BCAC Apr/May 2026 Newsletter

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April/May 2026 Arts News

from Bellingen and Beyond

In this issue:

Join BCAC or Renew online
Like Us on Facebook
Nexus Gallery Exhibitions
2026 BCAC AGM
Women's Walk Project 2026
Urunga Small Sculpture Prize
Flourish in Sawtell
Mantova Art Prize

Artemis II

from the dark side - 6 April 2026

Join BCAC or renew your membership online

Membership fees help keep the creative wheels turning and you will enjoy getting together with other arts enthusiasts.

BCAC members receive BCAC Newsletters and are eligible to enter Members' Exhibitions and hold their own exhibitions. They are also eligible to attend the Annual General Meeting and stand to be on the Management Committee.

Membership is $40 per year and is open to anyone, whether you live in Bellingen Shire or elsewhere. You can join online via the BCAC website or at the Nexus Community Gallery within the Old Butter Factory complex in Bellingen.

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2026 Nexus Community Gallery Schedule

29 March to 23 April

Autumn Members' Exhibition

Dates for the Autumn Show artists:

COLLECT WORK: Friday 24 April between 10am – 12noon

26 April to 21 May - Opening 12pm Sun 26 April

Main Gallery
Lisa Zanderigo - Ecce Homo: Est Unus

'Ecce Homo: Est Unus’ is an exhibition of paintings questioning toxic notions of male entitlement by Lisa Zanderigo, and is a companion body of work to ‘Ecce Femina: Agnus Dei’, exhibited at Nexus in 2022.

Explicit images. Parental guidance is recommended.

Studio
Julie Byers - Call and Response

Call and Response combines collage and poetry to tell the story of my escape from Hurricane Katrina. It looks back, and in, to bear witness to suffering, question inaction, and reflect on climate justice in a warming world.

24 May to 18 June - Opening 12pm Sun 24 May

Main Gallery
Cynthia Miller - Reimagined

This exhibition, REIMAGINED is a celebration of colour and exuberance and reflects my abiding interest in larger than life images with a slightly naive twist. My works are always from my imagination which gives me excellent scope for a semi-abstract style and allows the freedom of expression which offers constant surprises and endless pleasure.

Studio
John Biggart - John's Folly

This exhibition is a culmination of ideas from many trips around the country. I think it’s very important for an artist to travel, to see different landscapes, and to meet other artists. Due to health reasons, I can no longer travel, but continue to use sketches, watercolours, and photographs from past travels.

Find out more about our other BCAC Activities

2026 BCAC Annual General Meeting

The 2026 BCAC AGM was held at The Stables on the 7th of April with the previous committee being re-elected:

President – Jenny Hicks

Treasurer – John Conway

Secretary – Charlotte Blesing

Gallery Manager – Lynn Tizzard

Artist Liaison – Linda Ravlich

Publicity – Ross Thompson

Memberships – Sandrena Brennan

Arts Trail – John Conway

Bellingen Muse – David Lester

The Stables – Julie Hutchinson

You can view The President's Report on the BCAC Website (About BCAC) or click the button below.

2026 BCAC President's Report

WOMEN’S WALK PROJECT 2026

https://www.womenswalkproject.com

Calling in the women …. mothers, daughters, aunties, grandmothers…

Beginning in 2012, Bellingen’s now highly acclaimed annual Women's Walk Project is a unique and dynamic threefold wilderness and arts-based experience. It involves a preparation phase, a ten-day walking journey through Guy Fawkes River Country and a creative integration process upon return…and so much more! This is a not-for-profit project supported by the Bellingen Community Arts Council.

DATES

WALK Thursday 17th – Saturday 26th September 2026

INTEGRATION GATHERING – Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th of November 2026

Please see website for detailed information www.womenswalkproject.com

Contact us ASAP by phone or email and once we have had a conversation we will send you more information and details about how to secure your place. (minimum age 17)

Enquiries to Kym [email protected] or Jemah [email protected]

Bellingen and Beyond
More Events and News for your artistic pleasure

7 to 30 May

Then and Now, explores memory, emotion and perception, reaching back in time, while acknowledging the here and now.

Beloved memories, regrets, powerful moments and joys all help us shape who we are in the present. Perhaps a particular piece of music, a certain place, a particular person; if it wasn’t for them, all may have been different.

Artists are: Emma Davies, Eleanor Holliday, Kath Riley, Cath O’Gorman, Ray Whitton, Selena Dohnt, Kerri Patterson, Lyn Walsh, Temmina Kuijpers, Brooke Engledow, Catherine Scarborough, Pete Gaily and Sandra Woodward Taylor.

Opening 10am-12pm Sat 9 May from 10am to 12 noon.

Mantova Art Prize

Saturday 11 April – Sunday 10 May

Bellingen Gallery and Framing Studio

Following the tremendous success of the 2025 exhibition, which saw record-breaking participation and sales, the EJ Mantova Art Prize announces its return to the heart of Bellingen for 2026.

The prestigious art event will once again be hosted at the Bellingen Gallery and Framing Studio, under the enthusiastic stewardship of new owners Jude and Paul Regan.

Excitingly, the 2026 Art Prize continues with the new Miniatures category, expanding the creative possibilities for participating artists.

The Urunga Small Sculpture Prize is an award for original, freestanding or wall-mounted sculpture of up to 50cm in any dimension.
The Urunga Small Sculpture Prize is hosted by the Urunga Art Space.

2026 prizes:

First Prize: $6000

Second Prize: $2000

Highly Commended 2 @ $500

People’s Choice: $1000

Sawtell Art Gallery Flourish exhibition poster

Around and About

The Arts Council of the Dorrigo

Art Space Urunga

until 2 May

The Autumn Show

7-30 May
Then and Now

13 Bonville Street Urunga. Open every day from 10am till 3pm.

more info…

The Macleay Valley Community Art Gallery
more info...

Sawtell Art Gallery

28 Mar-24 Apr

Flourish

Nature, ecology and biophilic art

More info....

Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM)

Coffs Harbour

Kate Mackay
Everything at once

Exhibition opening
Thursday 23 April, 5:30 - 7:00pm
Light refreshments provided
YAM Bar open
Free entry
All welcome

Just Do It

Bellingen Life Drawing Group
10am every Thursday Contact Sue Gorrell at 80443622 for further details.

The Stables

More info….

Tamasin Pepper - Ceramic Classes for Adults
Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10.00am-1pm. $250 for a block of 5 classes or $55 casual. Includes firing and glazing pieces made in class. Phone 0400 986 655, email [email protected]

Urunga Small Sculpture Prize 2026

see digital flier above

Entries Close: 9 August

More Info.....

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The monthly BCAC Newsletter highlights activities of its member groups as well as art news from around the district; it is published one week prior to Nexus Community Gallery exhibition openings. Occasionally, and as required, shorter news items may also be sent to our email list.

Members automatically receive newsletters and non-members can join our mailing list via newsletter subscription form on the BCAC website.

Members can submit arts news for the monthly newsletter. Space is allocated first to BCAC Activities, followed by other arts news in the Bellingen Shire and then to arts news from the surrounding district.

The newsletter can be viewed and downloaded from the BCAC website.

For further information about the newsletter and how to contribute you can contact the BCAC Newsletter Editor at: [email protected]

The next BCAC Newsletter will be published on 17 May

BCAC members who wish to contribute to the next newsletter must send copy to [email protected] by 10 May

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