Merriwa Gallery Showcases Diverse Talent
BY JEM ANSHAW
It started as a pop-up photography exhibition during the Festival of the Fleeces, but since opening in July the Merriwa Gallery has been a popular addition to the town.
Ellie Matthews established the space and has been so excited to see the communities support, as well as their artistic talents.
”The first exhibition was Merriwa only so it was just people from the community, I just grabbed people and said ‘do you do anything?’,” Ellie said when discussing her excitement at the first official display for the space.
“And they stepped up, we had crochet blankies, we had art sketches from 20 years ago, there was two and six year old kids and their mum put their little swirl paintings in, it was like a mixed bag, it was really good.”
Being a community gallery they have two focuses, the first is bringing art to town so locals get to enjoy it, and the second is giving locals a place to display their own art AND both are going down a treat with locals.
The gallery has had photography, painting, drawing, craft, indigenous art, and so much more adorn the walls.
Ellie shared they are also working to give locals more access to art in different forms by doing workshops that are run by locals for the locals and then just providing a space to sit and create together.
“I think for the gallery for me, it’s about raising the visibility and validity of creative pursuits. So it’s like being able to say to yourself ‘I did that and it was creative and that made me feel good’,” Ellie concluded.
Merriwa Gallery is at 133 Bettington Street and has new exhibitions on regular rotation, keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates.