InSight Jul - Oct 23

Blue Mountains City Art Gallery, Into the Blue, InSight Membership, What’s On, Gallery Café + Shop, Braemar Gallery, The Upstairs Gallery

JUL

The City of the Blue Mountains is located within the Country of the Dharug and Gundungurra peoples. Blue Mountains Cultural Centre pays respect to Elders past and present while recognising the strength, capacity and resilience of past and present Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Blue Mountains region.

CONTENTS

2 Just Below the Clouds

3 A Place for Artists and Art Lovers

4 InSight Membership

5 Into the Blue

6 Blue Mountains City Art Gallery

16 Exhibition Feature: Katya Petetskaya 18 Exhibition Feature: sensorial 19

COVER IMAGE: LIAM BENSON Hello, Good to Meet You, 2019. Commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia for the Jackson Bella Room, 2019. Photos by Jaimi Joy, Courtesy the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

Just Below the Clouds

Paul Brinkman – Manager, Arts & Cultural Services

After 11 years at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, this will be my last Insight Magazine introduction as I move on to new challenges in the arts world.

From the building’s grand opening in 2012 through to the challenges of COVID, the Cultural Centre has established itself as the premier arts and cultural space in the Mountains for both our local community and visitors to the region.

I am blessed to have worked with so many talented and amazing arts workers, artists, volunteers and community leaders over my time at the Cultural Centre and I leave with many fond memories, proud of the achievements that our small staff team have made.

The Blue Mountains is a special place for creativity, full of talent and innovation. Blue Mountains City Council has shown great leadership to recognise this through the construction of the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre and Blue Mountains Theatre & Community Hub, both within an 8-year period.

I am proud to have been a part of this exciting period and look forward to watching from afar as the Blue Mountains arts scene continues to go from strength to strength.

A Place for Artists and Art Lovers

Altitude 2024 Artist Announcement

Congratulations to the recipients of our Altitude Program for 2024. From an outstanding selection of exhibition proposals came four unanimous winners – Jennifer Brady, Bill Hope, Rebecca Waterstone and a collaboration between Gregory Crocetti and Linda Seiffert.

Bill Hope is a highly experienced artist working in the field of contemporary illustration. Hope’s exhibition explores the township of Katoomba and the relationships cultivated within built environments and intimate spaces.

Artists Gregory Crocetti and Linda Seiffert fuse ceramics, glass and biochemical processes in their exhibition, Entanglements of Earth. It celebrates the complex, symbiotic connectivity found in soils and sediments across Earth.

Jennifer Brady is an emerging artist investigating mental health experiences. Her exhibition Space to think, feel, learn, grow, seeks to create an immersive, soft space for the audience to reflect and ‘check-in’.

Rebecca Waterstone is a skilled artist working across a multitude of disciplines, most notably drawing in the expanded field. Waterstone’s exhibition is a meditation on pigment and surface, imbued by a sense of place.

Bill Hope

Gregory Crocetti and Linda Seiffert

Jennifer Brady

Rebecca Waterstone

InSight Membership

B ecome an InSight Member today and join our community of art lovers. By becoming an InSight Member you will receive invitations to exclusive events at discounted rates, gain insider knowledge into the Cultural Centre Fine Art Collection and are supporting us in continuing to deliver dynamic exhibitions and programs.

YOUR INSIGHT MEMBERSHIP PLAN:

Individual Adult: $50*

Duo (2 adults, children 16 & under free): $70**

Concession: $40*

Individual Patron: $200

Business: $250

* 2 x complimentary guest tickets per membership.

**4 x complimentary guest tickets per duo membership. Complimentary tickets only valid when accompanied by an InSight Member.

HOW TO JOIN:

Visit our friendly staff at Reception or call 4780 5410 to join or renew. Staff can provide an InSight Membership Form where you can provide your details. This form can also be posted to;

Blue Mountains Cultural Centre

InSight Membership Application

Locked Bag 1005, Katoomba NSW 2780

We now have online registration and renewals to make your InSight journey more convenient. Visit the InSight Membership page on our website for the link.

