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BOBBIN LACE MAKING | SUNDAY 22 JUNE 2025, 10AM - 2:30PM
Join Outer West Lacemakers (OWLS) member Judith Hawkes for an intimate, hands-on introduction to the art of bobbin lace. Learn how to create your own bobbin lace leaf to take with you. All materials included.
Due to popular demand, this workshop, originally delivered as part of the Lace Series public program, is now being offered in an extended format within the Adult Workshop series.
Book online: https://www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au/events/beginner-bobbin-lace-workshop/
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@owlsnsw
Photography: Elyn Brey
Last weekend, as part of his major mid-career survey exhibition ‘The Halfway Line,’ Blak Douglas presented his interactive performance ‘Didge You Know.’
The performance took place on our Autumn Open Day on Saturday 31 May, during a special lunchtime session. Douglas shared personal stories and insights into his creative journey, connecting deeply with visitors through the resonant sounds of the didgeridoo.
Douglas spoke of his learnings from the custodians of North East Arnhem Land, the Yolngu, and he shared the cultural significance and origins of the Didgeridoo. This performance offered a unique opportunity not only to learn about the instrument’s different playing styles in different geographic regions, but also to hear first-hand the moments that shaped Douglas’ artistic motivations and career.
Blak Douglas’ mid-career survey exhibition ‘The Halfway Line’ is exhibiting at Penrith Regional Gallery, open daily from 10am-4pm until 20 July 2025.
@blakdouglas
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Documentation: Daniel Dela Cruz
@danieldelacruz
@clickmedia.au
In case you haven`t heard...
Applications for our ANCHER POINTS: EMERGING ARTIST PROGRAM are due today, at 11.59pm AEST!
If you`re an emerging artist with a connection to Greater Western Sydney you can find out more and apply by visiting the `NEWS` page on our website: https://www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au/ancher-points-2025/
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Images: Ancher House, Penrith Regional Gallery NSW State Archives
#ancherpoints #ancherpoints2025
AUTUMN OPEN DAY | SATURDAY 31 MAY, 10AM - 2PM
We’re super excited to welcome you to our Autumn Open Day tomorrow!
PROGRAM
10AM-2PM | Participatory Weaving Demonstration | Succulent Garden
10AM-2PM | Drop-in Artmaking Activities | Roving - All Site
10:30AM | Deadly Arts Official Opening | Lewers House
10:45AM - 11:30AM | Live music with Elina Roberts-Turner | Succulent Garden
11:30AM | Penrith Youth Art Prize Opening and Award Ceremony | Loungeroom Darren Knight Gallery
12PM | Curatorial Tour: Blak Douglas The Halfway Line | Main Gallery
1PM | Blak Douglas: Didge You Know performance | Main Gallery
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Our Autumn Open Day is a free, family-friendly event taking place on Saturday, 31 May from 10am to 2pm. Enjoy live music, drop-in artmaking activities, a performance by exhibiting artist Blak Douglas, and the official openings of our Deadly Arts exhibition and the 2025 Penrith Youth Art Prize.
For the full Autumn Open Day program, visit our website via the link in our bio.
PORCELAIN SMALL SCULPTURE ADULT WORKSHOP | SUNDAY 15 JUNE 2025, 10AM - 3PM
Set in the Penrith Regional Gallery studios, join Blue Mountains Art Prize 2024, winner Sharron Mountain to explore the delicate white porcelain clay medium. Make your own bespoke porcelain small sculpture in the workshop where your creative flow will be guided and nurtured by Sharron. No ceramic experience necessary.
Book online: https://www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au/events/porcelain-small-sculptures/
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@s_mountainceramics
Photography: Sharron Mountai
Winner Spotlight!
Congratulations to Abbie-Rose Whale, the winner of the Secondary (12 - 18 years) category of the Penrith Youth Art Prize 2025.
Abbie-Rose Whale, ‘Dupe,’ 2025, colour pencil on paper.
“Dupe explores the irony of synthetic nature—plastic plants mimicking life, yet devoid of it. This hyperreal drawing invites reflection on how we engage with nature in a world increasingly shaped by artificiality. Though the subject is a lifeless replica, it still evokes our innate connection to the natural world. The work questions what is lost in translation when nature is reduced to commodity, yet acknowledges that even imitation can remind us of what is essential.”
Also, well done to Alicia Buttigieg and Anastasia Fairy for receiving Highly Commended awards.
To view the works of these young artists, visit the Lounge Room Gallery, open daily from Saturday 24 May to Sunday 20 July 2025.
Image 1: Abbie-Rose Whale, ‘Dupe,’ 2025. Courtesy the artist.
Image 2: Alicia Buttigieg, ‘Small Echo Loud Noise, Loud Echo Small Noise,’ 2025. Courtesy the artist.
Image 3: Anastasia Fairy, ‘Connection - Series,’ 2025. Courtesy the artist.
LIVE MUSIC WITH SINGER-SONGWRITER ELINA ROBERTS-TURNER | AUTUMN OPEN DAY – SATURDAY 31 MAY, 10:45AM - 11:30AM
We’re excited to welcome back emerging Gamilaroi singer-songwriter Elina Roberts-Turner to Penrith Regional Gallery!
Elina, who launched her debut EP here in 2024, returns with her unmistakable voice and raw storytelling in a special live performance from 10:45AM – 11:30AM, as part of Autumn Open Day this Saturday.
Her performance is part of the opening celebrations, which include the official opening of the Deadly Arts exhibition at 10:30AM, followed by the 2025 Penrith Youth Art Prize at 11:30AM.
Free, no bookings required.
Our Autumn Open Day is a free, family-friendly event taking place on Saturday, 31 May from 10am to 2pm. Enjoy live music, drop-in artmaking activities, a performance by exhibiting artist Blak Douglas, and the official openings of our Deadly Arts exhibition and the 2025 Penrith Youth Art Prize.
For the full Autumn Open Day program, visit our website via the link in our bio.
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@elinarobertsturner Images: Elina Roberts Turner
PARTICIPATORY WEAVING DEMONSTRATION WITH ILANA LAPID | AUTUMN OPEN DAY – SATURDAY 31 MAY, 10AM–2PM
Join local emerging artist Ilana Lapid for a Participatory Weaving demonstration in the Succulent Garden at Penrith Regional Gallery during our upcoming Autumn Open Day this Saturday. Ilana will introduce visitors to the fundamentals of lap loom weaving, inviting them to contribute to a communal piece, while exploring the possibilities of textile-based art.
Free, no bookings required.
Our Autumn Open Day is a free, family-friendly event taking place on Saturday, 31 May from 10am to 2pm. Enjoy live music, drop-in artmaking activities, a performance by exhibiting artist Blak Douglas, and the official openings of our Deadly Arts exhibition and the 2025 Penrith Youth Art Prize.
For the full Autumn Open Day program, visit our website via the link in our bio.
Ilana Lapid is a first-generation Filipino-Australian with Chinese heritage, living and working on Dharug land. She recently completed a double degree in Fine Arts and Science at UNSW. Her practice explores themes of entropy, value, and decay through drawing, painting, textiles, and found objects. She was shortlisted for the 2024 Nepean Festival of Art & Design and was a finalist in the 2023 Tim Olsen Drawing Prize.
The Participatory Weaving demonstration with Ilana Lapid will run from 10am to 2pm. Free, no bookings required.
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@lapidilana
Images: Ilana Lapid
Winner Spotlight!
Congratulations to Edie Douglas, the winner of the Primary (5-12 years) category in the Penrith Youth Art Prize 2025.
Edie Douglas, ‘A Flower,’ 2025, acrylic paint.
“My artwork is a painting of a blue flower. Blue is my favourite colour. I painted a flower because I love the flowers in my garden at home.”
Also, well done to Everly Chaplin and Albert Shaw for receiving Highly Commended awards.
