Australia

  The F Project is an ARI based in Warrnambool, Australia. Established in 2008, The F Project aims to encourage and support artists and contemporary arts practice, and creatively explore social issues and engagement with the community. The F Project space hosts a gallery, shop, workshop spaces, studios and a residency. It is run entirely by volunteers. Acting as a lobby voice for the provision of facilities and programs where artists can produce and exhibit work, where artists and the community can work together, and where a range of information and support services are available to artists and the community, The F Project is a positive force in shaping the cultural and creative life in the Victorian Arts community.  

Yarra Sculpture Gallery was established in 1997 in order to provide a large space for sculpture. YSG is an Artist Run Initiative and it is managed by members of the Contemporary Sculpture Association (CSA), and supported by the City of Yarra it is located at the site of 117 Vere Street, Abbotsford. Mission statement YSG aims to provide a versatile exhibition space at minimal cost for the members of the CSA and to encourage and support our artists to develop new works in spatial arts practice (3D) and exhibit to local audiences. Since 2012, YSG Residencies have provided a versatile venue to support artists to make and explore new art projects in a collegial setting. During approximately eight weeks of summer and winter artists are provided with the opportunity to experiment, research, develop and create new works before delivering an artist talk to the public gallery floor plan

Commenced in 2019, Read the Room is an expanded literary practice space that encourages experimental writing, both on and off the page. Co-directed by Melbourne based visual artist Carmen-S Keiso and writer Kat Capel, Read the Room functions as a liaising hub for various practitioners interested in pursuing the literary form, particularly those working on the fringe of the artistic industry. We host ongoing writing workshops, experimental lectures, exhibitions and reading events independently and in collaboration with other artist-bodies. We are dedicated to both challenging and fostering a community of expanded-literary-practice within Melbourne. We are best reached via our email address [email protected] or via our instagram @readtheroom_

The Wandering Room is an artist-run initiative. Since 2007 the members of The Wandering Room have collaborated as artists and curated exhibitions in temporary spaces. They are currently situated on the corner of Victoria and Elizabeth St, Brunswick, Melbourne. The Wandering Room have also exhibited at Testing Grounds, Melbourne, 2018; KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns, 2016; The Laundry, Brisbane, 2016; Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, 2013; Griffith University Art Gallery, 2013 and Brisbane Festival, 2012. They have undertaken residencies at Development AIR, New Zealand, 2013; Fish Lane Studios, 2013 and Grey Street, South Bank, Brisbane, 2012. They have twice been recipients of grants from Arts Queensland. ​ Current Directors: David Creed, Joseph Breikers, Angela Rossitto, Amanda Wolf ​ ​ The Wandering Room acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we are situated.

  SUPERORDINARY IS AN EPHEMERAL ART SPACE LOCATED IN THE BRISBANE CBD. WE PROVIDE SPACE FOR ARTISTS TO CREATE WORK, SHOW WORK AND COLLABORATE BY RECLAIMING UNUSED URBAN SPACES. Superordinary facilitates partnerships with property owners to utilise otherwise unused urban spaces in central Brisbane and repurposes them for arts projects and artistic development. Superordinary aims to provide opportunities often unavailable to artists due to economic barriers of entry. As a melting pot of energy for multi-disciplinary collaboration, our artists in residency are provided with space, opportunity and encouragement to create and innovate within a like minded community. In addition to our artistic facilitation, Superordinary provides space to emerging creative professionals to garner the support required to produce activations of their own. Our ground floor venue space will be home to many of these, as well as several immersive events and exhibitions from our artists in residence. While our current location at 62 Mary Street is temporary, the ephemeral nature of Superordinary and the community it cultivates will continue on in future spaces responding to their unique attributes. It’s what continues on between these physical spaces that defines Superordinary.

b: ATELIER is located in the small regional town of Batlow near the southern Australian Alps. Batlow was severely impacted by the Black Summer Fires of 2020 & this ARI is one artist’s response to help her disaster affected town recover and renew itself in new and creative ways. Artist Robyn Veneer Sweeney is committed to encouraging locals and tourists to visit and support the output of the local arts community, through showing curated contemporary artworks and facilitating locals to engage with the arts through workshops both in-studio and through outreach. b: ATELIER running costs and improvements have been entirely funded by one artist with small donations of equipment by the local arts community. At this time, it is intended to stay an unincorporated NFP. The building has been made available rent free by the owner and patron, Potso. Some works are for sale but sales are not the core intention of the exhibitions. b: ATELIER charges small commissions for sales, the proceeds of which will go to cover running costs and improvements. In due course over 2021, it is hoped that b: ATELIER will be able to welcome outside artists for small residencies that will include access to working […]

Cementa is a unique, regionally situated, socially-engaged, artist-led organization dedicated to cultivating contemporary art in our regional context. Our annual program of residencies and special projects culminates in our major production, Cementa Festival. Our biennial festival of contemporary art brings together over 60 regional and urban artists for a four-day celebration of Australian contemporary art and the small town that hosts it. This is done through the exhibition of video, installation, sound, performance and 2D/3D artworks in venues and locations across the town and surrounds. Venues include shopfronts, vacant lots, the scout hall, local museum and community centre, the golf course, front yards and public parks. Taking its regional situation as its focus, Cementa celebrates the rich diversity of voices that can be heard within our contemporary arts communities.    