• UNLIMITED FREE entry to Blue Mountains City Art Gallery and Into the Blue

• DISCOUNTS on Cultural Centre public programs

• 10% DISCOUNT at the Gallery Shop and Gallery Café

• LIMITED complimentary tickets for guests *conditions apply

• INVITATIONS to exhibition openings and exclusive events

• INSIDER knowledge into the Cultural Centre Fine Art Collection

• SUBSCRIPTION to InSight Magazine, delivered three times a year

• SUBSCRIPTION to the Cultural Centre’s monthly e-newsletter

• ACCESS to InSight Members Lounge (Wednesday – Friday, subject to availability)

Into the Blue

In 2000, the Greater Blue Mountains area was added to the World Heritage List in recognition of the exceptional diversity and integrity of its eucalypt forest communities.

The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre features Into the Blue (the Blue Mountains World Heritage Interpretive Centre). This high tech and interactive exhibition introduces audiences to the richness and wonders of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area. Explore the people and places of this unique area through stories which tell of the natural as well as the social landscapes.

Blue Mountains City Art Gallery

ARTEXPRESS

27 May – 16 Jul

ARTEXPRESS brings together a selection of outstanding student artworks developed for the artmaking component of the HSC examination in Visual Arts in NSW. The exhibition celebrates student achievement and aims to connect communities through the visual arts. The works provide insights into issues that are important to the young artists, such as cultural and gender identity, mental health, notions of home, social media, globalisation and climate change.

In 2023 we are showcasing the work of 43 students from across NSW including work by students local to our region.

ARTEXPRESS is a joint project between New South Wales Department of Education and New South Wales Education Standards Authority

GABRIEL MARTINS Identity death 2022, photomedia, 210 x 180 cm, Christian Brothers’ High School Lewisham. Courtesy ARTEXPRESS and the artist.

Ida Jaroš and Bette Mifsud: Shifting Screens

24 Jun – 13 Aug

Shifting Screens is a collaboration between Ida Jaroš and Bette Mifsud containing over 60 urban and rural landscapes photographed from moving vehicles. It engages with the fleeting nature of human life, and the navigation of its uncertain terrains.

Ida Jaroš’s Commuter works are shot from Western Sydney trains. Her layered, impalpable and disconcerting urban landscapes contain transparent distortions and reflections. Bette Mifsud’s Breathing Rain is her requiem for the ravages of climate change, and recent personal loss, trauma and grief.

A Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Altitude exhibition

Artist Talk: Dr Bette Mifsud and Ida Jaroš

Saturday 15 Jul

11 am – 12 pm

Join us as the artists discuss their shared Western Sydney migrant heritage, the expanded field of landscape photography and more.

FREE event, everyone welcome Reservations via Eventbrite.

Blue Mountains City Art Gallery

Tracing the Rupture

22 Jul – 10 Sep

Tracing the Rupture explores sel ood and the fractured contexts we experience throughout life. Those moments where we confirm or develop our identity as a consequence of what we’ve lost or what has been taken from us. From fractured spaces comes a new narrative that informs our futures. This is the dialogue that exists between the artist and the rupture, the individual and the context.

Tracing the Rupture acknowledges junctures of turmoil, and how those experiences have informed the process of the artist. Whether this is a personal narrative that has been fractured, an historical or collective fragmentation, or a disruption to the landscape, these artworks reference how we repair and continue to rebuild our lives in the wake of rupture. Exhibiting artists; Fiona Davies, Szymon Dorabialski, Maddison Gibbs, Rachael Harrex, Eloise Maree, Judith Martinez Estrada, Juundaal Strang-Yettica, Ali Tayahori and Meng-Yu Yan.

A Blue Mountains City Art Gallery exhibition curated by Hayley Zena Poynton

JUUNDAAL STRANG-YETTICA Sister Everywhen no. 2 2022, photograph on cotton rag 70 x 90 cm

Panel Discussion with Artists and Curator

Saturday 22 Jul

11 am – 1 pm

Join Curator Hayley Zena Poynton, alongside artists Fiona Davies, Szymon

Dorabialski, Maddison Gibbs, Rachael Harrex, Eloise Maree, Judith Martinez Estrada, and Ali Tahayori in the Gallery to discuss their artist practices, and emergent themes within Tracing the Rupture

$5.50 / FREE InSight Members

Tickets via Eventbrite.