To view the works of these young artists, visit the Lounge Room Gallery, open daily from Saturday 24 May to Sunday 20 July 2025.
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Image 1: Edie Douglas, ‘A Flower,’ 2025. Courtesy the artist.
Image 2: Everly Chaplin, ‘Blooming,’ 2025. Courtesy the artist.
Image 3: Albert Shaw, Into Nature,’ 2025.
CALL OUT | ANCHER POINTS 2025: EMERGING ARTIST PROGRAM | MONDAY 23 – FRIDAY 27 JUNE 2025
Emerging artists from Greater Western Sydney have just 6 days left to apply!
Applications close 11:59 PM AEST, Monday 2 June 2025.
Don’t miss this exciting professional development opportunity for emerging artists!
To find out more and to apply, please visit:
https://www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au/ancher-points.../
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Image: Bedroom, Ancher House, Penrith Regional Gallery NSW State Archives
#AncherPoints #AncherPoints2025
The theme of this year’s National Reconciliation Week, taking place from 27 May to 3 June, is ‘Bridging Now to Next.’ Reflecting the ongoing connections between past, present, and future, this theme encourages us to reflect on our histories in order to strive for a more united nation in the days and years to come.
This is an important time to learn more about the Country we stand on and its history. Penrith Regional Gallery, which stands on the lands of the Dharug and Gundungurra people, is proud to be presenting the works of young, Western Sydney-based First Nations artists in ‘Deadly Arts.’ This exhibition seeks to foster meaningful connections, ideas, stories and lived experiences through a wide range of artistic practices; looking not only to nurture artistic growth, but to contribute to broader community understanding, reconciliation, and celebration of First Nations cultures.
The major mid-career survey exhibition of Blak Douglas, ‘The Halfway Line,’ also continues in our Main Gallery. Reflecting Douglas’ passionate interest in foregrounding the histories and lived experiences of Aboriginal Australians, this exhibition demonstrates how art can be a powerful, striking means to affect real and symbolic change.
Engage with National Reconciliation Week by joining us at our Autumn Open Day this Saturday 31 May, where we’ll be celebrating the official opening of both ‘Deadly Arts’ and the 2025 ‘Penrith Youth Art Prize,’ as well as returning to ‘The Halfway Line’ with a curatorial tour of the exhibition and a didgeridoo performance of ‘Didge You Know’ by Blak Douglas. Visit our website for the full program.
‘Deadly Arts,’ ‘Penrith Youth Art Prize’ and ‘Blak Douglas: The Halfway Line’ exhibit until 20 July, open daily from 10am-4pm.
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Bridget Hidden, Deadly Arts Student, ‘Return to Country,’ acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy the artist.
CURATORIAL TOUR: BLAK DOUGLAS ‘THE HALFWAY LINE’ | AUTUMN OPEN DAY - SATURDAY 31 MAY, 12PM
Join Toby Chapman, Director, Penrith Regional Gallery, for a curatorial tour of The Halfway Line, a mid-career survey of the pioneering Aboriginal Artist Blak Douglas. Explore the expansive and incisive career of Douglas, from his early interest in graphic art and design, through to his Archibald Prize winning portraiture in this insightful tour.
Free, bookings required: https://form.jotform.com/251320620715849
Our Autumn Open Day is a free, family-friendly event taking place on Saturday 31 May from 10am-2pm. There will be live music, drop-in artmaking demonstrations, a performance by exhibiting artist Blak Douglas, and the official opening of our `Deadly Arts` exhibition and the 2025 Penrith Youth Art Prize. For the full program, visit our website via the link in our bio.
Curatorial Tour: Blak Douglas `The Halfway Line` will take place on Saturday 31 May 2025 at 12pm.
Blak Douglas` mid-career survey exhibition `The Halfway Line` is exhibiting at Penrith Regional Gallery, open daily from 10am-4pm until 20 July 2025.
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Image: Maja Baska
