Background

Greenwich is a peninsular village not far from North Sydney and just across the water from Balmain. It has been a popular place for creatives due to the strange combination of seclusion and proximity to the city.  

Around twenty years ago several Greenwich artists had a show at the local sailing club and following from there as more artists got involved the event morphed into the Greenwich Village Arts Trail.

This year on the first weekend of November around 30 Artists will open their home studios with works that cover the full spectrum, from Painting and Sculpture to Jewellery and Photography. Many of the original artist including Lyn Burns, Amanda Harrison, MaryAnne Parry and Susan Rothwell (Chairman of the National Art School) are still exhibiting. There are many emerging artists including Deb Callaway, Lyn Barling and Marianne Urth.

With so many involved it is too hard to list everyone.

“The GVAT has now grown to attract around 1000 art-loving visitors from all over Sydney and beyond. Set as the first weekend of November, the streets of the beautiful harbourside suburb fill with art-lovers who meet with friends, walk in groups, and view art in over 30 sites, speaking with the artists, learning about the creative processes, and purchasing fabulous artworks to take home to enrich their homes and lives.”

About Andrew Richardson / Mitchell St Greenwich.

I am a commercial photographer and established Crossfire Photography’s Darlinghurst studios in the 1990’s. More recently, the globalisation of editorial content has not only created a homogonous stream of content it has also reduced creative assignments for many local photographers.

Surprisingly, the art trail has become a way to find an audience for personal creative projects, so it has become a genuine inspiration and had led to new ideas. I first opened my garage up for the trail in 2016 and by the end of the weekend around six hundred people had wandered through and purchased work from my tiny space.

During Covid I decided to exhibit outdoors with  “Billboards In the Garden” which was a great success, so I have continued with the large scale theme. I have several series that I work on including the Analogue Series, Marine Series, Staircase Series and Postcards from Another place. I can elaborate on each of these series during our chat if you want.

This year I visited Barcelona and covered the Americas Cup from the official photo boat so have some very strong new marine works from that event and I have also continued to develop my Analogue series and Postcard Series.

My exhibit on Mitchell St Greenwich is a stone’s throw from several other intriguing artists including Robin Allan who produces unique ceramic jewellery and Susan Rothwell who has an amazing collection displayed from her harbourside studio.

Other artists of note in the area include Amanda Harrison (Sculpture), Dana Dion (Abstract Painting),  Aura Parker (Author & Illustrator of children’s books), David Markel (Woodwork) and Imogen Baylis-Smith (Fine Pen Drawings).

There are various local cafes open, a trail shuttle bus and a local baths if you feel like a dip midway through your adventures.

More details at.

https://greenwichvillageartstrail.com

Instagram

@Greenwich_village_Arts_Trail