Writing Pictures

Saturday 12 Aug 10.30 am – 3.30 pm

Join us for a text-based art workshop with exhibiting artist Judith Martinez Estrada, and poet and short story writer, Craig Billingham. The workshop employs techniques from the visual arts and writing (e.g. collage) to create narratives from found and archival images. From these, you will make a booklet and contribute to a collaborative artist book.

$140 / $120 InSight Members* Early bird price: $130 / $110 InSight Members for bookings before Sunday 23 July Bookings essential via Eventbrite.

Katya Petetskaya: Am I Nature?

19 Aug – 8 Oct

Katya Petetskaya’s Altitude exhibition Am I Nature? features fluid, gestural paintings which respond to the artist’s personal examination of their relationship with nature. Contemporary environmental events and experiences of solastalgia have led many to question their individual relationships with nature.

Am I Nature? shares a way of processing these experiences. The exhibited works on aluminium, canvas and synthetic paper demonstrate a painting method developed by the artist and influenced by Petetskaya’s performance art practice. Biomorphic and anthropomorphic forms that result from this process act as an invitation to acknowledge, accept and transcend one’s own grief, anxiety, vulnerability, and homesickness in the ever-changing world.

A Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Altitude exhibition

KATYA PETETSKAYA Exploration #2 2023, synthetic polymer paint on primed aluminium, 220 x 120 cm

Katya Petetskaya Artist Talk and Performance

Saturday 19 Aug

2 pm – 4 pm

Join Katya Petetskaya for an artist talk and performance in the Gallery. This discussion will expand on the origins of performance as a visual arts practice conceived in the 1960s, and how it has impacted her contemporary practice.

By developing a gestural, abstract language and expressive mark making, Petetskaya’s works represent deeply emotive responses to her own personal history as well as society’s broader trends and trajectories. As a result of these influences and concerns, in many ways, Petetskaya’s work embodies a way in which she interprets, processes and seeks to better understand a world that is constantly in flux and reaching yet another tipping point.

$5.50 / FREE InSight Members

Tickets via Eventbrite.

Blue Mountains City Art Gallery

sensorial

16 Sep – 12 Nov

sensorial embraces all our senses, and moves beyond the dominance of sight within the Gallery space. The exhibition consists of immersive environments that can be experienced through a variety of senses. Visitors can engage at their own level, either looking at the creative installations or participating in them by gently touching, hugging, interacting and listening.

Created for and by the neurodivergent community the exhibition aims to be an inclusive space for those who are often overwhelmed by bright lights and loud noises; or those who experience the world through touch and find looking unsatisfying.

Exhibiting artists: Alison Bennett with Megan Beckwith & Ramana Dienes-Browning, Liam Benson, Inspired by Art led by Clare Delaney, Katoomba Neurodiversity Hub with Amy Bell, Bailee Lobb, Prue Stevenson, and Hannah Surtees.

A Blue Mountains City Art Gallery exhibition curated by Rilka Oakley

This exhibition is supported by the Dobell Exhibition Grant, funded by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and managed by Museums & Galleries of NSW.

BAILEE LOBB Ahuriri 2022, hand-dyed nylon, mixed plastics, electronic fan, 180 x 150 x 160 cm. Installation shot from Out of Order at Granville Centre Art Gallery 2022

sensorial

In Conversation

Saturday 16 Sep

11 am – 12 pm

Join a discussion with the exhibition curator Rilka Oakley and some of the exhibiting artists, learn about their creative process as well as how to fully engage with this interactive exhibition.

$5.50 / FREE InSight Members

Tickets via Eventbrite.

Sensory Concert

Sunday 22 Oct 10.30 am – 12 pm

Have you ever wanted to attend a concert but were too worried about being judged by others or shushed? Sensory Concerts® are performed by acclaimed musicians in a relaxed setting, with small numbers and onsite therapist support. These inclusive concerts are specially designed for children and adults with sensory or special needs including autism, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, physical and intellectual disabilities.

$10 Adult / $5 Child (16 and under) / $20 Family (4 members of a group with at least 1 adult) Booking essential via Eventbrite.

