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Wednesday 9am - 3pm Thursday 9am - 3pm Friday 9am - 3pm Saturday 9:30am - 1pm Sunday 9:30am - 1pm

Northern Rivers Community Gallery

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Northern Rivers Community Gallery

The Northern Rivers Community Gallery (NRCG) & Ignite Studios operated by Ballina Shire Council. This site is monitored from 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

The Northern Rivers Community Gallery (NRCG) and Ignite Studios, are owned and operated by Ballina Shire Council. OPENING HOURS

9:00am - 3:00pm Wednesday to Friday
9:30am - 1:00pm Weekends

Closed public holidays

HOUSE RULES

We welcome you and your comments to our page. The purpose of this site is to:
i) direct members of the community to the Northern Rivers Community Gallery information and se

rvices
ii) build a reliable identity by adhering to the social media engagement principles of openness, relevance, accuracy and respect. iii) create social networking places for community building and interaction to facilitate and support discussion around our services, activities and resources. We reserve the right to prevent submissions that contain vulgar language, personal attacks of any kind, or offensive comments that target or disparage any ethnic, racial, religious group, gender or sexual orientation. Parties engaging on this platform must not post or share comments, photos, videos, electronic recording or other information that:
a) is defamatory, offensive, humiliating, threatening, or intimidating to council officials or members of the public
b) contains profane language or is sexual in nature
c) constitutes harassment and/or bullying within the meaning of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW
d) contains content about the Council, council officials or members of the public that is misleading or deceptive
e) breaches the privacy of council officials or members of the public
f) contains allegations of suspected breaches of the Council's code of conduct or information about the consideration of a matter under the Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW
g) violates an order made by a court
h) breaches copyright
i) advertises, endorses or solicits commercial products or businesses
j) constitutes spam
k) would be in breach of the rules of the social media platform

Where practicable, NRCG will contact the person who uploaded the content that is to be removed and the reason(s) for its removal and their rights of review. We reserve the right to block users who contravene the above conditions. If you are blocked, you have a right of review. If you have any questions concerning the operation of this site, please contact the Gallery Coordinator at:

Ph 02 6681 0530
Email [email protected]

08/09/2026

The duality of | Dale Burke⁠
Now Showing in Gallery 1⁠

Dale Burke is a Tasmanian painter currently based in Murwillumbah, Northern New South Wales. He has a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts, (now the School of Art & Design) University of New South Wales, graduating in Media Arts (film & video) in 2002. He also completed a 3-year Diploma in painting course at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne.

Burke was a founding member of Alpha House Artist’s Housing Co-operative in Erskineville, Sydney. Established in the early 1990’s, the initiative combined affordable housing for artists, studio spaces and a gallery for artists and students living in Sydney. The cooperative continues to provide support for creative practitioners today.

He has exhibited extensively throughout the independent gallery networks of Sydney and Brisbane and has been a finalist and participant in numerous art prizes.

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The Gallery is open Wed - Fri 9am - 3pm | Sat - Sun 9.30am - 1pm.⁠

💻️ For more information visit nrcgballina.com.au

📞 Call the Gallery on 02 6681 0530

📍 Northern Rivers Community Gallery, 44 Cherry Street, Ballina

Image 1: Dale Burke, "Misty Mountain", 2026
Image 2: Dale Burke, "The Fallen", 2026
Image 3: Dale Burke, "Down by the River", 2025⁠
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All images courtesy of the artist.

31/08/2026

🍤Congratulations to all of the talented Ballina-based artists who are finalists in this years Wollumbin Art Award

Sprung Dance Theatre -

Dean Stewart -

Dane Scotcher -

Donna Albany - @ donna.albany.art

Amanda Bromfield -

Kylie Caldwell - .art

Daniel Watkins -

Katie Barbarie Stewart -

The Wollumbin Art Award (WAA) is the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre’s biennial $30,000 award open to artists living in the Tweed, Ballina, Byron, Kyogle and Scenic Rim Shires, as well as Richmond Valley, Lismore and Gold Coast City.

NRCG congratulates the winners of this year's prize Stephen Bird, Penny Evans and Pascale Bardos.

