Rusten House - past exhibitions

Past exhibitions 2024

28 September – 20 October 2024
Landscape and Memory by Michelle Hiscock – watercolour & gouache

Queanbeyan born artist Michelle Hiscock returns to her roots, for Landscape and Memory  exhibition at Rusten House. Since graduating from the Canberra School of Art, ANU, in 1991, Hiscock has established herself as a prominent Australian artist, best known for her evocative landscapes. Now based in Sydney, Hiscock has lived and exhibited widely in Australia and abroad. She has been a finalist in several prestigious prizes such as the Archibald Prize, Portia Geach Memorial Award, NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize and Gallipoli Art Prize. Hiscock’s exhibition at Rusten House displays ethereal landscapes rendered in watercolour and gouache, evoking mood and light through a range of sepia tones in her compositions.

Opening Event - Saturday 28 September 2-4pm

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Michelle Hiscock - The Minim Gate - watercolour on paper, 2017

28 September – 20 October 2024
LOOKS  by Patrick Morison  – portraits on canvas

Morison’s solo exhibition LOOKS reflects his fondness of human forms and faces and bold but limited use of colour. His process involves sketching and layering paint, using a minimal colour palette and abstracted forms to reflect the emotions of his chosen subjects. Morison trained at the Canberra Institute of Art, ANU, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Visual Painting. He has exhibited as part of numerous group and solo exhibitions, showcasing work at Bitumen River Gallery, Solandar Gallery, Graphix Brasserie and Gorman House in Canberra, as well as Queanbean’s Design Plus Gallery. He is also a regular exhibitor in the annual QPRC & Bendigo Bank Art Awards and was the recipient of The Hive Exhibition Award in the 2019 QPRC Regional Arts Awards.

Opening Event - Saturday 28 September 2-4pm

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Patrick Morison - Seated nude in homage to Hugh Ramsay, acrylic on canvas, 2024

October 19 & 20 only
Adorable Salvage by  Ralph and Leisa Fox – sculpture

Exclusively, as part of the Arts Trail weekend October 19 – 20, Ralph and Leisa Fox will host a pop-up exhibition under the creative collective Adorable Salvage. The exhibition gives visitors the chance to explore and purchase a range of quirky animal and character sculptures made from repurposed materials such as stainless-steel kitchen elements and other bric-a-brac. Developed during the Covid Lockdowns, the duo has been collecting and recycling items that would otherwise have gone to landfill. Finding shape and beauty in each piece, they have utilised these materials to create original, one-of-a-kind sculptures with bold personalities. Don’t miss the chance to snap up one of these wonderful creations!

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Ralph Fox sculpture

31 August – 20 October 2024
Postcards from Queanbeyan
Queanbeyan Quilters

Celebrating their 40th anniversary, the Queanbeyan Quilters are represented by around 50 members who meet regularly to stitch, share ideas and skills, and enjoy an environment of mutual support and encouragement. The exhibition Postcards from Queanbeyan presents a collection of miniature quilts stitched and crafted by their members who were prompted to reflect what Queanbeyan means to them. These postcard quilts showcase a diverse range of quilting styles and techniques from traditional to contemporary, whilst offering a personal and artistic exploration of community and place through the lens of each artist.  

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Images: Chris O’Donnell, Quilted postcard front (top) and back (bottom, textile mixed, 2024.

31 August - 31 September 2024
Reflections in Blue
Melanie Lenaghan

Melanie Lenaghan is an emerging contemporary artist known for her vibrant landscapes and expressive brushwork. Influenced by Impressionism, her canvases are distinguished by vivid palettes and energetic strokes, bringing natural scenes to life with movement and emotion. Lenaghan’s first solo exhibition Reflections in Blue explores the theme of water through her bold painting style — from the serene stillness of morning dew and puddles after the rain, to the turbulent energy of a stormy sea. Her work brings a fresh, evocative take on the Impressionist tradition, offering powerful, colour-rich interpretations of the world around us.

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Image (above): Melanie Lenaghan, Morning Dew, Oil on hardwood ply, 2022.

1 June - 27 July 2024
Endangered - David Smith

David Smith lives in Queanbeyan, where he crafts an eclectic range of sculptures from reclaimed steel and other materials. His works are designed to instigate laughter or contemplation and capitalise on his aptitude for engaging audiences through humour and intellect. After a career in the sciences, David now dedicates himself full time to his sculptures. His current exhibition explores the topic of adverse human impact on the environment, as seen through the eyes of some of our most iconic animals. The exhibition is a reminder that we need to do more to protect our fragile world for ourselves and for the other species that we share it with.

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6 April - 27 July 2024
A Stitch in Time – Quilt Exhibition

A Stitch in Time – Quilt Exhibition is a selection of Quilts and Textile Art from the collections of Queanbeyan-Palerang Council and the Braidwood Quilters.

This exhibition features quilts from the 'Quilts 2000' project which brought together over 600 quilts from Australia wide to raise over $500,000 at auction for the Sydney 2000 Paralympics.

It also highlights quilted panels created to commemorate the opening of the QBN Bicentennial Hall, and quilts created for the Centenary of Federation.

This exhibition forms part of the 2024 Queanbeyan-Palerang Heritage Festival.

Lois McKenzie Blue-bell Wood quilt 2009

Image: Lois McKenzie, Blue-bell Wood, 2009, textile mixed, machine embroidery, QPRC Art Collection.

6 April – 27 July 2024
Highlights of the QPRC Art Collection

Take an intimate look at a selection of past winners and awardees of the Queanbeyan-Palerang Annual Art Awards. A variety of media is represented in this collection with an eclectic range of subject matter on show.

Image: Jim Grey, Mountain Greenery, 1991.

Jim Grey_Mountain Greenery_1991

6 April – 25 May 2024
Community Connections – A Portrait Story 

Over 90 portraits created by members of the Queanbeyan community in 2008, will be on show at Rusten House throughout April and May. It includes portraits of local artists, past mayors, and school children from the region. It is a time capsule of the community. It connects the past and the present together by inviting community members who took part in this creative project, to view and celebrate the rediscovery of these portraits. An eclectic range of mediums, techniques, and skill levels are on display from the multi-generational artists represented in this show. It beautifully reflects the diversity of creativity that can be found in the community. This exhibition forms part of the Australian Heritage Festival, with the 2024 theme being "Connections".

Image: M Price, Self Portrait, 2008. 

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2 - 23 March 2024
2024 Women's Exhibition

Various

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Rusten House Art Centre showcases a Women’s exhibition featuring an eclectic range of works by female artists from the QPRC & ACT regions. 

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3-24 February 2024 Places Near HereJulie Colbran

Places Near Here showcases a series of landscape paintings of the ACT and surrounding areas by Canberra based Artist Julie Colbran.

Since 2000, Julie has ventured regularly on foot into the bush to a range of locations photographing and painting engaging scenes, rock groupings and flora in oil and watercolours. Her work conveys the experience and character of natural surroundings, and this exhibition is a collection of paintings that narrate her experience of being emersed in different landscapes. For Julie “Not a day passes for me without noticing a rock, a plant, a scene that astonishes and delights me. These are what I attempt to paint. I paint the character of things in the outside world. The paintings are records of places not easily accessible, and yet other people might enjoy connecting with those places through viewing my works.”

Rolling hills and grassy plains depicted by Julia Colbran

Image: Julie Colbran, Taemas, Oil on canvas, 2023

Exhibitions 2023

25 November - 16 December 2023
Creative Distractions
Di Dibley, Roz Dibley, Anne Kennedy and Marion Schumacher

This exhibition with works by artists Di Dibley, Roz Dibley, Anne Kennedy and Marion Schumacher uses painting, pencil, pastel, textiles, glass, ceramics, and jewellery to respond to the natural world. Each Artist presents a uniquely different perspective through their material choice and subject matter that offers a varied experience throughout gallery the Rusten House galleries. There is an opening on Saturday November 25 at 2pm.

Di Dibley celebrates the aesthetics in nature and constructed objects through a mixed media practice. Their works in the exhibition highlight the beauty and fragility of our world and are a testimony to her love and respect for nature and an ongoing appreciation of both its power and vulnerability. Artistic interpretations of Australian trees and other forest entities showcase Di Dibley’s day to day experience of living with spotted gums, being by the sea and experiencing changing landscapes. 

Through a two- and three-dimensional practice Roz Dibley creates works that are whimsical, humorous, and serious. She explores still life and landscape, creating works in coloured pencils, oil pastel, and paintings on clay cylinders to tell scenic narratives.

Anne Kennedy enjoys using a range of materials to create landscapes. With glass as her canvas, she uses solder, copper, confetti glass and paint to create treed landscapes. She also creates hand-built clay planters and works with timber, believing that everything old can be used again. She plays with shadows and bursts of colour in her works that add depth, energy and mystery to her landscape works.

For artist Marion Schumacher painting is her life and soul and the reason she gets out of bed in the morning. Developing images on surfaces has given her a strong appreciation of the world, where she finds mundane and minute scenes to be quite fascinating on closer inspection. She states that “Art has opened my eyes to the beauty of this planet I live on and has created a desire to help others to appreciate what a wonderful place we inhabit. My paintings are very detailed, as I wish the viewer to linger a while, rather than catch the essence of the work and then move on.”

Roz Dibley - artwork still life

Image: Roz Dibley - Still life with wattle

Marion Schumacher - artwork of Murray River

Image: Marion Schumacher - acrylic - Murray River sunrise, Mildura

Di Dibley artwork

Image: Di Dibley - Forest floor secrets

Anne Kennedy artwork

Image: Anne Kennedy - Branching Out

28 October – 16 December 2023 BelongingJo Parsons     

This exhibition showcases a series of drawings and paintings where Parsons uses these mediums to deconstruct complex ideas of identity and belonging. The artist is based in Southeast NSW and has a practice that spans the last 35 years.

Jo Parsons_All things being equal - acrylic on canvas 2023

Image: Jo Parsons, All things being equal, Acrylic on canvas, 2023

28 October - 18 November 2023
Creative Curiosities, Alison’s Wonderful Land
Alison Archbold          

Step into an immersive world of artistic wonders at Alison Archbold's exhibition. Delight in the colourful watercolour pet portraits, experience the beauty of recycled tile & timber art, and be captivated by the vibrant bursts of alcohol ink florals on tile, before losing yourself in the curious mixed media creations, showcasing the enchanting lives of cherished budgies.

Alison Archbold Down the Rabbit Hole mixed media 2023

Image: Alison Archbold, Down the Rabbit Hole, Mixed Media, 2023

28 October - 18 November

Trees and Other Treasures
Judith Tokley

Tokley’s first solo exhibition reflects her love of remote places and the need to be still, which she expresses through the medium of painting. Her works embrace an emotional response to the environment, exploring the essence of landscape rather than a pictorial representation where colour, light, space and line are used as central motifs in her work.

Judith Tokley Cooleman Ridge No 1 acrylic on canvas 2019

Image: Judith Tokley, Cooleman Ridge No 1, Acrylic on canvas, 2019

2 September – 21 October 2023

Magpies and More
Maria O'Donahoo

Maria O'Donahoo paints from her kitchen table, currently exploring one of her favourite subject matters; resident magpie Mrs Dude and its offspring. Maria loves her kitchen-studio as it allows her to continue a spot of cooking between brushstrokes. Maria has been painting for more than ten years and has been a regular exhibitor at the Queanbeyan Art Society, most recently as the winner of their Landcare Art Prize. This exhibition showcases her beloved magpies and their unique and quirky mannerisms, but other birds have infiltrated the space. Maria’s works are predominantly painted with acrylic in black and white with added subtleties of colour and gold that reflect her passion for Australian birds.

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Image: Maria O'Donahoo, Washing day, 2023. 

30 September– 21 October 2023
Tales from the late Anthropocene: Rise of marine megafauna.
David Smith

The exhibition Tales from the late Anthropocene: Rise of marine megafauna by David Smith is about climate change. Rather than repeating an urgent call to action, David is looking at a future where we have not responded and sea levels have risen, humanity has retreated from coastal cities, and a rapid evolution has given rise to new imagined marine animals. Smith’s sculptural works tap into the anthropic impact this crisis has on nature and the continual dialogue between humans and their environment to produce works that nudge our collective consciousness towards the reality of our imperilled planet.