Blue Mountains City Art Gallery

Karlina Mitchell: a place with no other

14 Oct – 3 Dec

a place with no other, explores Karlina Mitchell’s Fijian heritage and her connection to her current home, the Blue Mountains. This solo exhibition is a personal glimpse into multigenerational connections and practices, where the spirit of Talanoa, the act of sitting and yarning in Fijian culture, comes to life. a place with no other employs a myriad of artistic practices, from photography and collage to video installation and performance, fostering a sense of home and nostalgia. By fusing images of the Blue Mountain’s landscape with Fijian imagery and vintage postcards, Karlina Mitchell delicately explores concepts of home, belonging and familial togetherness.

A Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Altitude exhibition

KARLINA MITCHELL Uto/Breadfruit 2022, mixed media collage, 35 x 20 cm

Karlina Mitchell Artist Talk

Saturday 14 Oct

11 am – 12 pm

This engaging artist talk will carry the spirit of Talanoa, the act of sitting and yarning in Fijian culture. Karlina Mitchell aims to elaborate on concepts and feelings of home through a multitude of artistic forms. As a skilled multidisciplinary artist Mitchell gently explores belonging and the family unit. Through the process of combining found images with her own photography and handdrawn motifs, a sense of nostalgia is born.

$5.50 / FREE InSight Members

Tickets via Eventbrite.

Saturday 4 Nov 10.30 am – 1.30 pm

In this workshop you will begin with photos, postcards, or printed images, Karlina will demonstrate how to embellish a photomontage with a variety of mixed media. By starting with a collage composition then using processes to disrupt this image with embroidery, posca pens and paint, you will create an embellished mixed media collage. Photos and other printed materials will be provided, participants are encouraged bring photos from home that they wish to use.

$84 / $72 InSight Members*

Early bird price: $78 / $66 InSight Members, for bookings before Sunday 16 Jul Bookings essential via Eventbrite.

Photo-plus, mixed media collage with Karlina Mitchell

Q&A with Katya Petetskaya

Curator, Hayley Zena Poynton, delves into Altitude

Artist Katya Petetskaya’s practice and learns more about her upcoming exhibition Am I Nature?

Hayley Zena Poynton: Your practice expands past the binaries of painting and performance, how do you feel this interdisciplinary approach allows you to materialise your ideas?

Katya Petetskaya: My practice is process driven, to me there is no separation between painting and performance. My painting process has been heavily influenced by my performance process, and vice versa. Performance art has largely developed from concepts of visual art, and while its methodologies are frequently used in dance and theatre, I believe there is a huge potential that performance art can transfer back to visual artists. This is what I seek to advocate through my practice. I turned to performance art because it helped me to expand and deepen my understanding of the painting medium and increase my body awareness when creating works. In turn, my work with the visual image has influenced my performance.

HZP: When approaching a new body of work, do you have any rituals or processes that you feel support your artistic practice?

KP: Thank you for this very interesting question! Curiously, I have been told several times before that I approach my painting as a ritual. From the moment of conception to its final result, I try to approach each new work without having any preconceived ideas of how it should turn up. I spend some time ‘emptying myself’ from any pre-existing knowledge and beliefs about what my painting material is and how it should behave. Meditation is very helpful here. I use performance art methodologies to rediscover the functionality of my material in relation to my artistic medium: my body. This allows me to really study my material again and again, because ultimately – the body is always changing.

HZP: The inclusion of your body is central to your practice. Has this always been an element of consideration within the way you create?

KP: While one can never remove one’s body from the creation process, it took me some time to develop an awareness of my body as an artistic medium. My performance art practice has been crucial here. I gradually developed a painting method that incorporates performance art techniques that allowed me to process ideas through and with my body. There is also a performative aspect in creating the work that allows me to play with form and nuance, abstraction and representation.

HZP: Moments of upheaval, from societal shifts to the changing climate, are underlying subjects within your practice. Your way of responding to, and in turn interpreting these events seems to generate a true practice of reflection, from an external, out of body perspective as well as body-centric view. How do you maintain a clear vision while maintaining both mindsets?

KP: It is true that experiencing major societal upheavals and drastic changes have influenced my practice. I think even my technique and process reflect this fluctuation between the sense of precariousness and uncertainty and seeking some order. Painting and performance have been my rescuers, giving form and meaning to the formless mass of inner insights. I think I do manage to maintain both mindsets but there is never a clear vision. It is very important for me not to use pre-existing images or references in my work. The compositions arrive in the exact moment of the painting and performative act, while I try to engage my whole body. I believe the answers and inspiration I seek are already there, stored within my material and my own body.

