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Meet this month's Local Creative: Michael Muir. Born in Scotland, Muir’s childhood was spent in Southeast Asia before se...
19/10/2026

Meet this month's Local Creative: Michael Muir.

Born in Scotland, Muir’s childhood was spent in Southeast Asia before settling in Sydney. Muir’s work is now on display at MAG&M in 'The Shape of Colour'.

In speaking about the exhibition, Muir shares: “I hope [it] allows people to feel a sense of joy or something relatable. I never know how people are going respond to paintings and individually we all experience things differently. We live in a pretty amazing part of the world, and we have to remember to enjoy the beauty around us.”

📖Read more about Michael’s creative process in this month’s Local Creative’s interview: https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/arts-and-culture/local-creatives

📍See the exhibition, now showing at MAG&M until 29 November 2026.
MAG&M, Tue – Sun 10am – 5pm.

Explore sharp, chic jewellery by , pick up handmade tea towels by Coffee Towels, dive deeper with exhibition catalogues ...
16/10/2026

Explore sharp, chic jewellery by , pick up handmade tea towels by Coffee Towels, dive deeper with exhibition catalogues or grab a bird guide and spot some locals with – just a few of the new finds at the MAG&M Design Shop.

📍MAG&M Design Shop: Tue–Sun, 10am–5pm

Items pictured:
vase by .glassware
ceramics by .sc
Bird Guide by
Jewellery by
Tea Towels by Coffee Towels
ceramic mugs by Aja Verdouw
Michael Muir catalogue

‘Girly in Manly’ – Artist in Focus: Maddison Gibbs.Maddison Gibbs is a proud Gunu Baakandji woman. In ‘Manly Matriarch’ ...
15/10/2026

‘Girly in Manly’ – Artist in Focus: Maddison Gibbs.

Maddison Gibbs is a proud Gunu Baakandji woman. In ‘Manly Matriarch’ Gibbs photographs herself wearing a cloak constructed from plastic fish-shaped soy sauce containers while holding her baby. The image evokes maternal and spiritual archetypes while highlighting the pollution now surrounding our waterways.

At its heart, her work celebrates Aboriginal women as fisherwomen, gatherers, providers, mothers, knowledge holders and matriarchs, while recognising the enormous labour of motherhood and care. It challenges the colonial origins of the name Manly, given by Arthur Phillip in reference to the “manly behaviour” he observed in Aboriginal men.

Gibbs describes the work as “a reclamation of the word Manly through the strength of women,” and prompts: “So, should we rename Manly - Matriarchy?”

Come and ask yourself.

Maddison Gibbs is a multi-disciplinary artist and activist who lives and works between Sydney/Gadigal Country and Kandos/ Wiradjuri Country. Her practice draws upon spiritual narratives, cultural memory and the relationships between women, animals and Country.

📍Girly in Manly at MAG&M
📆25 September – 29 November 2026 at MAG&M.
🎫Free entry


Images: 1) Maddison Gibbs, Manly Matriarch 1, 2026, print on cotton rag, 118.9 x 84.1cm (detail). Courtesy the artist; 2 & 3) Maddison Gibbs artwork installation at Manly Art Gallery & Museum as part of Girly in Manly. Images by MAG&M.

🎨 What does colour make you feel?In Michael Muir’s work, colour is both a visual and emotional force. Through bold, intu...
08/10/2026

🎨 What does colour make you feel?

In Michael Muir’s work, colour is both a visual and emotional force. Through bold, intuitive palettes shapes, Muir creates immersive landscapes and dream-like states that invite us to slow down and look closely. ✨

Visit MAG&M and discover how colour transforms the way you see and feel landscape.

🟢 On display until 29 November 2026 🟡Free entry





Image: Michael Muir, The break of dawn, 2020, oil on linen, 137 x 167cm (detail)

08/10/2026

W**e, vinyl, community.

Join Sam Sutherland of for a guided tasting of her vibrant small-batch wines as part of 'Girly in Manly' - our current exhibition.

Learn about Sam’s process and winemaking journey in the Central West high country, then taste Riesling, Chardonnay, and Nebbiolo. Enjoy plenty of bright fruit, slinky acid, spice, minerality, and elegance.

Then, join and in a hands-on vinyl DJing workshop.

Bring your vinyl, learn how to mix, connect, dance, and get creative.

