The Artful Traveller

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Pablo Picasso

And a bit of road dust too!

The relentless sun has been roasting your arms through the windscreen for the past few hours, and your pretzel legs are stiff and fidgety. It’s time to stretch them and unwind. What could be more uplifting for the soul (and body) than emerging from your hot car on that well-earned stopover in a regional town, and wandering inside a gallery space that’s refreshingly cool and quiet, with not just artwork covering the walls, but an array of other entertaining stuff to do as well (including satisfying those road trip hunger pangs).

You see, art galleries nowadays are not just for art lovers alone, in fact Regional Galleries in particular, offer a multitude of experiences shaped by their environment and the local landscapes in which they sit. And this gives the weary traveller so much more to explore and enjoy. Today a Gallery is a destination in itself. A place to play, eat, interact, learn and shop, and there are no better examples of this than the following four Regional Galleries which I think, have it all. They are conveniently dotted along a route from Queensland to NSW, and each one offers something different because of their history, the local area and the unique collections they house.

Add one, if not all of these great galleries to your next travel itinerary and enjoy the rejuvenating sensation of ‘washing the dust of everyday life’ from your soul.

Caloundra Regional Gallery

Shaded by a canopy of spreading trees, and surrounded by an oasis of tropical gardens sits Caloundra Regional Gallery, an unassuming, low set gem of a gallery in the middle of the Sunshine Coast’s most friendly coastal town, Caloundra.

Within its mid-century modern façade lies a treasure trove of local and national artists’ work, offered up on a platter of always interesting and eye-catching exhibitions, a fine example being the 2022 exhibition “Dystopia/Utopia 2070”.

This interactive experience explored a curious world through seven artists’ vision of the future. A thought-provoking journey in which we were encouraged to consider what our future may look like, with the arts in conjunction with science, at the forefront of our survival.

Time your visit to coincide with one of the Local Art Prizes, and whether by accident or design, treat yourself to the most prolific displays of colourful and exciting Street Art as you explore the alleyways, buildings and structures of Caloundra itself. The Gallery will supply you with the Art Trail Guide and Map for a thorough exploration of this most artful of all coastal Queensland towns.

Suggested Read: Caloundra – Must Do List

Needless to say, there is always something cool and fascinating to see and do at this gallery, in fact, it houses the Sunshine Coast Art Collection which features over 700 works including paintings, photography, works on paper, prints, sculpture, ceramics and textiles.

Mark your 2024 diary with a reminder to visit Caloundra Regional Gallery from 27 Jan – 17 Mar 2024 when it presents ‘Reception This Way: Motels – A sentimental journey with Tim Ross’ an Archives of Australia touring exhibition.

*Image courtesy of Caloundra Regional Gallery*

“In a land where the car has provided us with the ultimate freedom to hit the road and explore, it is no surprise that Australians wholeheartedly embraced the American concept of the motel. When motels began springing up in the 1950s, they represented a new, stylish and sophisticated way to travel.”

What better way to start off the year than by revisiting your memories of the classic Aussie motel, from family holidays and long road trips to continental breakfasts and midcentury mod cons!

Current Exhibitions

Variation and Autonomy – The Prints of Contemporary Japanese Painters | 8 Dec 2023 – 21 Jan 2024

Reception this way. Motels – a sentimental journey with Tim Ross. A National Archives of Australia touring exhibition | 27 Jan to 17 Mar 2024

Collected Landscapes Online – A range of artistic responses to the diverse landscape of our region and surrounds

www.gallery.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au

HOTA – Home of the Arts, Gold Coast

Mission: To be an iconic Gold Coast destination where art, entertainment, culture and lifestyle meet. A place that locals love and visitors must-see.

From its humble beginnings as the Gold Coast Civic Centre in the 1960s, its distinctive three-story glass beehive design in 1976, to its establishment as The Gold Coast Art Centre in 1993, the Evandale site has undergone significant growth and change. In 1996 an Arts Cafe was added, and in 2004 a new cinema. But it was not until 2014 that the City’s Cultural Precinct Masterplan was put into effect with the offering of an International Design Competition, the result of which is the vividly, arresting structure that is HOTA (Home of the Arts) today.

The precinct is now home to the HOTA Gallery; an Outdoor Stage; the HOTA Markets (Every Sun, 6-11.30am); HOTA Shop; Evandale Lake; Sculpture Walk; Adventure Trail; The HOTA Bridge; Park Run; Palette Restaurant; The Exhibitionist Bar; and HOTA Café. Phew!

The colourful HOTA Gallery, designed by ARM Architecture, houses the A$32 million City Collection, and comprises over 2,000 sqm of exhibition space over six levels. This is one very impressive Regional Art Gallery! It is the largest public gallery outside a capital city in Australia and has the capacity for international scale touring exhibitions, alongside exhibition spaces for the City Collection, temporary exhibitions, and a dedicated Children’s Gallery.

Start or end your mind-blowing cultural exploration of HOTA’s vertical series of galleries with a drink at the Exhibitionist Rooftop Bar on level 6 and enjoy panoramic views over the northern Gold Coast, from the ‘Green to the Gold’.

