halloween: Bats in Backyards
Learn about the amazing world of insect eating bats and be part of a citizen science project recording the crazy ultrasonic calls of these tiny pest controllers in your own backyard. Senior Threatened Species Officer and confirmed bat nerd, Alicia Scanlon from the Saving our Species program will talk about the diversity of insect eating bats found around the Armidale region, what makes them such special creatures, what threatens their survival, how we study them and how you can help conserve them. Two Sessions 10:45 – 11:15 | 12.30 – 1.00. – @Biodiversity, Conservation and Science tent
Energy-Efficient Homes: a chat about retrofitting for comfort and savings
Join us for a practical discussion on improving energy efficiency and reducing electricity costs in your home. Explore solutions for different types of houses, from quick retrofitting tips to long-term investments, and discover incentives for boosting comfort and savings. Share ideas and learn from Michelle Campione-van Zetten (Environmental Planner, GeoLINK), Trevor Brown (Convenor, Electrify Armidale), and Matt Peterson (Founder, Automised Energy). All home energy questions welcome and resource connections provided. Two sessions 10:45-11:30 | 2:00-2.45 @Electrify Armidale tent
Manilla Solar – Be Part of Community Owned Renewables
The Manilla Solar Project is a community-led 4.6 MW solar + battery project to be located 2 km to the south of the Manilla substation. What is the talk about? Project directors Emma Stilts and Gerald Arends are inviting people to come along + have their questions answered about the project, operations and investment. This project is proudly funded by the NSW Government in association with Manilla Community Renewable Energy Inc. under the Regional Community Energy Fund. 1.00 -1.45 @Electrify Armidale.
Story telling Circle
Time to chill out on shady cushions and listen to your favourite story books being read by story telling friends especially for the little ones with Julie (Jules) Collins and friends. 1.30 to 2:30 @the Bell tent
Felted Soap Making Workshop
Felting is an ancient craft that was used prior to loofahs or washcloths for bathing and improving the condition of the skin. Using felted soap it is possible to get a creamy lather whilst conserving the bar of soap so it lasts longer. The felted wool is exfoliating and has antimicrobial properties. The felted layer shrinks with the soap and can be used for other purposes or composted after use. The felt makes gripping the bar or soap much easier, saving on chasing the bar around the bathroom and, in between uses, the felt dries out saving on cleaning residues left by the sink. For adults and children of all ages be running from 1:30pm to 3:30pm @SLA
Black Gully Grassland Games and Friends
Fun for all the family and peoples of all ages – Games games games. Meet new friends and join in the fun, potato sack and three legged races, aMazeing obstacle course, Giant Tug of War, many more old favourites and new 1.30-3.00 @ ANTaR Hand in Hand Peace tent @ the Tennis Wall near the Community Garden.
Have you Seen these Threatened Species of the Norther Tablelands?
Hear about a few of the most rarely seen threatened plant and animal species found on the northern tablelands, the tiny Parma wallaby and Red-legged pademelon, the Small Snake Orchid, the Ebor Goat Orchid and Metcalfe’s Greenhood. Have you seen them? Do you know what habitats they like? Do you know why they are threatened with extinction? Alicia Scanlon from the Saving our Species program will answer your questions. 2:00 – 2:30@ Biodiversity, Conservation and Science tent
Astronomy Night with the Stars –
Discover the wonders of the night sky with the UNE and Northern Tablelands Astronomical Society (UNENTAS) at this year’s Black Gully Festival! Their mission is to inspire a love for astronomy within both the university community and the broader Northern Tablelands region. Whether you’re a seasoned stargazer or a curious beginner, they aim to spark your interest and deepen your knowledge of the cosmos. UNENTAS organizes engaging events, from research and educational meetings to recreational star-gazing nights, all designed to bring the universe a little closer. They also proudly support the Physics Department in its public astronomy outreach and help maintain the equipment that lets us explore the skies. Join then at the Black Gully Festival as they explore the stars and beyond! From 7:30pm to 9.00 outside the NERAM Cafe.

The Black Gully Festival program is subject to changes at any time. Please refer to website for any updates or amendments.