HZP: AmINature?is an exhibition rooted in the natural world. Do you feel living in the majesty of the Blue Mountains has impacted the way you approach art-making and the themes you’re currently exploring?

KP: My studio is now based in the Blue Mountains, and I definitely draw my creative energy from the power of the surrounding green ocean. It is my questioning of my relationship with nature that was the initial impulse for this exhibition; questioning that started when I moved to the Blue Mountains in 2019. And in this context, when I use the word ‘nature’ I mean Earth. I am interested in exploring the connection between humans and Earth. If you think about it, everything that is alive is programmed to survive, and while death is an unavoidable part of the natural cycle of life on Earth, we humans have always sought ways of extending nature’s boundaries. Where does this deep longing for immortality come from? If it is unnatural, then why and where did this idea originate from? Are we nature?

Q&A with Hannah Surtees

Artistic Program Leader, Rilka Oakley, chats with Hannah Surtees about her works featured in sensorial.

Rilka Oakley: Previous works of yours have been interactive – can you tell me how the audience will be interacting with your work for sensorial?

Hannah Surtees: The installation piece for sensorial is a group work, inviting people from all walks of life to sit and wrap an everyday object and add to the display in the gallery. This task is designed to bring people together, by wrapping the objects I am hoping they can find comfort in the mindful and meditative practice which seeks to celebrate the everyday. By using recognisable objects from the kitchen, I aim to reframe the monotony and tedium of domesticity, by reflecting on a sense of purpose through a repetitive task.

RO: What does the wrapping mean to you?

HS: I feel a very deep connection to wrapping; partly due to our son being born prematurely, and spending so much time in hospital, we used swaddling as our only way to protect and comfort him, and I find the act of wrapping to be soothing and meditative. I find textiles enjoyable to work with in the way it can knot into itself… it’s very satisfying.

RO: I know some of your work has been about healing through making, can you tell us how this work fits this theme?

HS: As adults, we tend to block things out and cover things up, I find artmaking to be mentally healing, whenever I sit and engage with an art practice I get into the flow and feel at peace. I like to tap into my inner child, not questioning too much and going on a gut feeling, free to make with no preconceived ideas. This particular body of work explores innate feelings of comfort; the raw emotions that seek it and everyday actions that provide it.

Hannah Surtees with her work Hug 2023

What’s On Culture Dose for Kids

8 sessions (ages 9 – 12) Sundays, 23 Jul – 10 Sep 10.30 am – 12.30 pm

Culture Dose for Kids (CDK) is an eight-week term of Sunday morning art classes for children and parents. Our Gallery is a safe space for self-expression to build confidence and foster social connections, to help support children and families through stressful or anxious times. CDK sessions focus on children’s wellbeing by exploring nature, colour and feeling through looking at the natural world and artworks from both the current exhibition and the Gallery’s collection. CDK is aimed at supporting children with anxiety and those impacted by natural disasters.

The project is a collaboration between Blue Mountains Culture Centre, Black Dog Institute and the Art Gallery of NSW.

FREE event. Email semerson@bmcc.nsw.gov.au if you would like to be part of CDK.

www.leuragardensfes

$40 all gardens - $20 three gardens - $10 single garden. Tickets will be available on the Festival website from 1 August, 2023. All tickets are valid for the duration of the Festival.

What’s On

The Art of Chinese Calligraphy with Xueyi Bai

5 sessions

Tuesdays fortnightly

25 Jul – 19 Sep

1.30 – 3 pm

This five-session fortnightly course is suitable for students of all levels. Learn to control a soft brush on rice paper to form bold yet delicate strokes that create harmonious and elegant Chinese characters. At the end of the course you will have meaningful works and the technique and appreciation to make calligraphy an everyday skill.

$140 / $120 InSight Members

Bookings essential via Eventbrite.

The Green Room

Sunday 30 Jul

Sunday 27 Aug

10.30 am – 12.30 pm

A unique experience of connecting to the beauty around you and within you. With extreme weather, mobility issues or busy schedules, it is not always easy getting outside to enjoy nature and its benefits, so in this relaxing and grounding session your bushwalking guide Tanya will bring the bush to you. Tanya will escort you on a journey, indoors, using all your senses you will bushwalk virtually, through a visual landscape.

