Art About Town

A snapshot of arts activity happening around the Maitland community.

An artful flock of birds nests on the side of an old building in Maitland thanks to an anonymous artist. Visit 326 High Street, Maitland.

Birds in the Laneway

An artful flock of birds is now nestling on the side of an old building in Maitland, which was home to the Carrington Hotel until the 1980s and then a pet shop called ‘Bob’s Bird Barn’. The building has been vacant and deteriorating for years now, but thanks to an anonymous artist an exterior wall has come to life with colourful paintings of birds.

Though Bob’s Bird Barn is gone, you can now look up from the laneway next to The Bikesmith & Espresso Bar and spot an array of characterful birds, some fierce and some friendly-looking, which have been painted on boards and installed in each window space. Look for a cockatoo, peacock, owl and many more. Recently a baby owl was spotted perched on the roof of an historic building nearby, perhaps attracted to living amongst this community of feathered friends!

326 High Street, Maitland

Create Maitland

There’s exciting news about this Maitland City Council project seeking to activate vacant commercial properties in town by offering short term affordable leases to creatives and artists. Local creatives are settling into 344 High Street, previously home to a secondhand bookshop, bringing life and colour to the riverside shop space. Helen Hopcroft, whose solo exhibition, The Re-Enchantment, will be in The Art Factory at MRAG from May to August, is collaborating with artists Anna Eggenhuizen (a.k.a. Anna Elena) and Katrina Holden to enliven the space with creative activity.

Look for fine, fairy tale-inspired paintings, dramatic feathered headpieces for theatre, and sculptures and drawings in this new working studio space. Property owners or real estate agents interested in working with Council to create further opportunities like this are encouraged to contact Council’s Business Liaison Officer.

maitland.nsw.gov.au/our-services/ business/create-maitland

Artastique is Back!

Linda Lunnon, Who me?, scratchboard, 30.5 x 40.6cm Linda's work will be on display at Skate Ape in Maitland during Artastique.

This 10-day art exhibition and festival in Central Maitland returns for a second year, with 60 shops and other locations around town to display artworks from 29 Feb to 8 March. The vision for this community initiative (supported this year by Maitland City Council and The Mutual Bank) is to further put visual arts on the map for Maitland, attract visitors and promote local businesses by turning the town into one large gallery. There will be a dedicated information centre and lots of art activities in the Levee for this year’s event. Artist Jaime Pritchard’s multimedia installation, Unravelling to Recognition, will grace MRAG’s Project Space window during the festival and beyond (see ‘Meet an Artist’, pages 24-27, for more info).

artastique.com

Also on during Artastique is the first IF Maitland Indie Writers Festival, 28 Feb to 1 March. See ifmaitland.org for program details.