Artwork Roadshow
2024-11-15 10:00 - 12:00
Arts National Armidale and New England Regional Art Museum invite you to a Fine Art Assessment and Conservation Advice Day with ACCREDITED VALUER Leigh Capel and ARTWORK CONSERVATOR Jennifer Taylor.
Think you have a priceless masterpiece at home? Curious about that old painting your grandma left you? Have you ben wondering if that artwork you bought has increased in value? You are invited to bring in 1-2 artworks from your private collection for an informal assessment and conservation advice from two artworld professionals.
Do you love Antiques Roadshow and having a sticky beak at other people’s stuff? Come and watch the fun.
Assessment and spectator tickets are limited, bookings are essential.
All assessment and conservation advice is informal and will be provided verbally. Participants may choose to engage Leigh Capel or Jennifer Taylor for formal valuations and conservation services through their official business services.

Opening Night
2024-11-15 18:00 - 20:00
Join us for the opening of five new exhibitions.
Clay on Country
Inner/Space: Helen Eager
Fusion: Max Powell
Wild Rivers: Lizzie Horne
Colourful Coventry

Credit: Helen Eager, Satellite, 2017-8, oil on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney.

Clay on Country
2024-11-15 18:00 - 2025-01-28 16:00
Co-curated by Jo Foster and Neridah Stockley, and toured by Artback NT, Clay on Country, ceramics from the central desert, is an impressive survey of ceramic practice that includes over thirty artists and collectives. Some are established ceramic artists others are incorporating clay into their practice for the first time, all have produced accomplished insightful and contemporary works that reflect the culturally and historically rich and complex region where they live and work.
Opening night: Friday 15 November, 6-8pm

Clay on Country, ceramics of the central desert is proudly toured by Artback NT with support from the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program.
Image credit: Hermannsburg Potters, Antala-iperral weather, 2022, hand built terracotta, underglazes, 550 x 390mm. Image courtesy of Sara Maiorino.

Inner/Space: Helen Eager
2024-11-15 18:00 - 2025-02-02 16:00
This significant survey exhibition examines Helen Eager’s progression from interiors and still lifes to the pure abstract images that she is known for today. With works sourced from the NERAM collection, Utopia Art Sydney, and the artist herself, Inner/Space celebrates Eager’s passion for colour, light, and deconstruction.
This exhibition is the latest of a series NERAM has staged highlighting significant Australian women artists including Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Hilarie Mais, Barbara McKay, and Aida Tomescu.
A partnership with Utopia Art Sydney
Opening night: Friday 15 November, 6-8pm
Image credit: Helen Eager, Satellite, 2017-8, oil on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney.

Fusion: Max Powell
2024-11-15 18:00 - 2025-02-02 16:00
For Glen Innes ceramicist Max Powell, fusion not only describes the ceramic process but the merging of ideas, influences and approaches. Fusion also illustrates the ceramic process of changing clay and glaze with heat.
Powell finds the natural world an endless source of inspiration and by observing the shapes, colours and surfaces is where he begins when creating paintings and ceramics. The simple act of looking and exploring reminds us to slow down and to disconnect with all the craziness of modern life.
Opening night: Friday 15 November, 6-8pm
Image credit: Max Powell, Dolomite water bowls – Ripple series, 2024, stoneware. Courtesy the artist.

Wild Rivers: Lizzie Horne
2024-11-15 18:00 - 2025-02-02 16:00
A journey to capture the essence of the wild rivers of New England on paper has taken Armidale printmaker Lizzie Horne far beyond local gorge country. A more than decade-long exploration of printmaking techniques with teachers and mentors in studios around the world has led her to a deep dive into sugar lift etching.
Horne has experimented with the medium to create a body of gestural, expressive works informed by the scale, movement and force of the New England awe-inspiring land and waterscapes.
Opening night: Friday 15 November, 6-8pm
Artist talk: Saturday 18 January, 10.30 – 11.30am
Restricted exhibition access 29 January – 2 February. Viewing by appointment only. Please call the Gallery on 02 6772 5255 to enquire.
Image credit: Lizzie Horne, Cloudfall (II), 2024, open bite etching, US. Courtesy the artist.