$45 / $40 InSight Members

Bookings essential via Eventbrite.

The

Art of Ikebana with Harumi

Saturday 5 Aug

10.30 am – 1 pm

In this class you will learn how to use the traditional techniques of Japanese flower arranging to place and secure flowers and foliage; you will make 2 or 3 different arrangements, experimenting with textures and colours to create balanced compositions. Suitable for beginners.

$60 / $50 InSight Members*

Early bird price: $55 / $45 InSight Members, for bookings before Sunday 16 July. Bookings essential via Eventbrite.

* Full day or half day weekend workshops include morning/afternoon tea station with tea, coffee and biscuits.

Shifting Landscapes with Pippita

Saturday 26 Aug

10.30 am – 3.30 pm

In this workshop we will explore ‘landscape’ as a metaphor for our inner selves. The Earth’s landscape is constantly in flux from shifting tectonic plates to the effects of the elements. What affects our inner landscapes? There are changes brought on by loss or gain, or those that happen more slowly like ageing. What heals the Earth and what heals our hurts? We will explore these themes through stitch and create a centre piece or placemat for a table. This workshop is for all abilities.

$140 / $120 InSight Members*

Early bird: $130 / $110 InSight Members for bookings before Sunday 6 Aug Bookings essential via Eventbrite.

Drawing and Connection with Pamela Vaughn

Saturday 28 Oct

Morning session 10.15 am – 12.45 pm

Pencil, charcoal and chalk pastels

Afternoon session 1.30 – 4 pm

Pencil, charcoal and chalk pastels plus ink, collage and paint

Enhance your drawing abilities in a supportive and creative environment. Both sessions will include exploration of playful observational drawing techniques alongside a focus on individual visual language and voice.

Each session: $70 / $60 InSight Members*

Early bird price each session: $65 / $55 InSight Members, for bookings before Sunday 8 Oct.

Bookings essential via Eventbrite.

Urban Art Tours

Saturdays 10.30 – 11.30 am

Join a volunteer guide from the Cultural Centre on an urban art trail around the township of Katoomba.

$15 / $10 InSight Members / FREE Children under 16

Tickets essential via Eventbrite.

Gallery Café

The Gallery Café aims to operate with sustainability and environmentally friendly practices, providing a garden to table dining experience. The menu reflects these intentions through showcasing local and Indigenous produce as well as ingredients sourced from the Cultural Centre’s roof top garden.

BUSH TOMATO SPICED MIXED BEAN SALAD

Makes 4-6 serves

INGREDIENTS:

1 x 400g tin mixed beans, drained, rinsed and roasted at 180°C for 15 minutes

1 x tablespoon bush tomato spice (sourced from Wild Hibiscus Flower Co.)

1 cup x rocket, washed

1 cup x baby spinach, washed

½ cup x cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

½ cup x flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1/3 cup x feta cheese, crumbled

Method:

1. Combine mixed beans, bush tomato spice, rocket, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, 2/3 parsley and the feta cheese – mix until combined

2. Serve immediately, topping with the remaining feta cheese and parsley as garnish

Gallery Shop

Offering a unique retail experience, the Gallery Shop stocks a wide variety of quality gifts, books and homewares, with a focus on australianmade products, particularly those designed and made in the Blue Mountains.

InSight Members receive a 10% discount on items in the Shop and invitations to exclusive member sales throughout the year.

The Songbird and The Bee

Created in Michelle Stephens’ Blue Mountains bushland studio, The Songbird and The Bee candles are reliable and safe, as well as exquisitely fragranced using some of the best quality candle making ingredients in Australia.

It is Michelle’s hope that the candles she crafts with care and love bring peace, happiness and delight to your home.

200ml Candle Jar

$36.95 / $33.25 InSight Members

Pure Wax Candle

$39.95 / $35.95 InSight Members

Candle Gift Set

$48.95 / $44.05 InSight Members

Jennie Deane

Jennie Deane is a local Blue Mountains Artist / Illustrator. From her garden studio she creates quirky characters and local mountain landscapes in a variety of mediums. Her most recent body of work and book LOOKOUT encapsulates her exploration and rediscovery of the natural landscape of the Blue Mountains from the time of the pandemic lockdowns.

