Newcastle Art Gallery reopening weekend to feature tattoo prizes, street party and collection exhibition launch

newy.com.au – Newcastle Art Gallery will launch its reopening with an opening weekend program that includes a Friday night street party on Laman Street on 27 February and the official opening of a major collection exhibition the next day.

The celebrations are designed to showcase the expanded gallery and its nationally significant holdings, with organisers promising a mix of art, music, talks and interactive experiences across the weekend.

A centrepiece of the Friday night event will be a tattoo giveaway, with three winners to receive bespoke designs inspired by the exhibition Iconic Loved Unexpected, to be inked during the street party by Newcastle artist and tattooer Eddy Lou.

Gallery director Lauretta Morton OAM said the tattoos were a quirky way to mark the milestone, but the intention was for every visit to leave a lasting impression. “Our collection offers an extraordinary time capsule of art from around the world, incorporating significant First Nations artists, colonial era Australian icons, internationally important Japanese Sodeisha ceramics, contemporary pieces and so much more,” she said.

Morton said the expansion project was aimed at redefining the gallery as a destination, beyond simply adding exhibition space. “Regardless of why people come to the Gallery, we want to ensure they leave different as a result of the experience, with memories to cherish and a desire to return again and again,” she said.

Laman Street will be closed to traffic and transformed into a street party from 5pm to 9pm on Friday 27 February, with a temporary sculpture park featuring works by Braddon Snape and Dani Marti, alongside a disco-inspired garden by Jen Denzin and David Lobb that will evolve through interactive art-making activities.

The outdoor line-up will include Newcastle artist James Drinkwater with his surf rock band The Pitts, Maitland siblings Kinder, and headliner DJ, songwriter and producer Jayteehazard. Inside the gallery, performances will include the CREATION choir led by Deborah Kelly, Torres Strait Islander artist Toby Cedar and his dance group, and a drumming solo combining movement and music by Tina Havelock Stevens.

Organisers said art lovers wanting to win the tattoo experience will need to visit the gallery on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays in the lead-up to the opening weekend to enter a ballot.

On Saturday 28 February, the gallery will officially open Iconic Loved Unexpected, displayed across both levels and drawing from the gallery’s $145 million collection. Talks will include one with internationally acclaimed Quandamooka artist Megan Cope, whose work Kinyingarra Guwinyanba (Off Country) features 44 poles adorned with bouquets of rock oyster shells suspended within the new central atrium.

Newcastle’s John Olsen work The sea sun of 5 bells will also be discussed in an in-conversation program with gallerist Tim Olsen and Morton, focusing on Olsen’s most significant paintings.

The weekend will also mark the debut of the gallery’s first permanent café, Hilliers, operated by Jacque and Tom Brown of Sprout Catering, and a retail shop championing local makers.