Colourful Coventry
2024-11-15 18:00 - 2025-02-02 16:00
Celebrating Chandler Coventry’s 100th birthday, this exhibition is a cracker for the kids showcasing some of the brightest and boldest artworks in the Chandler Coventry Collection. Coventry moved from Armidale to Sydney and opened his own commercial art gallery in the 1970s, later donating his personal art collection to NERAM when it was founded.
See gems from the Chandler Coventry Collection in a new way with this interactive display of colourful artworks accompanied by a variety activities – a scavenger hunt, dress ups, colouring in and more. Colourful Coventry is perfect for the whole family these summer holidays.
Opening night: Friday 15 November, 6-8pm
Image credit: Gunter Christmann, Attis, 1975, acrylic on canvas. Gift of Chandler Coventry 1979.

Artist Talk: Helen Eager
2024-11-16 10:30 - 11:30
Join us at NERAM for an in conversation between exhibiting artist Helen Eager and NERAM Director Rachael Parsons as they discuss Eager’s survey exhibition Inner/Space.

Helen Eager has sustained a solo exhibition program for over three decades with her drawings, paintings and prints. Over the years, the shift from domestic interiors to pure abstraction has been a consistent evolution, her love of colour and light a constant thread.
Helen Eager studied at the South Australian School of Art in the 1970s. A Masters degree at COFA in the late eighties focused on large-scale works on paper, which took her drawing to a new level. A residency at the Greene St Studio in New York in 1988 was pivotal as Eager’s work evolved towards pure abstraction.
Over the past decade, Eager has explored compositions using chains of triangles on fields of white. In 2012, Eager was commissioned to create a wall painting for the Circular Quay entrance of the new Museum of Contemporary Art building. Eager’s work is included in all of Australia’s major public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia and National Gallery of Victoria. In 2022 Helen Eager’s projection “New York Sunday” illuminated the facade of the MCA during Vivid, Sydney.
A partnership with Utopia Art Sydney

Image: Helen Eager, New Directions, 2005. oil pastel on paper.

Hand building ceramic workshop with Maria Vanhees
2024-11-23 09:30 - 16:30
In this full-day workshop, ceramic sculptor Maria Vanhees will be demonstrating the hand building and design processes that contributed to her skill development. Workshop participants will get plenty of opportunity for hands-on practice and will be working towards their own sculptural creations under Maria’s gentle guidance. The main focus will be on coil building and pinching techniques, on understanding and knowing the material, and on creating smooth surfaces and fluid curves. Practice opportunities will be adjusted individually to participant skill levels.
Finalised works from this session can be kiln fired for an extra fee: $10 per item
DATE | Saturday 23 November
TIME | 9.30am – 4.30pm
VENUE | Packsaddle Studio (Lower level of NERAM)
COST | Friends of NERAM/Culture Club Members – $54 , General – $60
PARTICIPANTS TO BRING | Apron & old bath towel. BYO lunch or takeaway is available at Six Counties Restaurant
Maximum 8 participants.

Maria Vanhees
Maria Vanhees is a ceramic artist featured in the exhibition Clay on Country, ceramics from the central desert. After being fascinated as a nine-year-old watching a potter throw jugs and mugs on a wheel at a market in the Belgian Ardennes, she finally enrolled in a ceramics course in Leuven (Belgium) nearly 20 years later. Since then, Vanhees completed a ceramics degree at La Trobe University in Bendigo which led to a PhD in Visual Arts. Now based in the Northern Territory, Vanhees has been teaching hand building techniques for beginners and more advanced students since 2010.

Museum Store Sunday
2024-12-01 10:00 - 16:00
On Sunday, December 1 2024, more than 2100 Museum Stores representing 25 countries, and five continents will offer relaxing, inspired shopping inside your favorite museums and cultural institutions…showcasing broad assortments of highly curated, unique, mission-specific gifts. From books to jewellery to children’s products to home accessories and gourmet food, there is something for everyone. Shop knowing you are supporting the missions and programs of each participating museum and cultural institution.
NERAM will be joining other museum and gallery shops around the world for Museum Store Sunday on December 1 2024.
With Christmas around the corner, we invite you to “shop with purpose” at your local art museum shop.
Your custom will help us sustain the programs and services we provide to our community, so as a thank you we will be providing:

A free glass of bubbles between, 11am -2pm
Lucky Door Prize
Discounts in the Museum Shop
Complimentary Christmas Gift Wrapping
Family gift making workshop in Packsaddle Studio BOOK HERE for the workshop

We look forward to seeing you between 10am – 4pm to enjoy a little Christmas shopping!