Be quick, tickets are limited.

🎟️ Booking link in bio
📍 Manly Art Gallery & Museum
🗓️ Thursday, 22 October, 6 - 8.30 pm

**e

Book now for a second and final opportunity to join Michael Muir for a one-day painting masterclass. By popular demand w...
03/10/2026

Book now for a second and final opportunity to join Michael Muir for a one-day painting masterclass. By popular demand we've added another date: Mon 16 Nov, 10am - 3pm.

Bring inspiration from your own travels as Michael shares his unique insights, skills and distinctive approach to painting vibrant landscapes.

✨ All levels of experience welcome
🍽️ Includes a light lunch
🗓 Mon 16 Nov, 10am - 3pm at Manly Art Gallery & Museum
⏳ Book Now. Limited spots available
📍Link in bio



📸image: Michael Muir, Other places, 2019, oil on linen, 122 x 107cm. Courtesy the artist & Jan Murphy Gallery Brisbane

‘Girly in Manly’ – Artist in Focus: Anne Ferran.Anne Ferran’s photographic works reveal a body shaped by time, movement ...
02/10/2026

‘Girly in Manly’ – Artist in Focus: Anne Ferran.

Anne Ferran’s photographic works reveal a body shaped by time, movement and memory, but never passive or depleted. In a culture that frequently marginalises older women and privileges youth, Ferran positions age as a source of depth, authority and resilience.

In ‘White Against Red’, Ferran explores the mature female body as carrier of history and experience. Developed during her residency on Suomenlinna, a fortified island in Helsinki Harbour with histories of conflict and imprisonment, the work was created capturing Finnish dancer and choreographer Ervi Sirén.

Reflecting on Siren, Ferran says: “I saw in Ervi’s use of her mature body – at that time she was a dancer in her 60s – a capacity to support conflicting and competing interpretations in a way that I had not encountered before.”

The work reflects Ferran’s longstanding interest in women’s lives, memory and the gaps within recorded history. Working across photography and video since the 1980s, Ferran is known for drawing upon museum collections and archives to examine Australia’s colonial past and the experiences of women and children.

See Ferran’s work in ‘Girly in Manly’ and how Ferran challenges ideas about age, femininity and whose experiences are valued.

‘Girly in Manly’ on display at MAG&M until 29 November.
🎫Free entry

Images: Anne Ferran, 'White Against Red', at Manly Art Gallery & Museum; Anne Ferran. Photograph by Frances Mocnik.


Ever wondered how ceramic artist Ebony Russell makes her dreamy ceramic sculptures? Join Ebony in this 3-part workshop s...
30/09/2026

Ever wondered how ceramic artist Ebony Russell makes her dreamy ceramic sculptures? Join Ebony in this 3-part workshop series focusing on ornate object decoration at Avalon Creative Space.

Experiment with Ebony's signature techniques: icing-inspired piping, intricate layering and ornate, sculpted flourishes, and create your own piped clay ornament, decorative plaque, or ring dish.

This studio series is presented alongside the exhibition Girly in Manly, now showing at Manly Art Gallery & Museum.

No previous ceramics or art experience required.

Workshop dates:

• Fri 6 Nov
• Fri 13 Nov
• Fri 20 Nov

Join one or all 3.

Booking link in bio. https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/arts-and-culture/arts-and-culture-events/spring-studio-series-ornamental-clay-ebon

Drop in to the Design Shop and see what’s new this spring.Including .glassware’s 3D-printed bio-plastic vases, .island c...
28/09/2026

Drop in to the Design Shop and see what’s new this spring.

Including .glassware’s 3D-printed bio-plastic vases, .island cards inspired by native Australian flora and fauna, delicate porcelain forms by local ceramicist , and colourful, geometric ceramics by

📍MAG&M Design Shop: Tue – Sun, 10am – 5pm

Femininity, place, power and perspectives - ‘Girly in Manly’ now open at MAG&M. Featuring work by Ebony Russell, Maddiso...
26/09/2026

Femininity, place, power and perspectives - ‘Girly in Manly’ now open at MAG&M.

Featuring work by Ebony Russell, Maddison Gibbs, Anne Ferran and Kate Bohunnis.

🔴🟣🟡

Girly in Manly
25 September – 29 November 2026
MAG&M
Free entry



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West Esplanade
Manly, NSW
2095

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Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

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