Kaiela Arts

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Kaiela Arts Kaiela Arts is a place for First Peoples with connections to Yorta Yorta Country, to create art and share their stories.

Established in 2006, Kaiela Arts is an Aboriginal art centre located in Shepparton situated on the traditional lands of the Yorta Yorta Nation. Our work drives important outcomes for local Aboriginal artists and our community. Located on the ground floor of the Shepparton Art Museum (SAM), Kaiela Arts is a gallery, shop and studio space. Our storytelling and culture are embedded throughout the museum with brass and granite inlays in the floor and screen-printed fabrics that feature designs by our artists. Our art centre offers visitors an opportunity to view and purchase authentic Aboriginal art. Kaiela Arts differentiates itself as promoting the traditional linear and Xray styles of the South-eastern Aboriginal people. These styles come from Yorta Yorta Country and resonate thousands of years of cultural practises. Kaiela Arts provides an important space for local Aboriginal artists and community to connect to culture through the arts. We strengthen community by sharing culture, learning from our past and empowering future generations. Our studio space is used by artists to explore a variety of traditional and contemporary art making techniques including painting, ceramics, woodwork, printing and fashion. We create ideas by working with lessons from the land to create and share quality artwork. Annually we host exhibitions and events during the Shepparton Festival. In Autumn, our popular Turtle Muster brings the wider community into the gallery

We're excited to be building a relationship with La Trobe Shepparton Campus, a Plan Champion to explore opportunities fo...
14/10/2026

We're excited to be building a relationship with La Trobe Shepparton Campus, a Plan Champion to explore opportunities for First Nations arts and culture on campus. 🎨🎓

As we begin this journey, we visited the Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence with the La Trobe team to share the story of how the artwork for that space was developed through a collaborative process shaped by Belinda Briggs and Lyn Thorpe alongside Yorta Yorta artists, community, Elders, young people, Spacecraft Studio and ARM Architects.

The visit sparked conversations about the role of cultural expression in shaping places where First Nations people can see themselves reflected, recognised and valued. We explored how art strengthens connections between people, place and identity, and how through this collaboration we hope to also strengthen connections between the Munarra and the La Trobe campuses.

We're looking forward to seeing how this relationship develops and to create something that connects, inspires and builds a lasting cultural legacy across both sites.

Image: Some of the LaTrobe University team with Kaiela Arts team; Lyn Thorpe and Chloe Jones.

We’re excited to announce our first Ceramic collection is now available in store! Our new ceramic collection, Fibre to F...
12/10/2026

We’re excited to announce our first Ceramic collection is now available in store!

Our new ceramic collection, Fibre to Fire led by Ceramic Coordinator Ally Knight (Mulana Earth) and artist Melinda Solomon (Baljil Art), brings woven textures and forms into clay.

Created in our studio and fired in our studio Kiln, supported by local ceramicist Kaye Poulton, each piece reflects the care, experimentation and shared knowledge growing within our studio.

Only available in store – available on our online store soon!

Subscribe for more details about our products.
https://mailchi.mp/kaielaarts/signup

We loved seeing Lyn Thorpe, Tahnee Day and Mya Falla’s Bared Footwear captured in this stunning shoot by Ngali_Australia...
08/10/2026

We loved seeing Lyn Thorpe, Tahnee Day and Mya Falla’s Bared Footwear captured in this stunning shoot by Ngali_Australia.

It’s pretty special to see our artists’ designs styled with the Ngali collection and looking right at home on the international fashion stage in Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode / Paris Fashion Week.

What a joy to see this collaboration come together so beautifully!

Photos courtesy of Ngali.

This year Kaiela Arts was represented at Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair by Chloe Jones, Curator & Gallery Manager and artist...
07/10/2026

This year Kaiela Arts was represented at Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair by Chloe Jones, Curator & Gallery Manager and artist Tahnee Day.

Chloe wrote a beautiful reflection of her DAAF 2026 experience and called it Magic on Larrakia Country. ✨

"Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair brings our mob together from all over the country, artists, art workers, curators, families and communities, each arriving with their own stories, practices and ways of seeing. For a few days on Larrakia Country, you are surrounded by the incredible breadth of what our people are making, thinking about and carrying forward.

One of the most rewarding parts of the week for me was simply watching Tahnee light up. Seeing another artist encounter new work, meet other mob and experience the scale and energy of DAAF reminds me why creating these opportunities matters. We can talk about professional development, industry networks and pathways, and those things are important - but sometimes the impact is much more personal. It is seeing someone return home energised, affirmed in their practice and full of new ideas.

There was one moment during the National Indigenous Fashion Awards that captured this beautifully. Tahnee’s artwork unexpectedly appeared on the big screen as part of the Blak Design program she had previously participated in with RMIT University and Koorie Heritage Trust Inc, which had been shortlisted for an award. Neither of us was expecting to see it. Suddenly, there was this little piece of Tahnee, and by extension, a connection back to home, being celebrated on a national stage.

It felt affirming. One of those small moments when different threads seem to find each other again.

We came home inspired, with new connections, new ideas and a renewed sense that we are moving in the right direction."

Read the full reflection here: https://kaielaarts.org.au/darwin-aboriginal-art-fair-2026/

Image Credit: Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2026. Image by James Alberts.