Each sculpture elicits a narrative—a tale of a responsive, adapting world, of the preservation and decay, but also of sustained resilience and beauty in every epoch. Through this exhibition, David hopes to spark conversations, and perhaps, inspire actions that honour and preserve the fragile beauty of our earth before it’s too late.

David Smith Shopaholic

Image: David Smith, Shopaholic, metal and wood, 2022

30 September– 21 October 2023
Cartography of Now  
The Canberra Printmaking Group 5 Ink

Cartography of Now is an exhibition of prints that invites viewers to explore the ever-changing landscapes of the lives of four Canberra printmakers. Through a range of techniques and styles, the prints in the exhibition capture the diverse and complex experiences of contemporary life of the artists to offer a visual map of their collective journeys through time and space. Ann Widdup intertwines themes of memory and place, Nicole Henry explores experiences of grief and personal loss, Giancarlo Savaris navigates masculine vulnerability, while Claire Young responds to the talk of a possible war in the Asia-Pacific region, collectively representing multiple narratives through their group practice.

Ann Widdup Four Rivers Series

Image: Ann Widdup, From the Four Rivers Series, woodcut, 2023

2 – 23 September 2023
Hudddlestone & Mortimer

On a chance meeting, Michael Huddlestone (Garmarroongoo) and Dennis Mortimer decided to collaborate artistically.

Michael is an internationally renowned Aboriginal Artist from the Ngardi language group in the Roper River region of East Arnhem land.
Michael’s art is based on the Dreamtime stories associated with his country. Painted in the Arnhem Land bark painting tradition of rarrk (cross-hatching) designs, Michael depicts Dreamtime stories of spirit figures, hunting, fishing, singing and dancing ceremonies with the wildlife of Arnhem Land region including crocodiles, Kangaroos, turtles, dugongs, birds and fish. The animals represented in Michael’s work are important food sources for Aboriginal people.

Dennis is exhibiting recent work that responds to extinct and endangered fauna and flora. People worldwide, with lived experiences like no other time in history, are availed of informed data educating us on the environmental impacts of plastics, pesticides, forest decimation, monocultures and fossil fuel burning. Dennis’ works in the exhibition are from an ongoing visual art project, ‘Silent Canary’ and showcase extinct and endangered fauna and flora that express the aesthetics and beauty of what we are losing and have lost in the natural world.

Dennis Mortimer, Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io), Acrylic on Canvas, 2023.JPG

Image: Dennis Mortimer, Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io), acrylic on canvas, 2023.

29 July - 19 August 2023
Endless Possibilities
All Sorts Artist Collective

'The Allsorts' are a collective of artists from Canberra and surrounds. The exhibition 'Endless Possibilities' reflects the diverse styles of the group's work through their approach to nature of the area.

Rainbow Lorikeet painting

Image: Katie Volter, Cheeky Chap, 2023.

1-22 July 2023
Our Forest in Focus – the Wildlife that calls them home
The Canberra Tree Network with photographs by Graham Gall

The Canberra Tree Network is proud to present a photography exhibition showcasing some of the region’s spectacular trees and the creatures who live in them. This exhibition is a collaboration between ACT Government and Government House, Canberra Institute of Technology, Yarralumla Nursery, Australian Botanical Gardens, Queanbeyan–Palerang Regional Council, the National Arboretum Canberra, ANU, ACT Parks and Conservation Service. The stunning 22 photos were taken by local photographer Graham Gall. 

Spotted Pardolote photograph

Image: Graham Gall, Spotted Pardolote, Our forest in focus, 2023.

1 – 8 July 2023
ECCE RED HILL
Frances Wild and Carol Williamson

Filmed as a meditation on the art of walking Ecce Red Hill, a short film by Frances Wild and Carol Williamson, follows a group of women who join forces to summit their local nature reserve in a weekly quest for wellness, friendship and a deeper connection to the landscape and one another. 

Ecce Red Hill colour photograph

Image: Still from Ecce Red Hill, colour photograph, Canberra, 2021. 

