Yarra City Arts

Opening this week at Conners Conners Gallery, Fitzroy Town Hall and running 14th May - 13th June: Mikala Dwyer | Monkey Monkey Mikala Dwyer creates compounds full of uncertainties and contradictions like open-ended conversations that draw our attention to the unseen – to invisible materials such as helium, air or the voids between her forms, but also to hidden histories and our own highly personal relationships with magic, memory, objects and ritual. Here at Conners Conners, Monkey Monkey is thinking through attachment theory and transitional objects in relation to Punch the monkey who was abandoned by his mother in a Japanese zoo and given an Ikea orangutan to comfort him. Along with the soft toy there is also now a meme coin attached to a viral Punch. Mikala Dwyer is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery and 1301SW. Chunxiao Qu | Ten Descriptions for the Same Object Ten Descriptions for the Same Object presents ten identical bricks, each accompanied by a different text that produces a distinct narrative and system of value. The work treats language not as description but as a mechanism that constructs meaning, authorship, and authority. Chunxiao Qu is a Melbourne-based artist and writer working across sculpture, installation, and light, with language as a central framework. She is represented by FUTURES Gallery and will present a large-scale installation at Dark Mofo 2026. @she_andherdog @futures_gallery @mikaladwyer @roslynoxley9 @1301sw_au @connersconners Conners Conners is open Wednesday - Sunday 12-6pm at Level 1 Fitzroy Town Hall, Napier Street Fitzroy. Images 1 and 2 courtesy of the artists and Conners Conners Gallery.

Final call: EOIs for our subsidised artist wellbeing and professional development program, Play in Residence, close tomorrow. Don't miss this FREE six-week program that will help artists build a personalised wellbeing framework to sustain their practice, responding directly to the sector’s call for new conversations around resilience and burnout. If you have an application sitting in draft, make sure it's completed and submitted by midnight 12 May! Take a look at past posts in our profile to learn more about Play in Residence and our facilitator, Leah Manaema Avene.

Last weekend to apply for the Room to Create Fund! Council is seeking applications for up to $12,000 for creative infrastructure related projects that would make a significant impact to their venue or place of making. Funding is for projects which take place between mid July 2026 – 30 June 2027 and open to organisations with DGR and or TCC status. Applications close 12noon Monday 11 May 2026. For more information on eligibility and how to apply, head to the link in bio. The City of Yarra Room to Create Fund is a charitable fund account in partnership with the Greater Melbourne Fund. The Fund was launched in 2014 with the specific purpose of supporting creative infrastructure in the City of Yarra. Image credit: (UP)HOLDING by Tra Mi Dinh. Dancehouse Season 1 2023. Photo by Gregory Lorenzutti

Less than one week to go! EOIs for our subsidised artist wellbeing and professional development program, Play in Residence, close midnight 12 May. Produced by Yarra City Arts and guided by the knowledge and expertise of Leah Manaema Avene of @co_cu1tur3 , Play in Residence is a FREE six-week program that will help artists build a personalised wellbeing framework to sustain their practice, responding directly to the sector’s call for new conversations around resilience and burnout. Each session will be filled with food, play, storytelling, and hands-on skills development in a small group where wellbeing, creativity and community are treated as essential conditions of arts practice. 📅 When: 28 May – 2 July, every Thursday 10am-1pm 📍 Where: In-person, Collingwood 👥 Who: Early and mid-career artists of any discipline, who work, live, study or practice in Victoria. Head to our link in bio to apply! Graphic design by @carolyn.helen for Yarra City Arts.

NOW SHOWING! 'Let The Night Fall' by Florence Wang A series of intimate landscape paintings that capture urban night scenes in surrounding areas of Brunswick and Abbotsford -- locations that form part of the artist’s day-to-day journey. Fitzroy Library 128 Moor St, Fitzroy Library Opening Hours Closes Sunday 26 July. Part of the 2026 City of Yarra Exhibition Program. More information via the link in our bio. Image credit: 'Home is Where the Light is' 2025 by Florence Wang. Oil on copper. Image courtesy of the artist. #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #contemporaryartist #melbournegallery #melbourneart #melbourneartist #painting #urban #landscape #YarraCityArts #YarraLife #YarraLibraries @cityofyarra @yarralibraries @florence.ywang

NOW SHOWING! 'Gathered Fragments' by Elena Larriba Andaluz An exhibition of hand-built ceramic forms that carry imprints of Fitzroy and North Fitzroy’s urban surfaces. Through pressing, breaking, layering and repair, the works emerge as fragments that hold traces of touch, pressure and time. Bargoonga Nganjin, North Fitzroy Library 182-186 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North Library Opening Hours. Closes Sunday 26 July. Part of the 2026 City of Yarra Exhibition Program. More information via our bio. 'Gathered Fragments' (detail) 2025 by Elena Larriba Andaluz. Hand-built ceramic stoneware. Dimensions variable. Image courtesy of the artist. #contemporaryart #contemporaryartist #contemporaryceramics #melbourneart #melbourneartist #ceramics #abstract #YarraCityArts #YarraLife #YarraLibraries @cityofyarra @yarralibraries @elarriba

