Roxy Gallery opens Leeton arts

The transformation of The Roxy Community Theatre's supper room into a small gallery in 2012 has proven to be a resounding success.

Dozens of artists have made use of the Roxy Gallery and over 1000 people have since come through the space to view a variety of works.

In the past year Western Riverina Arts, in partnership with Leeton Shire Council and the staff of The Roxy Theatre, continued to support local artists in hosting their own exhibitions.

The space is ideal for solo shows and features track lighting.

Solo shows this year included photographic exhibitions exploring Leeton by Jason Richardson and then Emma Beecher, the magical realism of painter Ivanka Jakopec and a retrospective covering close to 40 years of work in many mediums by Lee Blacker-Noble.

Artists from a variety of career points have taken the opportunity to display their work in The Roxy. Most recently the Leeton Art Society have displayed their recent work, including paintings by new members who are exhibiting for the first time. The venue also introduced students from Leeton High School, with year 10’s art showed work alongside projects from the year 11 wood technology class in December 2012.

In October 2012 Ganmain-based artists The Ronalds debuted an interactive exhibition drawing on internet-streaming and a video game based in Leeton's Pine Avenue. The technology in this show surfaced in their contribution to the 2013 Underbelly Arts Festival on Cockatoo Island -- which also featured Western Riverina Arts' former RADO Dr Greg Pritchard.

A group exhibition curated by The CAD Factory was the first time they had deployed one of their 'misadventures' outside of Sydney. