Dear Readers

“How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also if I am to be whole.”

- C. G. Jung

Performance by dancer Belle Beasley and musician Ben Lambert at the historic Walka Water Works in Maitland, 2020. Sculpture from the MRAG Collection - The Red Guard by Christopher Hodges (circa 2005, synthetic polymer on cardboard).

Welcome

I hope you enjoyed the Gallery’s fabulous Summer of free activities for all ages. In 2021 we are particularly excited to see how MRAG continues to deliver art to us in new ways, as it did in 2020, adding to our art experience with amazing digital content, home delivery of art workshops and artist talks.

Thank you to our members – individuals, families and businesses – who make this beautiful publication possible.

Your membership, and continued advocacy of the Gallery, is an important expression of support for vibrancy and creativity in Maitland and beyond.

If you are not already a member, please join and dive into the community of MRAG lovers!

Sui-Linn White | Chairperson, MRAGM Committee

Message from the Gallery

Joan Ross, Collector's Paradise (detail), 2019, pigment print on cotton rag paper, 87 x 139cm. Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2020.

I hope this new edition of Artel greets our members with the same feeling of gusto and excitement for 2021 that we’re feeling here at the Gallery. Over the next year we will present a dynamic program of exhibitions and events to showcase our Collection in new ways, bring art to the region from the National Gallery of Australia and inspire our visitors with music and performance.

Over the next six months our exhibitions will explore Maitland’s boxing heritage, highlight the breadth of talent in our high school students through ARTEXPRESS and immerse us in strange worlds through virtual reality. This will also be a year (fingers crossed) that we welcome larger public programs back to the Gallery following the challenges of 2020.

We kicked off this year with the first in a series of beautiful 1:1 CONCERTS and are thrilled to be a host venue for this extraordinary musical experience.

We look forward to seeing our MRAG members at the Gallery this year enjoying our diverse program of events, lectures and workshops.

Gerry Bobsien | Gallery Director, Maitland Regional Art Gallery