EOIs are now open for Play in Residence, a new wellbeing and professional development series for artists! The fully subsidised six-week program (28 May - 2 July) will help artists build a personalised wellbeing framework to sustain their practice, guided by the knowledge and expertise of Leah Manaema Avene of Co Culture. Still deciding if this program is for you? Scroll down to meet our incredible facilitator: Leah Manaema Avene @co_cu1tur3 (she/they) is a Tuvaluan-Irish, Kulin raised, mother, aunty, daughter and community member with responsibilities to care for place, for people and for the future. As a psychotherapist, educator, and researcher, Leah's work is committed to decompressing the impacts of settler colonial oppression as it manifests in bodies, communities, and social systems. Through relational practices, narrative technologies, and cultural restoration, Leah supports people, professionals, leaders and communities to identify and repair the impacts of settler colonial conditioning. Leah is the author of Fieldwork: Collective Recovery from Colonial Fragmentation Order—a ‘book’ or body of work that is read to groups over 8-week cycles taking a therapeutic and critically and culturally conscious approach to wellbeing and cultural repair. Leah's creative practices include musician and songwriter, printmaker, storyteller, and cultural weaver. Ready to apply? Head to the link to register; EOIs close midnight 12 May 2026. 📅 When: 28 May – 2 July, every Thursday 10am-1pm 📍 Where: In-person, Collingwood 👥 Who: Early and mid-career artists of any discipline, who work, live, study or practice in Victoria.

We are launching a new wellbeing and professional development series for artists! Produced by Yarra City Arts and guided by the knowledge and expertise of Leah Manaema Avene @co_cu1tur3 of Co Culture, Play in Residence is a FREE six-week program that will help artists build a personalised wellbeing framework to sustain their practice, responding directly to the sector’s call for new conversations around resilience and burnout. Across six weekly sessions (28 May – 2 July), artists will explore purpose and map how to protect stories and dignity as they carry themselves through industry, community and society. Leah will be offering gentle guidance through questions such as: Why are we making art? What is art for? Why does it hurt? Why can't I stop? What is my story? Why do I bother? At the end of six weeks participants will learn how to acknowledge colonial time, nurture connection, and prioritise relational, responsive ways of working. Each session will be filled with food, play, storytelling, and hands-on skills development in a small group where wellbeing, creativity and community are treated as essential conditions of arts practice. 📅 When: 28 May – 2 July, every Thursday 10am-1pm 📍 Where: In-person, Collingwood 👥 Who: Early and mid-career artists of any discipline, who work, live, study or practice in Victoria. EOIs are now open and close midnight 12 May 2026. Find out more and apply via link in bio. Graphic design by @carolyn.helen for Yarra City Arts.

Content warning: this video discusses suicide and mental health issues. 💐 We're building a memorial recognising our LGBTIQA+ community lost to suicide. We spoke to members of local LGBTIQA+ elders social group Bent Twigs Alliance about their experiences and what makes this project so meaningful 💐 If you or anyone you know needs help, support is available. Tap the link in our bio for the link to Switchboard Victoria, or contact the numbers below. 📞 Rainbow Door Free Victorian LGBTIQA+ specialist service - available 10am-5pm, 7 days a week (closed some public holidays) Phone 1800 729 367 Text 0480 017 246 📞 QLife Free Australia-wide LGBTIQA+ peer service - available 3pm-9pm, 7 days a week Phone 1800 184 527 📞 Lifeline Free crisis support and suicide prevention service - available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Phone 13 11 14 📞 Beyond Blue Free mental health support service - available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Phone 1300 22 46 36

We’re looking forward to celebrating 50 years of Timorese migration to Australia this Friday 24 April 1-4pm at 106 Elizabeth Street, Richmond. Join us for an exhibition by Lao Rai + the Timorese breakfast group. With speeches and live music from Melbourne East Timorese Activity Centre (METAC). Thanks to @cityofyarra Quick Response Grant and to @anhca_org (funded by Australian Department of Social Services). Flyer photo credit: Sue Kent. @yarracityarts

LAST WEEKS! 'I have nothing to say, and I'm saying it: John Cage' by Steve Brown Artist Steve Brown embraces abstraction for the creative freedom it provides. Viewing art as inherently subjective, Brown believes that meaning lies in the viewer’s interpretation and that the artist’s intention holds no greater authority than the viewer’s response. Bargoonga Nganjin, North Fitzroy Library 182-186 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North Library Opening Hours. Closes Sunday 26 April. Part of the 2026 City of Yarra Exhibition Program. More information via our bio. 'Untitled' (detail) 2025 by Steve Brown. Mixed media on paper. Image courtesy of the artist. #contemporaryart #contemporaryartist #contemporarydrawings #melbourneart #melbourneartist #drawings #abstract #YarraCityArts #YarraLife #YarraLibraries @cityofyarra @yarralibraries @papa_zen89

LAST WEEKS! 'Invest // Occupy // Develop' by Sally Anthony Through sustained observation of a Carlton construction site, artist Sally Anthony documents fleeting arrangements, shifting textures, and subtle traces of activity, offering a visual exploration and meditation on what transforms, persists, or vanishes within Melbourne’s evolving urban landscape. Fitzroy Library 128 Moor St, Fitzroy Library Opening Hours Closes Sunday 26 April. Part of the 2026 City of Yarra Exhibition Program. More information via the link in our bio. Image credit: 'Thread' 2025 from the series 'Parcel' by Sally Anthony. Digital print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag. Image courtesy of the artist. #contemporaryart #contemporaryphotography #contemporaryartist #melbournegallery #melbourneart #melbourneartist #photography #abstract #construction #YarraCityArts #YarraLife #YarraLibraries @cityofyarra @yarralibraries @optical_clutter