The Gallery Shop stocks a range of her prints, cards, bookmarks and scarves as well as her LOOKOUT book with handy QR location codes and artistic ramblings.

Bookmarks & cards $6 / $5.40 InSight Members

LOOKOUT book $30 / $27 InSight Members

Art Print $40 / $36 InSight Members

Silk Scarf $195 / $175.50 InSight Members

Gift Vouchers now available!

We now have gift vouchers available for purchase from the Gallery Shop. These vouchers can be purchsed in the amounts of $30, $50 and $100. These vouchers are a wonderful gift for those who like to shop locally or appreciate the unique range that can be found in a Gallery Shop. Visit Reception at the Cultural Centre to purchase.

Braemar House & Gallery

Braemar House is home to the treasured Braemar Gallery, a Council operated community exhibition space for visual artists.

104 Macquarie Rd, Springwood

Thu – Sun, 10 am – 4 pm

Free admission

For further information on exhibitions and opportunities to volunteer and exhibit, see under Braemar House at www.bluemountainstheatre.com.au

Photo: silversalt.

The Upstairs Gallery

The Upstairs Gallery is a new display space in Springwood, showcasing our vibrant Arts community with regularly changing exhibitions from Blue Mountains visual artists.

Level 1, Blue Mountains Theatre and Community Hub

Mon – Fri

9 am – 5 pm & when Theatre is open

For further information on exhibitions and opportunities to exhibit, see under Braemar House at www.bluemountainstheatre.com.au

Sara Elizabeth Joyce: Other Worlds

27 Jun – 8 Aug

Sara Elizabeth Joyce was already working with resin for several years in the movies when she was asked to teach her first Resin Art Class in 2016, she fell in love with the medium and since has taught dozens of classes, experimented with new techniques and taken the art form to the next level. Other Worlds represents her nights staring up at the stars and imagining exploring other planets.

SARA ELIZABETH JOYCE Birthworld of Mara 2023, round board with resin and pigment, 90 cm diameter

Meet the team

Introducing you to some of the newest team members you will see working in and around the Cultural Centre, we asked them why they love working here!

Fiona Hasselman Professional Beekeeper

Fiona owns the hives that are found in the Cultural Centre’s rooftop garden. She also works closely with our volunteer gardeners, the Green Team, advising on how to cultivate bee-friendly gardens.

Can you tell us about the challenges and advantages to keeping bees in our rooftop garden?

Keeping two bee colonies in the Cultural Centre garden has been easier than predicted despite it being an exposed site. Usually the amount of bees and honey harvested in windy sites are reduced. I expected to have to employ techniques to help the colony stay heathy. However, the hives have done so well, that I have even had to take some frames of bees away to other hives, as both colonies were growing in number so fast and they would have overfilled the area and hive. I find it very mediative to enjoy the beauty of the bees coming and going. This is one of the advantages of the location at the Cultural Centre as people can watch the flight path from the Viewing Platform.

How can we encourage honey bees into our gardens?

Grow a wide range of plants and do not use chemicals. Bees are very susceptible to chemicals and are sometimes even attracted to them. Control European wasps, which are an invasive species that prey on bees. Do this by using wasp traps and sprays if needed. If people would like to find out more come along to one of my events. Details can be found on my website fifisbees.com.au.

Is the Cultural Centre honey available to purchase, and where?

This season we had a good harvest and there is Blue Mountains Cultural Centre honey available for purchase from my website or the Gallery Café. The honey is labelled EnchantedHoneyKatoomba

ADMISSION:

Adults: $5.50

Australian concession card holders: $3.20

InSight Members: Free

Children under 16: Free

Your admission ticket allows entry to our permanent exhibition Into the Blue and the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery

We thank the dedicated volunteers at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre who provide valuable support to staff and visitors.

OPENING HOURS:

Monday – Friday: 10 am – 5 pm

Saturday + Sunday: 10 am – 4 pm

Closed public holidays

The Gallery Café opens 9.30 am weekdays. Café closed public holidays

BLUE MOUNTAINS CULTURAL CENTRE: Level 1, 30 Parke St Katoomba 02 4780 5410

info@bluemountainsculturalcentre.com.au bluemountainsculturalcentre.com.au

InSight Magazine is proudly designed and printed in the Blue Mountains.