Address: SOCIAL

Daily opening times:
March 12 – 19, 2024

Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm

Variations to Daily Opening Times:

Sunday 10am – 3pm

Earth Down, delves into language and symbolism inherent in nature, exploring narratives that reflect our human quest for answers and signs within the natural world.

Collages are created by combining handmade textures, found materials and digital elements.

I am inspired by the imperfect beauty of natural forms and often search for their border, their boundary.

These artworks serve as inquiries, reflections and expressions of connection—a longing to look outside to make sense of the inside.

Opening Event : Thursday 21 March 2024, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Daily opening times :
Friday 22 March – Wednesday 3 April 2024
10:00am – 4:00pm daily (including Easter)

Horizon by Hannah Blackmore is a collection of abstract minimalist paintings focusing on the relationship between colours found in the Tasmanian landscape.

“Sometimes the horizon is the only recognisable feature in an abstract painting. It divides the coast from the sky, the ocean from the sky, and the trees from the sky. In this exhibition, I have taken colours from the Tasmanian coast and central landscape and looked at the relationship between them.

With nature as my guide, which colours work best together, and how do they make me feel? I love dark storm skies and pale milky seas. I love warm tree bark against sage blue eucalyptus leaves. I love the navy, white and turquoise found in a raging sea. Pops of colour in a landscape of subdued tones.

This collection of work focuses heavily on colour and texture. Using plaster raised with paint, I create backdrops for my paintings, scratching in lines and making shapes to create another layer of interest. Sometimes the horizon is hidden, under a low cloud or sea mist above the ocean, under the trees or over the hills. But it always exists and is the one constant in an ever-changing and evolving landscape.”
– Hannah Blackmore

Daily opening times:
Feb 21 – 26, 2024
10am – 6pm

This exhibition explores colour and light, as the foundations of photography, using diverse genres and themes.

Julie Moltmann’s primary photographic interest is in the built environment and the marks people make on the natural world. Julie is fascinated by the way natural light and shade interact with the rigid patterns and artificial colours of the built environment. These interactions have the potential to create moments of awareness and attentiveness in what is often an unremarkable, or even unappealing setting.

Ashlie Hill’s photographic interest can be explained by her interest in light and colour– both natural and artificial. Her photos explore how light interacts with objects and people in varying milieus. Ashlie explores how light, and colour, can be manipulated and how this impacts on both the subject of the photography, and the viewer.  Ashlie also has an interest in exploring the possibilities of experimental and contemporary techniques both in camera and in post editing.

Opening event: Feb 29 – 5.30pm

Daily opening times:
Feb 28 – Mar 4, 2024
10am – 5pm

Variations to daily times:

Fri 1st March open 10am – 3pm
Mon 4th March open 10am – 12pm

Walk through various initiation life points with award winning, visual and ceramics, Tasmanian artist Lee-Anne Peters, as she takes you on a transformative journey of healing, depth, connection, sound and light.

Featuring Lee-Anne’s earthy and organically formed sculptures, characters and colourful paintings depicting transformation, healing, death, birth, ageing, fun and mystery.

Journey in, and be greeted by a line of Lee-Anne’s popular and fun Dragon Character Jars.

The Dragons are a symbol of initiation as they are the keepers and guardians of this ‘rite of passage’ into the unknown.

The back area of the gallery will feature Lee-Anne’s brilliantly white porcelain ‘hanging curtain’ – resembling bones as well as flowers, seed pods, twists and turns.

Gently part this curtain with great sacredness, and enter into the quiet and dimly lit area featuring Lee-Anne’s major exhibition work. It’s a very large floor lamp called: ‘Light Shining from Within (Lamp)’.

This is a large sculpture of a lady, formerly broken into pieces and assembled with cracks, gaps and crevices shining light outward in patterns that dance across the room. She is a symbol of light, renewal, recovery, hope and strength.

You’ll also discover: thought-provoking paintings, an indoor water feature, ‘grandmother flower pot and vase’ collection, flowing forms, inspiring cups and other unique and surprising creations.

Lee-Anne has been preparing works for this exhibition for almost seven months, and during that time has dived into the challenges and opportunities of personal matters (which are reflected in her works) on: surrendering, taking a leap of faith, ageing, preparing for death and the actual passing of her grandmother, change, transformation, and self-exploration. Everything within this exhibition has manifested from Lee-Anne’s willingness to see herself, her life and the stages of life as openly and honestly as she can.

We trust that you enjoy participating and journeying inward during the showing of ‘Inititation: into the unknown.’

Lee-Anne will be creating a large sculptural form during the duration of this exhibition.

Presented by the Hobart Photographic Society

Daily opening times:
Feb 7 – 19, 2024
Sunday – Thursday – 10am – 6pm
Friday – Saturday – 10am – 8pm

This is a public exhibition of original photographic works produced by members of the Hobart Photographic Society.

This is an annual exhibition with a collection of works by our members covering a wide range of genres including but not limited to landscape, portraiture, wildlife, macro, urban and creative images.

It is expected that there will be 60 large format images on display plus a video display of a further 200 images. It will be open to the public and is anticipated to attract local, interstate and overseas visitor as it has in past years. HPS members include winners of numerous national and international photographic awards.

We believe that as with any art form unless it is shared with the public audience, colleagues, and friends it is not fully appreciated and is often lost forever. The exhibition offers an opportunity for our diverse and talented members to showcase their best or most meaningful work with others in our community.