Fever Ward Gallery Petite Gallery
6 - 27 May 2023
Exposed
Marsden Art Group

Exposed (2023) is a multimedia exhibition created by artists of the Marsden Art Group, featuring works centred around the theme - Exposed. As a group exhibition, it features a broad range of interpretations, each member bringing their own perspective and history to this exploration of ideas relating to exposure, vulnerability and revelation.

I'll just stand here- acrylic on canvas

Image: Val Gee, I'll just stand here, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 76x76cm.

Gallery 3 - Reading Room Gallery
1 April – 27 May 2023
Nurturing Nature
Heather Groves

Nurturing nature is an exhibition of new woodcuts by Heather Groves. Abstract, figurative, and sculptural forms are observed by the artist at home and in nature. Groves uncovers the tensions among her subjects and uses wordplay and bright colour to exploit her ideas.

Woodcut print - Making mountains out of termite mounds

Image: Heather Groves, Making mountains out of termite mounds 1, 2022, woodcut with charbonnel ink on kozo paper, 15 x 15cm. 

Gallery 1 - Fever Ward Gallery
4 March - 29 April 2023
There are battles yet to win: Feminist Posters 1979 to Now
Alison Alder and various artists. Curated by Cindi Gillmore

This exhibition of screen-printed posters from the collection of acclaimed artist Alison Alder, utilise both anger and humour to graphically illustrate some of the issues and events facing women in their struggle for equal rights over the last five decades in Australia.

This exhibition formed part of the QPRC Women’s Festival and the Queanbeyan-Palerang Heritage Festival.

Image: Alison Alder
Feminist poster - There are battles yet to win

Gallery 2 – Petite Gallery
4 – 25 February 2023
Peace, Joy and Stillness
Susan Hey

In Peace, Joy and Stillness, Hey examines the beauty of light and shadow on water, by taking time in the moment to stop, listen and contemplate water. These special moments can easily be missed and by stopping to look through water from above or below Hey see’s the pattern and movement and feels the stillness and peace, she then translates these experiences into paint.

Image: Susan Hey Floating 8, encaustic on wood

Floating 8 by Susan Hey - encaustic on wood

Gallery 3 - Reading Room Gallery
4 February – 25 March 2023
Under the Sun
Jane Duong

Under the Sun is an exploration and celebration of public spaces and historical places in Queanbeyan - through the magic and coincidence that comes with the cyanotype process. Each cyanotype print is handmade, some have unique borders, some created with negatives contact sheets, some dipped directly into the Queanbeyan River, all are one-off photographs on cotton paper.

Image: Jane Duong Untitled, cyanotype print on cotton paper 28 x 40.5 cm  

Untitled - cyanotype print on cotton paper by Jane Duong

Gallery 2 – Petite Gallery
4 – 25 March 2023
A Feminist at My Table
Claire Young and various Artists

A Feminist at My Table is an installation featuring the work of Claire Young from a series of screen-printed tablecloths made to spark conversations about heroes – or villains – over a meal. The feminists featured in this work are Bandler, Chisholm, Contos, Cowan, D’Aprano, Greer, Goldstein and Summers, who, despite their flaws or missteps, were just a few of the women with inspiring achievements who could have been included. Young’s tablecloth installation will be augmented by feminist chairs produced by local female artist to reside around this provocative table. 

Screenprint - A Feminist at my Table 2023

Image: Claire Young, A feminist at my table 2023, from multi-panel screenprint on cotton and linen tablecloth with hemstitched border. 240 x 143cm

Exhibitions 2022

28 October – 17 December 2022 – Reading Room Gallery
Helen Peart, Wendy Antoniak & Margaret Steele
‘Feathered’

Helen Peart, Wendy Antoniak and Margaret Steele are experienced artists who met at the Botanic Art Group at the Australian Botanic Gardens.  They work in varying media including watercolour, coloured pencil, acrylics, scratchboard, graphite and inks.  This exhibition is a collection of works resulting from the study of birds, their movements and habitat, along with reference material from photographs.

Eastern Rosella watercolour by Helen Peart


28 October – 19 November 2022 – Fever Ward Gallery & Gallery 2
Amanda Adrian, Prue Power and Lorri Blackwell
‘Enigmatic Pathways’

Amanda Adrian, Prue Power and Lorri Blackwell are working down ‘enigmatic pathways’ creating images that reflect their life experiences, current realities, fears, delights and their hopes for the future and our environment.

Carwoola Summer lino cut print by Amanda Adrian

30 September - 22 October 2022 - Fever Ward Gallery and Gallery 2
Sylvie Carter
Valleys, Views and Vines

Canberra born artist, Sylvie Carter, presents over seventy works in a rich and atmospheric solo exhibition exploring and appreciating the beautiful ‘Valleys, Views and Vineyards’ of Lake George, Wamboin, Bowral, Mossvale, Sydney and surrounding NSW region. Works include paintings of wild grasses, deep valleys, shadows and reflections, and the rhythmic land formations captured in oil and watercolour.

Sylvie Carter, Wildgrasses and Duck in Flight at Wingecarribee Creek

Image - Sylvie Carter, Wildgrasses and Duck in Flight at Wingecarribee Creek
Oil on canvas   

1 October - 22 October 2022 – Reading Room Gallery
Karen Warburton
Positives & Negatives

Karen transforms wood into unique 3D pieces that unveil deeply personal perceptions of reality in a colourful and textural form. Karen employs layering and different colour palettes to align with the design principles of positives and negatives to create these assemblages.

Photo of Karen Warburton's 3D artwork: Upcycle
    

Image – Karen Warburton- Upcycle

15 -16 October 2022 - Workshop Gallery
AZ Oakley
Happy JP Designs

AZ uses very fine paper cords as the media for her art, incorporating classic knot tying techniques to make 2D and 3D small objects.  This Arts Trail exhibition focuses on festive and ritual objects such as Christmas baubles, New Year’s wreath and jewellery, symbolizing special occasions such as ‘tie the knot’.

Class knot tied baubles

3-24 September 2022 - Fever Ward Gallery
Marilyn Hutchinson
FEEL

FEEL is based on present moment drawings on paper creating  layered, abstract artworks using feelings. These are in response to different music genres, speeches and poetry reading. A second group of works in paint, in homage to Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama are referencing her infinity nets, letting feelings lead the way.

Marilyn Hutchinson - Untitled work

Image - Marilyn Hutchinson - Untitled
Soft pastel on paper - 59.4 x 84 cm

3 - 24 September 2022 - Gallery 2 and Reading Room Gallery
Celebrating 30 years of Wildcare

Wildcare Queanbeyan is celebrating 30 years of operating in the local area.  Established by volunteers and continuing with that model, Wildcare has continued with its core philosophy of rescue, raise, rehabilitate, release and has saved thousands of native animals, including macropods, birds, reptiles, wombats and small mammals.  This exhibition is about celebrating native wildlife through Wildcare’s eyes and features works in a range of media by Wildcare Members and Friends.

Photograph of a Kingfisher taken by Gary Cheung

Image: Gary Cheung, Kingfisher

2 – 23 July 2022
Paul Martin
The Exploration of Space

A series of paintings based on actual exploration of space in both oil and water colour media. Martin  began this series in recognition of human evolution and ingenuity. He states that if we can do space exploration we can address climate change and human rights issues – this exhibition references this.

Paul Martin's painting Atlas V & Curiosity Landing on Mars 2019

Image : Paul Martin,  Atlas V & Curiosity Landing on Mars 2019
Oil on canvas  1520 x 910mm

Gallery 2 and Reading Room Gallery

2 – 23 July 2022
Ingrid Ferguson, Rick Smyth, Ray Fraser, Jeanette Regan and Amanda Parker
Exploring Sculpture

This exhibition presents the works of a group of artists who delight in exchanging ideas but who have individual preferences in style, material and inspiration. See an eclectic mix of works and materials including stone, bronze and clay and a combination of natural forms and figurative works.

Internationally renowned sculptor and group mentor, Wojciech Pietranik will deliver a talk on sculptural processes at 3pm at the opening on Saturday 2 July.

Ingrid Ferguson Fish sculpture in sandstone

Image: Ingrid Ferguson, Fish
Sandstone - 20 x 40 x 8 cm

4 – 25 June 2022
Mandy Ord, Jodie Zutt and Dennis Mortimer
3% 2022

An exhibition by three artists working in a variety of media; Mandy Ord, Jodie Ohm Zutt and Dennis Mortimer who attended Canberra School of Art during the early 1990s. The exhibition title ‘3%’ refers to a statement made by the Art School director Dr David Williams from his welcome to 1st-year students’ speech.

