Bringing the community together through creativity

Published on 22 July 2022

The Merriwa Gallery is a new initiative that offers a space for the community to come together and connect through appreciating and sharing art.

Ellie Matthews, a new Merriwa local who wanted to give people an opportunity to share their creative side, started the gallery.

“I have always really liked being creative myself…when I came to Merriwa I started taking photos locally and thought it would be fun to exhibit them and it just evolved from there,” said Ellie.

“The space has the potential to be really validating to people, people do their own thing at home [but] creativity is not celebrated in a community way.”

The theme for the gallery is “if you made it, there is place in the space”. 

“It’s about people telling their creative stories, the space is revealing a part of people that they don’t have a forum to share otherwise,” she said.

“I feel it [the gallery] is being really embraced by the community.”

The gallery will run in two week bookable exhibition blocks, the first of these will display work from Merriwa area residents exclusively. 

The official opening of the gallery will be held next Friday, July 29 from 5pm.

“It’s set to be a great night celebrating the creativity of Merriwa and showcasing art from all ages,” she said.

“We’ve got a range of speakers talking on the night too.”

To date, the space is booked until mid-November with an additional booking early in 2023. 

“Some amazing things are going to happen there, it’s really exciting, ” she said. 

“We want to share creativity in a community way…It’s a real community collaborating type concept.”

The gallery is located at 133 Bettington Street, Merriwa and is open for viewing Friday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

For more information on the gallery and the opening night, visit the Instagram page at: https://www.instagram.com/merriwagallery/