Crafts and Gift Making | Family Workshop
2024-12-01 11:00 - 13:00
In this drop in and drop out workshop, families and individuals can stay the whole time or for just a few minutes and make something personalised for Christmas. Choose from the following workstations and leave with something you can give as a gift or pop on the tree:

Cards
Bookmarks
Christmas Cracker
Christmas decorations
Gift tags
Simple soft toy
Christmas pet and pet home making

If you need help, our trusty Elf will be on hand to help! All materials are provided.
This is a drop in drop out event, people are welcome to stay for as long or little as they like.
Suitable for all ages.
DATES | Sunday 1 December 2024
EVENT TIME | 11am – 1pm for all ages, family event.
VENUE | Packsaddle Studio (located at the rear of NERAM).
COST | $5 per person. This cost is for adults and children taking part in the activities. Please note: children must be accompanied by an adult during the workshop, there is no cost for adults who are supervising children only.
MATERIALS | All materials are included.
Please cancel your place if you are unable to attend so that your place can be filled by someone else.

Terms and Conditions

All bookings for workshops require payment in full at the time of booking.
A minimum of 10 participants for workshop to proceed, maximum of 30 participants.
If the workshop does not proceed, you will be refunded any cash amount.
NERAM events have a limited capacity and use a ticketing system. Bookings are essential, all participants will be notified of any cancellation of the event.

Lizzie Horne artist talk
2025-01-18 10:30 - 11:30
Join local artist Lizzie Horne for a talk about her current exhibition Wild Rivers: A printmaker’s Odyssey. Hear about Lizzie’s experience in Spain refining the experimental sugar lift technique that she’s used to create the dynamic, gestural artworks in the exhibition inspired by our awe-inspiring land and waterscapes. Lizzie will also have several of the copper and aluminium plates that were part of her process to create the stunning works of art.

DATE | Saturday 18 January 2025
TIME | 10.30 – 11.30am
COST | Free, bookings appreciated

School Holiday Workshop
2025-01-23 10:30 - 12:00
Choose from the following 2 activities:
Paper Pool Dolls | Cool down with Lucy in a summer themed workshop these school holidays! Enjoy a morning filled with colour and creativity. Participants will start by making a summer scene using mixed media and then choose their own style to make outfits for the paper dolls. Pool party anyone?
Paper Flowers & Flower Frog making | Design and make a unique Flower Frog* using air dry clay and create the paper flowers to go with it. Lucy will lead all participants through the process and at the end of the class you have some beautiful creations to take home.
*A flower frog sits over the top of a jar or vase, a decorative way to arrange flowers and keep them in place.
This workshop is suitable for ages 5+. We ask that any children under 8 years are accompanied by an adult during the workshop.

VENUE | Packsaddle studio
TIME | 10.30am -12.00pm
COST | General price $28.00, Friends of NERAM/Culture Club Price $25.00

Terms and Conditions

All bookings for workshops require payment in full at the time of booking.
A minimum of 8 participants for workshop to proceed, maximum of 15 participants.
Bookings close on Wednesday 22nd January at 5pm. No refunds can be made after bookings close.
If the workshop does not proceed, you will be refunded any cash amount.
NERAM events have a limited capacity and use a ticketing system. Bookings are essential.

Story Stones Adventure | Family Holiday Workshop
2025-01-30 10:30 - 12:30
Get ready for a fun and creative adventure! In this workshop, you’ll create a mini-story that captures a moment in time—seen through the eyes of people, animals, and even everyday objects. Then, you’ll paint these stories onto rocks, turning them into colourful little masterpieces that will be placed around NERAM for everyone to discover! Each rock will have a special QR code on the bottom, leading people to a website where they can read your amazing stories. It’s a creative way to bring art and imagination to life!
All materials will be provided, along with a little snack!
For all ages and families to enjoy together.
Please note all children under 8yrs must be accompanied by an adult.
VENUE | Packsaddle studio
TIME | 10.30am -12.30pm
COST | CHILD General price $33.00, Friends of NERAM/Culture Club Price $30.00.
For participating adults $12.00. No cost for adults accompanying children only.