Current Exhibitions

Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street – Sat 25 Nov 2023 – Sun 18 Feb 2024

HOTA Collects: Made in Surfers Paradise – Sun 3 Sep 2023 – Sat 20 Apr 2024

Colour Your Imagination – Just add books – Sun 3 Sep 2023 – Sat 20 Apr 2024 (Children’s Gallery)

HOTA Collects: Material World – Sat 3 Jun 2023 – Sun 4 Feb 2024

Donna Marcus, Radiate – Sat 9 Dec 2023 – Sun 28 Apr 2024

Michelle Le Plastrier: Dopamine Days – Started 6 May 2023

www.hota.com.au

Tweed Regional Gallery

What small regional art gallery can boast an exact replication, piece by piece, of an artist’s studio, left exactly as it was by the artist when she died? Tweed Regional Gallery can!

Sitting on a picturesque rural plot in the stunning Tweed Valley of NSW, close to the border of Queensland, sits the Tweed Regional Gallery. Set up high, its contemporary, corrugated iron clad buildings offer magnificent views from every window, and a comprehensive collection of Australian portraits, landscapes and artists’ prints within its exhibition spaces.

But the icing on the Tweed Gallery’s artistic cake has to be the addition of the Margaret Olley Art Centre, a purpose-built extension to the Gallery. When Margaret Olley, Australia’s much loved still life painter passed away in 2011, the Margaret Olley Art Trust gifted $1 million to the Tweed Regional Gallery, to which she was fondly attached from a young age, having grown up in the Tweed area.

In 2014 the Margaret Olley Art Centre officially opened, a precise re-creation of the rooms from her home studio in Duxford Street, Paddington, including the Hat Factory and the Yellow Room, and is now a celebration of the career, life and legacy of its namesake.

The space offers a rich and dynamic context for Olley’s extensive artistic career, featuring not just original architectural elements such as windows and doors from Olley’s home studio, but interiors filled with over 20,000 items Olley collected over many years as the subject matter for her paintings. The experience is as if you are peeking through her window while she is just out of sight, perhaps in the kitchen putting on the kettle!

During your visit include breakfast or lunch at Apex Dining, the Gallery’s Restaurant with which boasts stunning views of majestic Mt Warning, browse the Gallery’s extensive collection of books in the Marks Family Library or do a bit of shopping at the Gallery Shop with its extensive range of merchandise and a range of items showcasing the exhibitions and unique elements of the Margaret Olley Art Centre.

The Northern Rivers Rail Trail

To truly immerse yourself in the beautiful Tweed Hinterland while visiting the Gallery, hire a bike and explore the area via the Northern Rivers Rail Trail. The Gallery has a direct connection to it from the Margaret Olley Memorial Garden.

Current Exhibitions

Recent Acquisitions – Tweed Regional Gallery Collection – 6 Oct 2023 – 25 Feb 2024

Light & Life: Margaret Olley, Laura Jones, India Mark and Mirra Whale – 18 Oct 2023 – 28 Apr 2024

A Monet in Murwillumbah: Sharing the National Collection – 1 Nov 2023 – 26 Oct 2025

The Immortal Poet – Works by Garry Shead – 3 Nov 2023 – 7 Apr 2024

Murmurs from Nowhere – Grace Fayrer – 1 Dec 2023 – 3 Mar 2024

Vanishing Point – Andrea Portela Moreno – 1 Dec 2023 – 3 Mar 2024

Three Echoes Western Desert Art – 8 Dec 2023 – 25 Feb 2024

www.gallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au

NERAM – New England Regional Art Museum

In the historic city of Armidale, in the heart of the New England North West region of New South Wales, is the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM). Home to one of the nation’s most significant art collections outside the capital cities, NERAM holds over 5000 works of historical, modern and contemporary art in its six gallery spaces.

When it opened its doors in 1983 it was as a purpose-built art gallery for the Howard Hinton Collection, a collection of some 1,300 artworks donated to the Armidale Teachers’ College by Howard Hinton ESQ, OBE between 1929 and 1948.

Today, in addition to the Hinton Collection, NERAM is custodian to two other important collections of Australian Art: The Chandler Coventry Collection and the NERAM Collection. Together these three collections offer a comprehensive overview of Australian art history unmatched in regional Australia, including significant works by Australian and international artists such as Streeton, Roberts, Gruner, Preston, Whiteley, Gleeson, Tuckson and Christo, to name just a few.

Museum of Printing

As if such a comprehensive art collection isn’t enough, NEARM also houses the historically significant Museum of Printing (MoP) which exhibits a unique collection of printing machinery and equipment as well as the FT Wimble & Co. Printing Collection. It is the only public museum devoted to the printing trade and the only regional museum to combine art and industry under the one roof.

In the MoP you will find an array of printing presses, a Linotype machine, guillotines, book binding equipment, wooden and metal type and a history of printing in Australia from 1850 to the early 1900s, as well as over 1000 printing blocks and a comprehensive library of books and regularly changing exhibitions.

Six Counties Restaurant

The name Six Counties acknowledges the six districts that make up the beautiful New England Region. The food served here is locally sourced and freshly made, featuring seasonal menus and daily specials by Sydney chef Kevin Harris, and barista coffee from Brown Mills Organic Range as well as a variety of teas from the Organic Tea Project.

Complete your visit to NERAM at the Museum Shop where you’ll find contemporary, out-of-the-ordinary Australian designed products and local artisan-made gifts, stationery, homewares, and exclusive souvenirs of works from the Howard Hinton and Chandler Coventry collections.

Current Exhibitions

Inspiration and Iterations – 29Sep 2023 – 28 Jan 2024 (a fascinating exhibition in which a selection of works from NERAM’s collections, sit alongside original contemporary responses by invited artists)