The exhibition also provides us with an opportunity to describe the workings of the society and encourage new membership.

Past exhibitions have been reviewed by local media and been described as being of the highest order of presentation and diversity.

This exhibition offers visitors from interstate and overseas an opportunity to view our images and share something of the experiences and lives of the people living in our community.

As the majority of images on display are sourced from Tasmanian based suppliers they demonstrate the expertise and professionalism available in this state.

PLEASE NOTE our lift is currently undergoing maintenance and repairs. Wheelchair access to levels 2 and 3 of the arts centre is currently unavailable.

Opening event: January 18 – 6pm

Daily opening times:
Jan 18 – Feb 2, 2024
Everyday – 9am – 5pm
+ extended open hours of 9am – 8:30pm on 19 & 26 January, 2024

In 2015, M. Rene Ariston gave the world PEGSpressionism. 2024 is Phoenix Year Zero. What happened in between is another story.

In 2015, M. Rene Ariston gave the world PEGSpressionism – his critically and artistically (and almost financially) successful debut solo exhibition.

Not long after that – his finest achievement – his life fell apart at the seams, bringing him to the lowest of a lifetime of lows.

Now he’s back – with a renewed will to live and create – and a new show. 2024 is Phoenix Year Zero.

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Opening event:
11 January, 2024 – 5pm

Times and dates:
9 – 16 January, 2024
9.30am – 5pm

Mapping the paradoxes

‘Confined / Unconfined’ presents a body of work from a paradoxical period of my life. As a family we moved, for a year, to the other side of the world, to live in a city to which I was both alien and familiar, where I was both liberated and confined, mobile and sedentary. It was a year of progress and of standing still.

My art practice was both constrained and released to run in new directions.  

Restricted mainly to drawing, life in Dublin’s outer suburbs allowed the evolution of a number of ideas that I had been waiting to develop for several years. These ideas form the core of the exhibition.

Thematically they cover themes to which I return frequently: humanity’s relationship to the environment, the alienation of the virtual world, and modern working life. However a common element to these works is a sense of claustrophobia with the systems, processes and networks of human civilisation.

The two exceptions are ‘Species’ and ‘Unconfined Spaces’ which view the world from an uncharacteristically liberated perspective.

Presented by the family of Patricia Giles

This retrospective exhibition will showcase the evolution of Patricia Giles’ artistic journey through her landscapes.

We are excited to present a retrospective exhibition celebrating the life and work of the late Tasmanian artist, Patricia Giles. This exhibition will focus on her extensive body of work, with a particular emphasis on her captivating landscape paintings.

Patricia Giles was a renowned artist known for her deep connection to the Tasmanian landscape, and her paintings captured the beauty and essence of this unique environment.

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Presented by Stephen Mallick

Catherine Stringer

28 September – 8 October 2023


Opening event:

Friday 29 September – 5:30pm-7:30pm

Catherine’s exhibition will be opened by Seán Kelly. 

Seán is a Curator, Arts Writer and Re-emerging Artist.

Daily Opening Times :

9.30am – 5pm daily (Closing at 4pm on the final day)

Ocean Windows presents a series of luminous seaweed paper artworks inspired by the traditional rose windows of Gothic cathedrals and the universal symbolism of the circle.

‘Ocean Windows’ combines the delicate translucent textures of seaweed paper with the timeless appeal of traditional stained glass windows. Inspiration is drawn from the ornate rose windows that adorn European Gothic cathedrals, and the universal symbolism of the circle.

Tasmanian artist Catherine Stringer has been researching the making of paper from seaweed for over 10 years. This series represents a significant progression in her seaweed papermaking practice, with the development of new techniques and themes.

The artworks in ‘Ocean Windows’ are all circular in design and depict various marine themes. Each one is constructed from many different seaweed papers, handmade from a wide range of Tasmanian seaweeds. They are framed and displayed in a manner which allows light to filter though from behind, illuminating and enlivening the images.

The circle’s symbolic significance has traversed diverse cultures and religions throughout history, embodying themes of unity, wholeness and the cyclical nature of existence. It is evident in prehistoric petroglyphs and megalithic structures, the Eastern Yin-Yang symbol, the Native American medicine wheel, Celtic knots, and in the religious mandalas of Hinduism and Buddhism.

More recently, Jungian psychology recognises the circle as a powerful archetype originating in the collective unconscious. Jung saw mandalas as portals to the inner world, and manifestations of the psyche’s efforts to integrate and balance the conscious and unconscious aspects of the self. Meditating on mandalas was thought to promote self-discovery, healing and personal transformation.

The intricate stained glass panels within the awe inspiring rose windows of Christian cathedrals often depict spiritual themes and religious teachings. However the geometrical design and powerful radiant light mediate a profound effect on the viewer which transcends words. They can be viewed as metaphorical gateways between earthly and heavenly realms and expressions of humankind’s highest aspirations towards wholeness and coherence. They continue to resonate with viewers today, surpassing cultural boundaries and speaking to the deepest aspects of human experience and spirituality.

The seaweed paper artworks in ‘Ocean Windows’ meld organic materials with spiritual inspiration, tradition with innovation. Although not of the scale or grandeur of the Gothic rose windows they share their luminosity and circular design. Similarly, these ‘windows to the deep’ may allude to things that are ‘beneath the surface’ or usually hidden from view, but the ethereal evocative imagery promotes an initial visceral or intuitive response and invites contemplation and reflection.