Terms and Conditions

All bookings for workshops require payment in full at the time of booking.
A minimum of 8 participants for workshop to proceed, maximum of 30 participants.
Bookings close on Tuesday 28th January at 10am. No refunds can be made after bookings close.
If the workshop does not proceed, you will be refunded any cash amount.
NERAM events have a limited capacity and use a ticketing system. Bookings are essential.

In Conversation – Natalya Hughes and Rachael Parsons
2025-02-07 17:30 - 18:00
Join artist Natalya Hughes in conversation with NERAM Director Rachael Parsons to unpack the ideas and development of this newly commissioned installation. Natalya will speak to the research that informed the development of The Interior, as well as the collaborators she engaged with to bring this large-scale vision to fruition. Natalya will also discuss the development of the imagery in the work and the ways they reference Freud’s own office, his written case studies, and the symptoms that plagued his patients.
Free, bookings appreciated
Opening remarks will commence at the conclusion of the conversation

Image credit: Natalya Hughes, Studio Portrait, 2022. Photography: James Caswell

The Interior: Natalya Hughes
2025-02-07 17:30 - 2025-04-06 16:00
The Interior is an immersive installation combining sculptural seating, richly patterned soft furnishings, and uncanny object d’art, nestled around a hand painted mural to generate a stimulating space to unpack our collective and unconscious biases.
Natalya Hughes, one of Australia’s most exciting mid-career artists, is known for her explorations of decorative and ornamental traditions and their associations with the feminine, the human form, and excess. Recent bodies of work investigate the relationship between Modernist painters and their anonymous women subjects.
Curated by Tulleah Pearce.
The Interior is a travelling exhibition organised by Institute of Modern Art (IMA), toured by Museums & Galleries Queensland.
The Interior has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body; the Australia Council’s Contemporary Touring initiative; the Fini Artist Fellowship through the Sheila Foundation; Queensland College of Art, Griffith University; Creative Art Research Institute, Griffith University; and Porter’s Paints, New Farm.
Natalya Hughes is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane, and Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney.

Opening night: Friday 7 February
In Conversation with Natalya Hughes, 5.30pm
Opening remarks, 6pm
Image credit: Installation view, Natalya Hughes: The Interior, 2022, Institute of Modern Art. Photography: Charlie Hillhouse.

Opening Night
2025-02-07 18:00 - 20:00
Join us for the opening of five new exhibitions.
(opening remarks 6pm)
The Interior: Natalya Hughes
Vibrations: Abstract women in the collections
Oddity Part 1: KHR Stewart
Contemplations: Contemporary still life
Dancing with Colour: Jamie-Lee Garner & Frances Edwina Powell

Credit: KHR Stewart, The Victorians (Giantess), 2018, oil on canvas, 85 x 70cm. Courtesy the artist.

Contemplations: Contemporary still life
2025-02-07 18:00 - 2025-03-16 16:00
This exhibition of still life artworks offers a compelling exploration of one of the oldest and most enduring genres in art history. In contemporary art, still life continues to captivate artists with its potential for experimentation and reinterpretation. Still life allows artists to engage with both the ordinary and the symbolic, offering a meditative space to reflect on the relationship between objects and human experience. In today’s fast-paced, image-saturated world, still life remains a powerful vehicle for introspection and an enduring testament to the ability of art to capture the beauty and meaning in the simplest of things.
Featured artists include Andrea Gledhill, Fiona Cotton, Fiona O’Byrne, James White, Jodi Thompson, Kate Durack, Kir Larwill, Leah Bullen, Lucy McCann, Michaela Laurie, Phoebe Hillard, Samantha Dennison, and Simone Hale.
Opening Night: Friday 7 February, 6-8pm (opening remarks 6pm)
Contemplations Catalogue
Image credit: Jodi Thompson, Does my bum look big in this?, 2024, oil on ply, 63 x 42cm. Courtesy the artist.