29/08/2026

APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR CREATIVE STUDIO SPACE
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Ignite Studios, located adjacent to the Northern Rivers Community Gallery and Gallery Café, has one creative studio available for medium or long-term lease.⁠
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Light-filled, with wooden floors and utilising the original living areas of the beautifully restored and heritage-listed former Ballina Fire Station, the available studio is 14ms, and fully secure with lockable doors, air conditioning, and 24-hour access. ⁠
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We are currently accepting applications for a 6- or 12-month lease arrangement.⁠ Artists and creative organisations from a range of disciplines are welcome to apply.
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Applications close 4 October for a studio term commencing November 2026.⁠
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For more information or to submit an application visit nrcgballina.com.au, or contact the Gallery.

💻️ For more information visit nrcgballina.com.au ⁠
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📞 Call the Gallery on 02 6681 0530⁠
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📍 Ignite Studios, 60 Crane Street, Ballina ⁠
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Image: Kate Holmes

28/08/2026

The 15th Annual Grace Cruice Memorial Exhibition | BACCI⁠
Now Showing in Gallery 4

Established in 1998, Ballina Arts & Crafts Centre Inc. (BACCI) has fostered a vibrant community of artists and artisans across the Northern Rivers for more than two decades. United by a passion for creativity, BACCI provides opportunities for members to learn, share skills, and exhibit their work.

This annual exhibition celebrates the remarkable diversity of our membership, bringing together an eclectic collection of works across a wide range of artistic disciplines. From enthusiastic hobbyists to internationally recognised practitioners, each artist contributes a unique perspective, reflecting the richness of our creative community.

This exhibition honours the memory of BACCI’s founding member, Grace Cruice, whose vision, generosity, and dedication continue to inspire the group. The annual memorial exhibition celebrates her enduring legacy and the spirit of encouragement and artistic excellence she helped establish.

The Gallery is open Wed - Fri 9am - 3pm | Sat - Sun 9.30am - 1pm.⁠

💻️ For more information visit nrcgballina.com.au

📞 Call the Gallery on 02 6681 0530

📍 Northern Rivers Community Gallery, 44 Cherry Street, Ballina

Images 1 & 2: The 15th Annual Grace Cruice Memorial Exhibition (installation view)

27/08/2026

Happy Birthday | Estefania Minniti (FANIA)⁠
Now Showing in Gallery 3

"Happy Birthday" begins with a ritual we all know. Every year we blow out candles, make a wish, exchange gifts and celebrate another year of life. These gestures are so familiar that we rarely stop to consider what they reveal about us.

A birthday can be one of the few moments when celebration and self-reflection exist at the same time. We find ourselves thinking about where we are and how it compares with the future we once imagined. In those moments, it can be difficult to tell the difference between the desires that truly belong to us and those we’ve gradually learned to make our own.

Through painting, ceramics, sculpture and textile, "Happy Birthday" uses the visual language of birthday celebrations to explore the tension between joy and introspection. Familiar symbols become a way of thinking about time, identity, social performance and the expectations we carry from the moment the candles are lit to the silence that follows once they’re out.

Together, these works invite viewers to reconsider what a birthday really marks, and what it quietly reveals about the way we see ourselves.

The Gallery is open Wed - Fri 9am - 3pm | Sat - Sun 9.30am - 1pm.⁠
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💻️ For more information visit nrcgballina.com.au

📞 Call the Gallery on 02 6681 0530

📍 Northern Rivers Community Gallery, 44 Cherry Street, Ballina

Image 1: Fania, "Masks off", 2026
Image 2: Fania, "The uninvited guest", 2026

All images courtesy of the artist.

26/08/2026

If not now, when? | Christina Waterson⁠
Now Showing in Gallery 2

"Sculpture, by its nature, takes up space. It can’t be neatly packed away like a photograph or drawing into a thin sleeve or frame. It’s present in time – pushing and pulling at the space we reside in. I make sculpture because there was a chance my Dad would lose his sight from a childhood accident. I wanted him to be able to experience my works through touch if the blindness came.

After experiencing some challenging years, I settled in the Northern Highlands and lost connection to my practice. With Dad’s unexpected passing I felt terrible loss and grief. What if anything, to make now? I know Dad would want me to make the most of life. At rock bottom I found myself – the child that loved to make art and garden. I started to write, draw, and plant seeds. Over time I realised these were sculptures. Day by day I made.

I looked at photographs from my life, and that’s when I saw her – the girl afraid to take up space. I came to realise that making sculpture is fundamental to my life and healing. And, like there’s no containing sculpture in a thin sleeve or frame, there’s no containing me. I am here to take up space, be unique and make my art.

Through the transformation of everyday materials into sculptural objects, I reflect on this personal journey of growth, grief, healing and renewal. Balancing self-doubt with self-belief, my practice celebrates the restorative power of art as a pathway back to self and home."

