UPCOMING EXHIBITION

HEAD2ART: An Arts-Based Inquiry Developing Museum Wellbeing Programs

Helena Bezzina

29th July – 29th August 2026

HEAD2ART is a visual dialogue between researcher and participants, exploring how young people develop wellbeing through museum-based creative engagement. This arts-based PhD exhibition emerges from partnerships with Joanna Davies (Visual Arts and Public Programs Leader, Lake Macquarie City Council) and Byron Williams (headspace Newcastle), featuring artworks by students from Lake Macquarie High School.

The gallery holds two connected spaces. Bezzina’s researcher-response works, time-based charcoal animations and erasure drawings, are in visual conversation with student pieces from three eight-week museum-based pilots: check-in drawings and works made in response to gallery exhibitions, documenting how they found calm through safe, scaffolded creative freedom.

What emerges when young people, drawing on the innate therapeutic capacity of the museum, gain agency over their creative choices and feel held, seen and heard?

Please join us for the launch event of this exhibition at the University Gallery Thursday 30th July from 5.30pm

^{HEAD2ART was partially funded by the NSW Government’s Children and Young People Wellbeing Recovery Initiative Grant and the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.}

^{IMAGE: HEAD2ART logo by Creative Z}

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

MIMMI Sisters in Strength

Renae Lamb, Ngarie Pakai, Jasmine Christie, Madeline Lilley, Valerie Smith, Taylah Russell, Brionhy Manning, Ebony Branigan, Nicole Monks, Jenine Boeree, and Michele Higginson

13 June – 18 July 2026

The title MIMMI draws on the sacred spirit beings known across parts of Northern Australia – figures who embody creation, knowledge, and the passing of cultural practice. In this exhibition, MIMMI becomes a metaphor for the women who carry story, hold community, and lead through strength and care. Each artwork reflects a unique narrative, grounded in Country, kinship, and cultural continuity.

Through a diverse range of mediums, including painting, textiles, and sculptural forms, the exhibition explores themes of survival, healing, and empowerment. These works are not only visual expressions but acts of storytelling – reclaiming space, amplifying voice, and challenging dominant narratives that have historically silenced Aboriginal women.

MIMMI Sisters in Strength stands as a testament to the strength of Aboriginal women – past, present, and future –honouring their stories, their voices, and their unbreakable connection to culture and Country.

Please join the artists for the double launch event at the University Gallery on Saturday 13 June from 2pm.

^{IMAGE: Renae Lamb Mimmi, (detail), acrylic on canvas}

WIYA, WUBBA, WANNA Speak, Make, Listen

Zona Kelly, Warren Sherwood, and Penny Dunstan

13 June – 18 July 2026

Aunty Zona Kelly and Uncle Warren Sherwood have created a series of  works exploring personal relationships to Country. In developing the exhibition, Aunty April Newman taught them conversational Gathang, the local language of the Worimi ancestors. Their artistic responses explored a greater affinity to place, experienced through speaking language. Penny Dunstan, artist and agronomist, was invited by the artists to respond from a settler’s perspective to their work.

Wiya – speaking Gathang creates links to ancestors and to Place.
Wanna – the artists developed independent responses from meetings and explorations of Country, evoking the essence of story and place.
Wuba – this is an invitation to the artists and to the audience to connect with the narratives on the walls.

These are stories that illuminate a deepening relationship with Mother Earth. The artists offer an invitation to reflect on the value of speaking to,  making with, and listening to Country.

Supported by the Wahroonga Aboriginal Corporation.

Please join the artists for the double launch event at the University Gallery on Saturday 13 June from 2pm.

^{IMAGE: Zona Kelly Sap of a Tree, acrylic on canvas}

PREVIOUS EXHIBITION

Natural History Illustration and Beyond

15 May – 5 June 2026

The University of Newcastle’s Natural History Illustration Program has had a strong reputation for producing exceptional artists who bridge the gap between art and science. This exhibition invites a curated selection of Alumni and mid-career artists who create work with meticulous detail and scientific accuracy. Through various mediums the artists highlight Australia’s unique natural history.

This exhibition is presented in parallel with Natural History Illustration and Beyond at Cstudios Art Gallery, 518 Hunter Street, Newcastle NSW 2300

^{IMAGE: Linda Lunnon ‘Sense of Place’, 2014, mixed media, 49 x 64 cm}