Dancing with Colour: Jamie-Lee Garner & Frances Edwina Powell
2025-02-07 18:00 - 2025-03-16 16:00
A joint exhibition between local artist and potter Jamie-Lee Garner and Brisbane-based artist Frances Edwina Powell. Each embraces bold colour in their artistic practices, imbuing their works with movement and dynamism. Garner creates her pottery vessels then ‘upholsters’ them with vintage textile offcuts while Powell mimics acts of daily pantomime with her collages reminiscent of Matisse.
Jamie-Lee Garner is an interdisciplinary artist that lives and works from her studio in the Northern Tablelands, on Ngarabal country in NSW, Australia. She received her BA in Architecture from the University of Sydney in 2018. By working across various mediums, including ceramics, recycled textiles and oil painting, Garner creates work about the discovery of self in a way that aims to be accessible and most importantly delightful.
Frances Edwina Powell is an emerging artist and arts facilitator based in Meanjin (Brisbane). She received a Bachelor of Fine Art (Studio) and Business (Marketing) from the Queensland College of Art in 2021. Powell often references figure drawing, abstract shapes and colour associations within her work, crafting collages and illustrative oil paintings that explore form and concept, along with ideas of the body, relationships, performance and home, primarily working on paper. Frances Powell is represented by Side Gallery, Brisbane.
Opening Night: Friday 7 February, 6-8pm (opening remarks 6pm)
Image credit: Frances Edwina Powell, Ribbons and twirls! (hyper today), 2023, oil paint and pencil on archival paper, 59.4 x 42cm. Courtesy the artist and Side Gallery.

Vibrations: Abstract women in the collection
2025-02-07 18:00 - 2025-03-30 16:00
Vibrations: Abstract women in the collection shines a spotlight on incredible works in the NERAM collections created by leading contemporary women artists.
Featured artists include Suzanne Archer, Vivienne Binns, Marion Borgelt, Judy Cassab, Elizabeth Coats, Michelle Collocott, Elisabeth Cummings, Debra Dawes, Helen Eager, Vivienne Ferguson, Rosalie Gascoigne, Helen Geier, Julienne Harris, Mimi Jaksic-Berger, Eva Kubbos, Pat Larter, Rosemary Madigan, Hilarie Mais, Barbara McKay, Wendy Paramor, Fay Porter, Marisa Purcell, Cassandra Sharp, Ann Thomson, Aida Tomescu, Louise Tuckwell, Maeve Woods, and Margaret Worth.
Opening night: Friday 7 February, 6-8pm (opening remarks 6pm)
Image credit: Barbara McKay, Wattle, 1974, acrylic on canvas. Gift of the artist 2024.

Oddity Part 1: KHR Stewart
2025-02-07 18:00 - 2025-03-30 16:00
KHR Stewart explores the subliminal world of the subconscious in this exhibition, drawing from life experience in collaging influential moments in time and personal relationships interspersed with the surreal. Her current process involves collecting and combining photographs into digital tableaux which are then reproduced as detailed oil paintings.
KHR Stewart was born in Orange, NSW. Moving to Lismore at an early age, and then studying Architecture and Fine Art at University of Newcastle, she completed her Fine Art studies at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Whilst now based in Brisbane, her work continues to draw upon her lived regional experience, and that of her family more broadly, intertwining natural and built landscapes with eclectic memory.
Opening Night: Friday 7 February, 6-8pm (opening remarks 6pm)
Image credit: KHR Stewart, The Victorians (Giantess), 2018, oil on canvas, 85 x 70cm. Courtesy the artist.

Tufting Workshop
2025-02-08 10:00 - 12:00
In this workshop, participants will create their own textile work to take home using the punch needle tufting technique. Exhibiting artist Natalya Hughes will lead participants through some of the techniques and processes she has employed to create custom textile works in The Interior. Participants will design their own motif to tuft, extracting imagery from their experiences, in conversation with the artist.
The Interior invites audiences into an exaggerated consultation room playfully furnished for psychoanalysis. A key feature of this installation is 7 rugs, hand made by the artist with a tufting gun. Consistent with the content of the overall installation, the symbols and motifs embedded in these objects are drawn from Sigmund Freud’s office and case studies. The textile design developed in this workshop by participants will be a motif drawn from personal experience. Punch needling follows the same technique as the mechanised process of using a tufting gun and is an inexpensive and accessible process to learn.
The workshop includes all materials, including a tufting kit that participants can take home.
VENUE | NERAM, Mazda Gallery
TIME | 10.00am – 12.00pm
COST | General price $33.00, Friends of NERAM/Culture Club Price $30.00
Maximum 12 participants

Image: Punch Needle Workshop with Natalya Hughes. Photography: Meg Keene