The Gallery is open Wed - Fri 9am - 3pm | Sat - Sun 9.30am - 1pm.⁠

💻️ For more information visit nrcgballina.com.au

📞 Call the Gallery on 02 6681 0530

📍 Northern Rivers Community Gallery, 44 Cherry Street, Ballina

Images 1 & 2: Christina Waterson, "If not now, when?", 2026

25/08/2026

The duality of | Dale Burke
Now Showing in Gallery 1⁠

Dale Burke is a painter of mythical landscapes who blends photography with found imagery as the foundation for painting. The works are loosely anchored in a sense of realism which is transformed through watery layers of vibrant paint.

The painting process plays a significant role in the how Burke’s paintings evolve. He encourages the paint to morph organically on the canvas, creating a random and perceived accidental effect that removes the artist’s hand for a desired result. This application technique grew out of an interest in printmaking, particularly the process of photographic screen-printing on canvas.

Burke carefully crafts an imagined world that engages the viewer and questions the concept of what landscape can be. He introduces an element of figuration to landscape, where the viewer becomes a witness to an inner world that plays and interacts with the subconscious, offering a glimpse into an imagined other world, a dreamscape.

His work is deeply rooted in the art of symbolism and the neo-expressionism movement that evolved in the 1980s through a rejection of minimalism. It placed great emphasis on the expression of emotive ideas and values, introducing an element of the unknown through mythological structures of self-exploration.

The Gallery is open Wed - Fri 9am - 3pm | Sat - Sun 9.30am - 1pm.⁠

💻️ For more information visit nrcgballina.com.au

📞 Call the Gallery on 02 6681 0530

📍 Northern Rivers Community Gallery, 44 Cherry Street, Ballina

Image 1: Dale Burke, Valley Drift", 2025
Image 2: Dale Burke, "The Glimpse", 2025

All images courtesy of the artist.

19/08/2026

LAUNCH EVENT | SEPTEMBER EXHIBITIONS ⁠
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Please join tonight from 5.30 – 7.30pm to celebrate the launch of our new exhibitions.⁠
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Meet the artists and enjoy a beverage from our sponsors, The Cellar Ballina, Yulli's Brews and Pyewacket's Traditional non-alcoholic shrubs, and delicious catering from The Gallery Café Ballina.⁠
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Gallery 1 | The duality of - Dale Burke ⁠
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Gallery 2 | If not now, when? - Christina Waterson ⁠
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Gallery 3 | Happy Birthday - Estenfania Minniti (FANIA)⁠ ⁠
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⁠Gallery 4 | The 15th Annual Grace Cruice Memorial Exhibition - BACCI⁠
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💻️ For more information visit nrcgballina.com.au
⁠
📞 Call the Gallery on 02 6681 0530⁠
⁠
📍 Northern Rivers Community Gallery, 44 Cherry Street, Ballina ⁠
⁠
The Cellars, Ballina ⁠
Pyewacket’s Traditional Drinks ⁠
Yulli's Brews ⁠
The Gallery Café Ballina

17/08/2026

LAUNCH EVENT | SEPTEMBER EXHIBITIONS ⁠
⁠
Please join us this Thursday, 20 August, 5.30 – 7.30pm., to celebrate the launch of our new exhibitions.⁠
⁠
Meet the artists and enjoy a beverage from our sponsors, The Cellar Ballina, Yulli's Brews and Pyewacket's Traditional non-alcoholic shrubs, and delicious catering from The Gallery Café Ballina.⁠

Gallery 1 | The duality of - Dale Burke
⁠
Gallery 2 | If not now, when? - Christina Waterson
⁠
Gallery 3 | Happy Birthday - Estenfania Minniti (FANIA)⁠
⁠
⁠Gallery 4 | The 15th Annual Grace Cruice Memorial Exhibition - BACCI

💻️ For more information visit nrcgballina.com.au

📞 Call the Gallery on 02 6681 0530

📍 Northern Rivers Community Gallery, 44 Cherry Street, Ballina

The Cellars, Ballina ⁠
Pyewacket’s Traditional Drinks ⁠
Yulli's Brews ⁠
The Gallery Café Ballina

Address

44 Cherry Street
Ballina, NSW

Opening Hours

Wednesday	9am - 3pm
Thursday	9am - 3pm
Friday	9am - 3pm
Saturday	9:30am - 1pm
Sunday	9:30am - 1pm

Telephone

+61266810530

Website

https://www.nrcgballina.com.au/v1/

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