In Memories and Masks, Newcastle artist Ron Royes draws on memories, identities, observations and experiences accumulated over a lifetime. Working primarily through figurative sculpture and ceramics, Royes approaches art as a form of storytelling, translating personal experience into visual narratives that explore identity, ageing, memory and the stories we carry with us. Opening / Meet the Artist Saturday 29 August, 11am to 5pm Meet the Artist + Artist Talk Saturday 12 September, 11am to 2pm Artist talk at 1pm

Raphe Coombes latest work 'Life is Beautiful' Opens at Straight jacket Saturday 29th August, 11-5pm come meet the Artist Coombes’ paintings balance lightness with underlying existential weight. Symbols emerge and dissolve, narratives begin but refuse to settle with meaning differed rendered through a playful naive lens, this tension gives rise to a body of work that’s deeply personal and Universally resonant. Works operate as visual meditations rather than answers, echoing the instinctive ways children interpret the world, curious, fragmented and unburdened by certainty. Connecting the importance of fatherhood and healing oneself through the work, with a visual of clear abstraction with purpose, feeling in paint, a call from a higher self only reachable by surrender.

The University Galleries at Callaghan are pleased to partner with Newcastle Art Space to present their 2026 Mentorship Exhibition SYNERGY. Curated by Melody Suranyi (mentee) and Jo O'Toole (mentor) the theme and title of this year’s Newcastle Art Space Mentorship Exhibition - Synergy - is a celebration of the transformative power of creative connection. Derived from the Greek word synergos, meaning “working together,” synergy reflects the idea that when people combine their talents, ideas and experiences, they can achieve far more together than they could alone. Collaboration has been at the heart of this year’s mentorship journey, bringing creatives together through shared learning, support and creative exchange. Together, we joined the program with a desire to learn, share knowledge, and grow while inspiring one another. The exhibition Synergy reflects the connections, conversations and discoveries made along the way. Emerging from this collaborative experience is an exhibition filled with energy, creativity and passion.

'Welcome to the Suburbs' is a group show featuring works by artists across a range of media inspired by their suburb. We have a special guest artist who is well known for her images of suburban dwellings Catherine O'Donnell and currently represented by Dominik Mersch Gallery. The show also includes works by our neighbouring students including Islington Public School and Preschoolers from Carinya Children's Centre. Welcome to the Suburbs kicks off on Thursday 24th September from 6-8pm and runs until 18 October 2026. The exhibition launch is supported by Harris Farm Markets.

Benjamin Gallagher’s latest exhibition, REDUX, opens at Straitjacket this Saturday 29 August, 11am–5pm, with the artist there on the day. Gallagher’s work is grounded in a long fascination with the built environment and the decisions, materials and processes that shape the places around us. Drawing on a background in architecture and industrial design, alongside years spent working in heritage restoration, he looks closely at buildings old and new, from carefully considered structures to the humble and improvised. REDUX continues this examination of how we build, what we preserve, and what our buildings reveal about the culture that made them.

Do You Like Me is not a rejection of social media, but an examination of how digital technologies have transformed one of humanity’s oldest impulses: the desire to be seen, valued and accepted. Across photography, sound, video installation and live performance, DO YOU LIKE ME explores the relationship between visibility, identity and self-presentation. What do we gain from being seen, and what do we give up? What is lost when self-expression becomes self-surveillance, visibility becomes labour, and our sense of worth becomes inseparable from how we are received by others? What do we gain from being seen, and what do we give up? What is lost when self-expression becomes self-surveillance, visibility becomes labour, and our sense of worth becomes inseparable from how we are received by others?

Susan Webb and Denise Painter bring together two distinct approaches to colour, composition and abstraction. Webb’s practice is grounded in still life, moving between realism, flattened pattern, Cubist structure and abstraction. Working across oils, gouache and works on paper, she draws on influences ranging from Dutch still life and Matisse to Islamic tile design, textiles and Australian artists including Cressida Campbell and Criss Canning. Trained at Sydney’s National Art School, she is currently represented by Cstudios Art Gallery in Newcastle. Painter works across collage, decoupage and mixed media, combining colour, texture and layered imagery with influences from abstraction and surrealism. Since moving to Toronto, Lake Macquarie in 2019, she has established YouCreate Studio & Gallery, where she creates, exhibits and runs workshops. Together, their work explores colour, pattern and composition through two very different visual languages.