The Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre is please to present the following exhibitions. The official launch was Saturday 25 October 2025.
2025 Viola Bromley Art Prize
23 October 2025 to 10 January 2026
Viola Bromley was part of a small group invited to arrange the Festival of the Valley Art Prize in 1958 – the forerunner to the Muswellbrook Art Prize. Bromley also played a significant role in the construction of an art gallery at the Muswellbrook Town Hall site in 1976, and in gaining regional gallery status for the newly built Muswellbrook Municipal Art Gallery.
The Viola Bromley Art Prize is a celebration of local art across the disciplines of painting, works on paper, sculpture and photography. Open to artists living in the Dungog, Muswellbrook, Singleton and Upper Hunter Shires, the Prize reflects the depth and diversity of our region’s talent.
Image: Jennifer Stuerzl, ‘The Lake’ 2025, acrylic on board framed, 32 x 84cm.
Up the Garden Path
23 October 2025 to 7 March 2026
Sue Adams, Teresa Byrne, Alison Hodges, Hilary Nicol, Fran Wachtel
Much like the artist communities of Heidelberg School and Hill End, Upper Hunter artists Sue, Teresa, Alison, Hilary, and Fran have been drawn together by a mutual love of art, wine, fine food, and gardening. Having lamented the lack of time dedicated to their practice, the women began to meet regularly, usually in one another’s gardens, to paint, draw and share a meal together.
To further enhance their commitment, the exhibition ‘Up the Garden Path’ was born, a collection of drawings, paintings, and pastels inspired by a mutual passion for the botanical.
Abstract Photography: From the Muswellbrook Collections
14 August 2025 to 10 January 2026
“I wanted to see what would be revealed if I photographed in complete darkness.”
– Featured artist Merilyn Fairskye
In abstract photography, the artist aims to photograph the unphotographable(1). Featuring work drawn from the permanent collections by past winners and finalists of the Muswellbrook Photographic Awards and Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize, ‘Abstract Photography: From the Muswellbrook Collections’ considers abstraction as a method for revealing what cannot be seen.
From chemical manipulation to recontextualisation, the images have been created using a diverse range of methods and strategies. Through these approaches, each artist transforms their subject to resist easy interpretation, encouraging deeper contemplation and inviting viewers to reflect on the intangible experiences we all share.
1. Fraenkel, Jeffrey. The Unphotographable. San Francisco: Fraenkel Gallery, 2013.
The Sky Is The Limit: Goodstart Early Learning Muswellbrook
14 August 2025 to 10 January 2026
To be or not to be? That is the question in Preschool at Goodstart Muswellbrook in 2025. So many options, so many thoughts and ideas, so much potential! Our little explorers take to the skies and dream about life as a grown up! What will I be? What will I do? Take a leap of faith and find out!
Muswellbrook Regional Art Centre
1-3 Bridge Street, Muswellbrook
Monday-Saturday, 10am – 4pm
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Image: Jennifer Stuerzl, ‘The Lake’ 2025, acrylic on board framed, 32 x 84cm.
Image and media release courtesy of the MRAC.