Image: New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale
The New England Regional Art Museum in Armidale is presenting ‘Road Trip: A Residency’, a site-responsive exhibition developed by Side Gallery after an intensive encounter with the town, its surrounding landscapes and regional art community. The exhibition brings together new work by Col Mac, Rhianna Phillips, Jessica Mc Nicol and Samuel Kiernan and is scheduled to remain on view until 27 September 2026.
The project began when Side Gallery invited the four artists to immerse themselves in Armidale over an intensive weekend. According to NERAM, the residency was conceived as both a creative experiment and a site-responsive experience, asking what might happen when artists step outside their familiar routines and studio environments to engage with a new place.
During their stay, the artists explored Armidale and its surrounds, responding to the area’s landscapes, rhythms and communities. They also toured the New England Regional Art Museum with Director Rachael Parsons, encountering the institution’s gallery spaces and collection. Conversations with local artists from Armidale and Walcha further connected the residency to the lived realities of regional art practice.
The resulting works encompass a range of personal and material responses to place. NERAM describes the exhibition as a snapshot of artistic practice in motion, shaped by travel, dialogue and the shifting conditions of making away from home. The project’s emphasis is therefore not solely on depicting the New England landscape, but on tracing how artistic work changes through exchange and unfamiliar surroundings.
The exhibition includes Col Mac’s ‘little sparta garden shed’ (2026), an oil painting on canvas measuring 107 by 81.5 centimetres. It is the only individual work identified in the museum’s exhibition information; the announcement does not specify the media or dimensions of the other artists’ contributions.
‘Road Trip: A Residency’ opened at NERAM on 15 August and runs through 27 September, from 10am to 4pm. The museum is located at 106–114 Kentucky Street, Armidale, New South Wales. Its opening formed part of NERAM’s 21–23 August 2026 Winter Blooming Festival, which also launched the separate exhibition ‘Boundaries: Transcended’. An opening-night event on 21 August included a talk by Mac, Phillips, Mc Nicol and Kiernan, followed by an introduction from Parsons.