‘…five years after graduating, only 3% of graduates will have an art practice & only 1% of the 3% will be living wholly off their art practice.’

Opening 2-4pm Saturday 4th June

Blue Pieces of Paper to Get Food - digital print on metal by Jodie Zutt

Image: Jodie Zutt, Blue Pieces of Paper to Get Food
Digital print on metal

26 February - 14 May 2022
Art of the Tea Towel

Featuring a diverse display of Tea Towels from the past six decades. This exhibition explores the personal connections to textile treasures from collectors, designers and makers.

Please join us for a visual celebration of domestic art – the humble tea towel.

Tea towel picturing images of Queanbeyan by John-Pierre Favre

4 March - 2 April 2022
Alison Alder, Rachel Bowak, Mariana del Castillo and Sally Simpson
Making : acts of resistance

Celebrating artists of the Queanbeyan-Palerang region this exhibition spotlights local professionals who explore ideas of social justice, climate change and identity through time invested making practices.

These innovative works reflect contemporary art practice in printmaking, multimedia drawing, animation and sculpture.

Two artworks - Screenprint and Mixed Media piece

Image : left: Alison Alder, Remember Me 2020 (Screen print on paper, aluminium, plastic, steel, electric motor and pump, 120 x 80 x 50cm)
right: Mariana del Castillo, Facades and other baggage 2021-22 (Mixed media, 112 x 226 x 41cm Photo : Alex Asch)

8 – 30 April 2022
Networks Australia
Site Specific - artists respond to Rusten House

This exhibition draws public attention to the history of Rusten House, its architecture, surrounding heritage garden, uses of the building and relationship to community. The artworks of this textiles-based group convey ideas about the early development of Queanbeyan, its health and social systems, its people, approaches to land use and landscape design. There are many stories to be told.

Wendy-Dodd-caps

Image: Wendy Dodd, Restoration, Spring fever, A Stitch in Time (Mixed fabrics, thread, paper, polystyrene, each piece 20 x 20x 20 x 35cm)

In conjunction with the exhibition, public programs at Rusten House were planned. They were designed to bring the artists and the public together. These included the exhibition opening and talks, an Eco Dye Workshop and a Textiles Conservator’s talk and Market Day.

3 - 26 February 2022
Yasmin Idriss
The 40+ Project

The 40+ Project is a series of photographs celebrating women in their forties and over. Idriss states ‘The entertainment industry and fashion magazines make it clear they think we are too old and we become invisible. We will NOT be invisible! Moreover, we are certainly never too old to be pampered, photographed, loved, admired and adored.’

Liquid Light

A study of the natural world around us, while playing with the lines between painting and photography. 

Veiled woman by Yasmin Idriss

Image – Yasmin Idriss

12 January - 19 February 2022
Our Forest in Focus | Graham Gall

The Canberra Tree Network is proud to present Our Forest in Focus – A photographic exhibition showcasing some of the region’s most spectacular trees. This exhibition is a collaboration between ACT Government and Government House, Parliament House, Yarralumla Nursery, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Namadgi National Park, National Capital Authority, The National Arboretum Canberra, ANU, Parks and Conservation and QPRC. The stunning photos were taken by local photographer Graham Gall.

Tree Eucalyptus Meliodora Government House by Graham Gall
Image - Graham Gall, Tree Eucalyptus Meliodora Government House
40 x 50 cm

Dreams of another place | Todd Fuller

For ten years, Sydney based Todd Fuller has been crafting hand-drawn animations exploring themes of love, loss, place, community, and difference. These award winning works are narrative based and are derived from Fuller’s experiences with a range of communities, sites, and histories.

'Dreams of another place' presents the story of 'Little Star', a dog who dreamed of going into space as well as other materials relating to Fuller’s animation practice.

Little-star animation by Todd Fuller

Image: Todd Fuller, little star animation still 2, 2015
charcoal, chalk, ink and acrylic on paper 56 x 89cm

Download the Little Star activity sheet here(PDF, 458KB)