  As the longest-running ARI in Perth, Paper Mountain is a highly reconfigurable studio collective and gallery with co-working and event spaces. Constantly evolving, our core ethos aligns with queer, decolonialist, anti-patriarchal, and anti-ableist ideas and working methods. Our priority is supporting underrepresented and courageous new voices, for learning as we go and adapting to the realities of a damaged world by generating experimental structures and creative solutions. We welcome artists, community groups, organizers, and workers in other disciplines.

Moana Project Space is an artist-run-initiative based in Perth, Western Australia. Since its inception in 2012, Moana has operated as a platform for the production and exhibition of contemporary visual art, with a particular focus on supporting ambitious new work and curatorial projects from young and early career artists, curators and writers from across Australia. The gallery occupied a heritage ballroom alongside multidisciplinary studio spaces and a café at Moana Chambers on Hay Street, Perth from 2012-2017. Moana currently operates as an off-site project based initiative.

Cool Change Contemporary is a new artist-run-initiative opening in the Perth, Western Australia in August 2018. Cool Change Contemporary is a multi-gallery venue that will host a monthly program of exhibitions supported by regular performances, screenings, workshops and events. Cool Change is the arrival of a cold front in the afternoon or evening after a day of high summertime temperatures. It is the sense of interconnectedness with your surroundings, and a feeling that things are about to pick up. Cool Change Contemporary stands for critically engaged work, an accessible, welcoming environment and an agile, responsive outlook.

c3 is an artist-led contemporary art space, located at the Abbotsford Convent arts and culture precinct in Narrm/Melbourne. Established in 2008, the gallery supports open, ambitious (or quiet), personal and critical approaches towards making and experiencing contemporary art. Risk, experimentation and direct audience engagement are encouraged. Central to c3 is the development of professional practice skills, mentorship and opportunities for artists/curators, and a focus on connecting critical practice with a large, diverse audience. The six-room gallery is housed in the main Convent building facing expansive gardens, Birrarung (the Yarra river) and adjacent bush parkland within its inner city location. The site has a multi-layered and complex continuing historical journey: a meeting point for the Wurundjeri and Kulin Nation peoples, settler occupation, a convent, a university, a large multi-practice creative precinct. The gallery has a reciprocal relationship with community, in that it simultaneously builds and is built by community, allowing for an open, nimble and active curatorial vision.  

The Butter Factory Arts Centre is located in the Noosa hinterland at Cooroy, in a converted old butter factory that was built in 1930. The butter factory closed in 1975 and was purchased by Noosa Council for use as a community centre in 1991. The Butter Factory Arts Centre provides a friendly and collabortive environment to both new and established artists working in any media.  We welcome exhibition proposals from artists, collectives for group or solo exhibitions in our  gallery spaces.  We are committed to aiding artists in their experimentation and growth, as well as bringing exciting work to the public.  The center creates a sense of community amongst both exhibitors and viewers; a place where the arts are accessible and dynamic.  The Butter Factory Arts Centre is staffed and assisted by Cooroy Future Group volunteers.  

Cairns area is an exciting region for printmaking in Australia. InkMasters, established in 2011, has been instrumental in making this happen. InkMasters has a full programme of events throughout the year. It includes international, national and local exhibitions which promote the work and careers of regional artists, as well as skills-development workshops and community engagement activities. The now famous InkFest, a biennial festival of printmaking, will be held next in 2018, its fourth production with around 30 activities. The standout event of InkFest is the InkMasters Print Exhibition of original prints from international, national and regional artists. It is held at the Tanks Arts Centre, one of the most celebrated venues in Northern Australia, situated beside the tropical Flecker Botanic Gardens. InkMasters has a state-of the-art printmaking facility at 55 Greenslopes Street, Cairns. #55 Art Space and the printmaking studio InkMasters Print Workshop (IPW) provide professional development opportunities and an access working studio for artists from entry level to professional. We offer access to other arts organizations and individuals and host Artists in Residence. Our objective is to create an accessible Arts Space which will advance the careers of artists at all levels and in all forms, as well as to engage the wider community in the transformative experience of art-making.

WE  ARE  AN  ARTIST  RUN  INITIATIVE The only contemporary experimental art space in Central Australia, Watch This Space (WTS) has played a critical role in the creative ecology of Mparntwe/Alice Springs over the past 24 years. Watch This Space is a catalyst and conduit for conversations and experiments in the always-evolving languages of art. It supports contemporary art dialogue in the region both inside and outside a gallery space, encouraging, nurturing and promoting Central Australian and visiting artists. It is an ARI hub where studio artists and exhibiting artists intersect, housing a diversity of creative practices. WE  AIM  TO Create opportunities for local artists’ work to be discovered and made visible through hosting contemporary art exhibitions. Provide opportunities for local, interstate and international artists to enrich the artistic and cultural life of Alice Springs through the delivery of high quality contemporary art activities. Foster an inclusive creative community of artists who share skills and experiences with each other by accessing the onsite gallery and studio space. Offer professional development opportunities for artists including artistic/cultural collaborations and skills development. Nurture the full breadth of contemporary art activities including multi-disciplinary art forms, new media and installation work.