We're incredibly excited to see the work of three of our artists heading to France for Paris Fashion Week as part of a s...
04/10/2026

We're incredibly excited to see the work of three of our artists heading to France for Paris Fashion Week as part of a showcase this weekend with multi award-winning First Nations fashion label Ngali_Australia.

Lyn Thorpe, Tahnee Day and Mya Falla have each created beautiful designs and artwork on leather shoes by Bared Footwear, proudly carrying expressions of their connections to Yorta Yorta Country onto the international stage.

Ngali founder and Creative Director Denni Francisco is delighted to be collaborating with Kaiela Arts for the first time, sharing:

'Working with Kaiela Arts on this project has been an absolute joy — one of those ideas that everyone just grabbed hold of and ran with!

The Kaiela Arts team immediately saw the opportunity to put their artists and their creativity in front of an international audience in Paris and the artists jumped in with such enthusiasm and creativity.

Before we knew it, together we had pulled off something pretty wonderful — stunning artworks on footwear, packed into the suitcase and bound for Paris!

There’s something quite magical about that. Together we Create!’

We're so proud to be part of this global celebration of First Nations creativity, culture and storytelling!

02/10/2026

A throw back to our 2024 KINnected Camp 🖤💛❤️

KINnected was developed by Belinda Briggs and Lyn Thorpe, with the support of Kaiela Arts, to create an on-country, cultural immersion, bringing together Yorta Yorta community members and creatives from across generations.

KINnected is a space to connect with and pay respect to spirituality, Ancestors and Country through sharing stories, knowledge and family histories, through creative and cultural practices, and through collaborative experiential art-making.

Creative Team 💫
Lyn Thorpe - Cultural Arts Lead
Belinda Briggs - Cultural Arts Lead
Glennys Briggs - Senior Elder/ Creative (Possum Skins)
Norm Yakaduna Stewart - Elder/ Creative (Artefacts)
Bryan Andy - Writer/ Facilitator
Ebony Joachim - Yorta Yorta Language Specialist
James Henry - Songwriter/ Musician/ Photographer
River Loizou - Videographer

Elders
Amy Briggs
Laurel Robinson

Community
Ally Knight (Mulana Earth)
Chloe Jones
Lillie Walker
Tarli Dean Atkinson
Troy Firebrace
Crystal Hansen

Special thanks to all the team at Morning Glory River Resort.

Supported by:
Regional Arts Victoria, IVAIS (AusGov Office for the Arts), Creative Victoria

You can watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqtTHqhZnV4&t=28s

Watching new work evolve is always one of the most exciting parts of the creative process.The Kaiela Arts Editions suppo...
29/09/2026

Watching new work evolve is always one of the most exciting parts of the creative process.

The Kaiela Arts Editions supports a deeply collaborative journey between the artist, the Kaiela Arts team and Spacecraft, exploring how creative and cultural expression can take on new forms through print.

A couple of weeks ago, this year’s Editions artist, Norm Yakaduna Stewart, spent time in the Kaiela Arts studio testing colours and exploring how his work The Blow Hole will translate into screen-printed editions on paper and glass. It was a valuable opportunity to experiment with process, colour and possibilities before production begins.

"Working with Kaiela Arts and Spacecraft to bring the design into prints on paper and glass has given the work a new form. Without that collaboration, it would never have happened." - Norm Yakaduna Stewart

We can't wait to share more of this year's Kaiela Arts Editions as the project continues to unfold!

Sign up to our enews and keep an eye on our socials to stay up-to-date!
https://mailchi.mp/kaielaarts/signup

Produced with Spacecraft Studio, the 2026 Kaiela Arts Editions is supported by the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program (AusGov Office for the Arts), Creative Victoria and Greater Shepparton City Council.

Last week we had our second Spring Ceramics Lab Session, with a small group of our artists spending time in the studio l...
29/09/2026

Last week we had our second Spring Ceramics Lab Session, with a small group of our artists spending time in the studio learning coil pot building techniques with Kaye Poulton and Ally Knight (Mulana Earth).

These after-hours sessions have created a beautiful, quiet space for our artists to experiment and develop their practice. We're looking forward to seeing ideas continue to take shape with the Spring Ceramics Lab Sessions running for another six weeks.

All Kaiela Arts artist members are welcome!

Rising is now accepting submissions for the 2027 First Peoples Melbourne Art Trams. Curator Kate ten Buuren (Taungurung)...
24/09/2026

Rising is now accepting submissions for the 2027 First Peoples Melbourne Art Trams. Curator Kate ten Buuren (Taungurung) invites artists to submit artworks that respond to the theme of ‘transformation’.

Applications close 11.59pm Sunday 1 November. There will be an online information session on Wednesday 30 September, that applicants to sign up to join.

All the details can be found here on how to apply:
https://rising.melbourne/wormhole/artist-call-out-first-peoples-melbourne-art-trams-2027

Image 1 Artwork by Jenna Mayilema Lee
Image 2 Artwork by Natasha Carter
Image 3 Artwork by Mitch Mahoney

All photos by James Morgan Photography

Address

530 Wyndham Street
Shepparton, VIC
3630

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4am

Telephone

+61358219842

Website

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