Marg McHugh is proudly presenting the latest in a series of weekend exhibitions, 21-23 February 2025, at her house gallery, Artscape 481. The sculpture and installation works by 30+ local women artists is only one of many reasons to visit this unique venue that gives such insight into the character of our creative community.
Marg told me the impetus for the New Spaces exhibition was:
“Artists working in 3D don’t get much opportunity to show their work, so I thought, well, this is the ideal venue here because there’s inside and there’s outside. And so why not have a 3D exhibition here, you know, small things, big things, with installation and relief and things coming out of the wall.”
Of the exhibitors, some are some highly experienced life-long makers such as Mary Preece whose woven vessel, Orb, is shown above. Others are exhibiting for the first time, encouraged by Marg and her co-organiser, Anandii, to participate and show their work in public.
Artscape 481
This open, supportive ethos of Artscape 481 as a pop-up gallery is one of its foundational aspects. When I interviewed Marg recently and asked her how her home became a gallery space she told me:
“My feet are fully grounded in the 1970s, in the women’s liberation movement, and all the activism of that time with women claiming a space to be seen and heard. And, undoubtedly, we still need to keeping claiming space for ourselves.”
I have written previously about opportunities to exhibit being rare so it is the great good fortune of artists in our community that we have in our midst someone like Marg – a practising artist herself, with the resources, vision and deep commitment to providing such opportunities, particularly for women. For Marg, making a welcoming space available goes hand in hand with purposefully inviting, including and encouraging women who may be just starting out on a creative path.
The idea for Artscape 481 as a pop-up gallery came into being around 2007, during Marg’s art studies at TAFE, when she had to develop a business plan. She soon made this course assignment a reality, renovating two large rooms at the front of her single storey house that’s on the road to Bundanon Art Museum. A professional hanging system was installed, provisions were made to display objects on plinths, to house installations, and areas in the grounds were allocated for the display of outdoor works.
Community benefactors
Although Artscape 481 was conceived as a business for her course assignment, Marg has never made it a commercial business. She has instead treated it as a philanthropic, community proposition; providing the space for free, and taking no commission on sales. As someone who has experience in event organisation, and presents free live arts events myself, I have a good idea of the amount of time, energy, work and cost involved. These pop-up exhibitions are truly generous undertakings.
Marg initially used the gallery for her own solo exhibitions. That gradually morphed into group shows in part due to the influence of Marg collaborating with her friend and fellow artist, Anandii, which as far as they can remember began about 10 years ago. Anandii’s creative practice centres on ceramics. She also has a very particular view of art making as a collective, community matter – something shared – rather than an individual affair.
Anandii tells a story from her time living and working in Bali for two years, teaching English. While she was there, she was studying painting, working alongside some young Balinese men in a gallery. One morning Anandii arrived to find one of her paintings had been changed.
“I said to them, who’s touched my painting? Someone said, It’s not your painting! I said, it is! It is my painting. And they said, no, we work together. So I started learning that art is not just about me, it’s influenced, and it’s co-created and that whole thing really changed me to feeling that art is a community event.”
Marg says this view of art making and sharing as a more communal activity has been influential in shaping the philosophy and use of Artscape 481. Now the exhibitions are often the culmination of workshops or group processes organised and run by Anandii and Marg, or the exhibitions invite creative responses to major events such as: the stupendous bushfires of 2019-2020 that saw 80% of the Shoalhaven incinerated.
Creatives for YES is another prime example, presenting visual art, poetry, music, song, performance works created in response to the result of the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Part of the unique character of Artscape 481 is the way the space provides a perfect container for shared, gentle catharsis.
At other times, such as with New Spaces, there is simply the generous, spacious invitation to exhibit works in some 3D form.
I was privileged to get a sneak peak of some of the works in the exhibition and hear about the diversity of media and thinking of the 30+ exhibitors. For me, these are always truly uplifting experiences. I often find myself drawn to makers just beginning their creative experiments. There is something about the immediacy of these early attempts that I find beautifully heart-warming.
I count myself fortunate to be one of the exhibiting artists, as does Samantha Tannous (founder and editor of Jervis Bay Weekend). I know that we are both deeply appreciative of Marg’s vision and commitment and her collaboration with Anandii that gifts us these precious opportunities.
New Spaces Exhibition Information
New Spaces Exhibition is open Friday 21 – Sunday 23 February, 2025 / 11-5pm each day at Artscape 481 located at 481 Illaroo Road, Bangalee (on the road to Bundanon Art Museum). The opening event is 2pm Saturday 22 February. On Sunday 23 February at 11am is a special performance by Annette Tesoriero, responding to and incorporating my textile artwork, Beloved on this earth.
I’ll be in residence for most of the weekend. If you are able to come along, please introduce yourself.
