BCAC Februrary 2026 Newsletter

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Feb-Mar 2026 Arts News

from Bellingen and Beyond

In this issue:

BCAC AGM coming up
Nexus Gallery Exhibitions
2026 Nexus Gallery Exhibition Schedule
Womens Walk Project 2026
Golden at ArtSpace Urunga
Dorrigo Easter Art Exhibition
Macleay Valley International Women's Day Exhibition

Happy Year of the Fire Horse!

BCAC AGM

Tuesday 7 April 2026

5pm at The Stables.

All welcome - come along and support the Bellingen Shire arts community!

2026 Nexus Community Gallery Schedule

14 February to 27 February

Gallery closed for annual maintenance

1 to 26 March - Opening 12pm Sun 1 Mar

Main Gallery
The Shard Sisters - HELD

In a time when the ground beneath us feels increasingly fragile, five women potters from the Mid North Coast come together in Held—an exhibition that speaks quietly, yet with profound conviction, about the power of touch, connection, and care.

The Shard Sisters. Left to Right - Jane Northway, Gloria Malone, Parma Keft, Cath O'Gorman, Anne Reilly

Studio
Robbie Pacheco

Using intentional camera movement, this body of work reimagines landscape through motion and blur, dissolving form into gesture and light to create images that sit between photography and painting. Shifting the focus from documentation toward atmosphere, emotion, and the act of seeing itself.

29 March to 23 April

Autumn Members' Exhibition

Don't let Members' Exhibitions slip past you this year. Whether you are a long-time member or new to the BCAC, all are welcome to exhibit in the Members' Shows. And we'd love to see you at the opening at 12 noon, Sunday 29 March.

Dates for the Autumn Show:

ENTRIES CLOSE: Friday 20 March by 4pm

DELIVER WORK: Friday 27 March between 10am – 12noon

OPENING: Sunday 29 March at 12noon

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

Entry forms available through the link in this newsletter, and will also be available at the Nexus Gallery when it reopens after its maintenance closure.

BCAC Exhibition Entry Forms

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.

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.

Find out more about our other BCAC Activities

WOMEN’S WALK PROJECT 2026

https://www.womenswalkproject.com

For women 17 and older…. mothers and daughters very welcome.

The Women's Walk Project is a threefold wilderness and arts-based experience involving a preparation phase, a ten-day walking journey through Guy Fawkes River Country and a creative integration process upon return. This is a not-for-profit project supported by the Bellingen Community Arts Council.

DATES

WALK - Friday 17th – Sunday 27h September 2026

INTEGRATION GATHERING - 13th and 14th of November 2026

FACILITATION

The Women’s Walk Project is facilitated by experienced and dynamic mother and daughter team Kym Pitman and Jemah Schmidt.

COST

The total cost of this project is $2300.

Round 1 Earlybird: $2100 if deposit paid by January 31st, 2026

Round 2 Earlybird: $2200 if deposit paid by April 30th, 2026.

Final payment due by 30th June 2026

HOW TO SECURE YOUR SPOT

1. The first step is to contact us via email to arrange a phone call

2. Pay your deposit of $500 to secure your place

Once we have had a conversation to ensure the project is right for you, we will send you details on how to make payments. We are happy to make arrangements for an incremental payment plan

Please see website for detailed information

www.womenswalkproject.com

Enquiries to

Kym Pitman [email protected] or

Jemah Schmidt [email protected]

Bellingen and Beyond
More Events and News for your artistic pleasure

The Arts Council of the Dorrigo is grateful to the Bellingen Shire Council and their support through the Community Grants program.

Inspired by a landscape of waterfalls and escarpments, breath-taking views, bold leaps and risk taking in life and art practice. The theme invites artists to explore how living on the Dorrigo Plateau influences and affects their art practice. It also references the world we are learning to live in now.

Entry is open to everyone living on the Dorrigo Plateau. Curators: Rudy Kistler and Sue Langfield; Judges by Pamela Denise and David Tucker.

Prize money and awards will be given in the categories: Painting, Watercolour, Drawing & Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture, Fibre Art and Youth 13-18yrs.

Further Info:

Alex Mooney, President, Arts Council of the Dorrigo, Mobile: 0436 337 005

Email - [email protected]

Website: -

www.artscouncilofthedorrigo.org/art-events/

The IWD 2026 Give To Gain Campaign encourages a mindset of generosity and collaboration and emphasizes the power of reciprocity and support. When people, organizations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase and when women thrive, we all rise.

The exhibition is noncompetitive and is open to all women artists in the Mid North Coast region. Artists can use any artistic medium e.g. wood, ceramics, fibre, painting, jewellery etc

This is an opportunity for women to exhibit their artwork in a gallery, to meet other artists and to discuss their experience, to get feedback from their peers and to encourage and promote art making by women.

Around and About

The Arts Council of the Dorrigo

Dorrigo Easter Art Exhibition

10am-3pm, 1-8 April

Opening 6pm 31 March

Dorrigo Community Hall

More Info....

Art Space Urunga

19 Feb – 28 Mar

Golden

Artists explore the many meanings, materials and metaphors of gold. Gold not only as a precious metal or colour, but also a symbol, state of mind, cultural ideal or moment in time – sacred, alluring, elusive but also by its nature, everlasting.

Fiona Scope, Selena Dohnt, Tammie Cole, Mark Cotterill, John Holmes, Emma Gentle, Tracey Bowden, Paul Miller, Brian Purcell, Kathryn Fenton, Lesley Oliver, Will Douglas, Gail Cardow, Chris Morgan, Philjon Chapman, Brooke Engeldow, Chetan Bloemhard and Natalie Penn.

Opening 5.00 to 6.30pm Sat 21 Feb. All are welcome.

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

more info…

The Macleay Valley Community Art Gallery

5-15 March
International Womens’ Day Exhibition
When we give, we gain
Join us for our Opening Celebration on Sunday the 8Mar from 2pm for beautiful art, music, company, drinks and nibbles at our vibrant little gallery MVCAG, 5 Kinchela Street , Gladstone, NSW. All are welcome and entry to the gallery is free.
more info...

Just Do It

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

Dorrigo Easter Art Exhibition

Entry open to residents of the Dorrigo Plateau.

More Info...

The Macleay Valley Community Art Gallery

5-15 March
International Womens’ Day Exhibition
When we give, we gain

The exhibition is noncompetitive and is open to all women artists in the Mid North Coast region.

Artists can use any artistic medium e.g. wood, ceramics, fibre, painting, jewellery etc

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]

We are grateful for the support from

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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 22 March

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