An exciting year of exhibitions at Wollongong Art Gallery
2026 is going to be another massive year at Wollongong Art Gallery, thanks to a diverse range of exhibitions, an engaging performance program and an exciting schedule of workshops, free artist talks and events.
The new annual program was launched by Gallery Director Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham and reflects the continued commitment to growing the Gallery’s creative reach across disciplines, communities and forms of storytelling.
“With this program, we’re exploring how art holds memory, emotion and change; how it maps the complex relationships between people and place, past and future, and the real and the imagined,’’ Dr Mudie Cunningham said.
Now eighteen months into his role as Director, shaping the 2026 program has been a significant milestone.
“It’s really important to me that the Wollongong Art Gallery remains a civic, poetic, and dynamic space of encounter — a space that’s responsive and always in motion,’’ he said.
“This year’s program continues to expand on what’s possible and invites visitors to reflect, engage and experience the Gallery in new ways.”
The 2026 lineup features a breadth of creative practices, from major curated exhibitions to multidisciplinary performances. While diverse in approach, Dr Mudie Cunningham said all the projects share a core interest in connection, emotion and transformation.
“I wanted to ensure that what was on offer was exciting, engaging and would spark conversations and encourage everyone in our community to regularly visit the gallery,’’ he said.
“Wollongong is one of the largest regional art galleries in the country and it’s free to visit. I believe this program, featuring contemporary artists including Michelle Cawthorn and Peter Sharp, Elvis Richardson, Georgia Banks and Raquel Caballero will be enjoyed by everyone.’’
It was important to Mudie Cunningham that the Gallery provided an exhibition space for local artists, as well as nationally recognised artists.
“I’m delighted that we’ll be featuring some incredible local artists in our 2026 program, Rob Howe’s Transience Atlas and Nicci Bedson’s Ballad of the Burbs which explore the beauty and change of suburban life and you’ll see some familiar façades captured in these shows,’’ he said.
Image: Nicci Bedson, Beach Motel (detail), 2025, acrylic on board, 24.5 x 30.5 cm. Collection Macquarie Bank. Photograph: Johnathan Cohan
“We’re also excited to welcome Tess Allas back to the Gallery with We are the land we walk upon, continuing her long‑standing connection to the Illawarra through this powerful collaboration filmed on Siksika lands in Canada and Yaegl and Tharawal lands in Australia. Together with Frances Belle Parker and Adrian Stimson, the artists share stories of history, spirituality and survival.”
The Gallery will expand its focus on live performance in an invigorating new direction that reflects the Gallery’s evolving curatorial vision. Performances including The City the Colour of Stars, Cicada and Farewell Tour will animate the building as a stage where music, theatre and visual art merge.
“These works invite audiences to experience the Gallery not just as a space for viewing, but as a living organism responsive to sound, movement and atmosphere,” he said.
Image: Joe Wilson & Chanelle Collier, Farewell Tour, 2025. Courtesy of the artists.
“It’s fantastic that our community can be exposed to such a diverse offering of talented artists – for free – at Wollongong Art Gallery. I consider it a real honour that we’re going to be showing such a diverse range of exhibitions here.’’
Lord Mayor of Wollongong, Councillor Tania Brown said that Wollongong Art Gallery continues to play a vital role in the city’s cultural life.
“The Gallery is such a beautiful space and we’re very fortunate to have such an energising program for 2026,’’ she said.
“The exhibitions are held in conjunction with other programming and performances, talks and workshops, so there’s a real buzz in the building. Because of this, I’m challenging locals and visitors to make it one of your 2026 goals to visit the Gallery. There’s been so much thought behind to ensure there’s something for everyone.’’
For more information on the 2026 program visit our Exhibition pages. You can also stay to date by subscribing to our e-newsletter and social media channels.
Exhibition Snapshot
Image: We are the land we walk upon (Mt Keira) (detail), 2024. Photograph: Jimmy Murray. Courtesy of the artists.
The first exhibition from the 2026 program is Troy-Anthony Baylis' Tell Them Their Dreaming (17 January – 24 May) with the latest exterior panel project – exploring the layered meanings of dreaming.
This is Not a Solo Show (7 March – 31 May) by Michelle Cawthorn and Peter Sharp marks the tenth anniversary of their ongoing artistic collaboration. This exhibition explores how their distinct practices intersect and diverge.
We are the land we walk upon (14 March – 24 May) brings together artists Tess Allas, Frances Belle Parker and Adrian Stimson, who walk on each other’s home Countries to share stories of history, spirituality and survival.
Guest curator Megan Monte explores how emotion is held, transformed, and revealed through form, gesture, and encounter in The Architecture of Feeling (21 March – 21 June). This exhibition showcases ceramics, works on paper and photographs from a range of works held in our collection.
Edge City (28 March – 18 October) unfolds across two connected chapters, beginning with a focused survey of recent and key works by Elvis Richardson, alongside collection works by local and regional artists. This exhibition explores and reveals the beauty and politics of suburbia.
Rob Howe’s Transience Atlas (30 May – 9 August) maps impermanence through a year-long study of seasonal change across NSW in a series of weekly paintings, revealing how cycles of change can offer calm amid uncertainty.
In Ballad of the Burbs (30 May – 9 August), Illawarra artist Nicci Bedson paints the homes and houses that define the region’s suburban landscape. Her acrylic works capture familiar façades, softened by nostalgic detail and shifting light, inviting us to see the quiet poetry in the places we live.
Melbourne artist Georgia Banks revels in the slippery terrain between celebrity, authenticity and artifice. Developed during her research residency at The Andy Warhol Museum, Popular Versus Culture (6 June – 6 September) examines how cultural, emotional and economic value is performed and consumed and will be shown in dialogue with selected works from our collection.
Sydney artist Raquel Caballero unveils a lavish new body of work celebrating the make-believe world of dolls and the eccentricities of those who collect them in Once Upon a Doll (4 July – 1 November). Blending papier-mâché, textiles and recycled materials, she stages a series of exuberant tableaux where her idols are reimagined as pint-sized demigods.
Curated by Olivia Welch, GO BAG (15 August – 1 November) looks at the many forms of transient living, from migration and housing insecurity to the broader experience of movement and adaptation. Themes of displacement, belonging and resilience emerge through works that reflect on diasporic identity, community, and survival.
Image: Gallery Director, Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham in front of the latest panel project Tell Them Their Dreaming by Troy-Anthony Baylis.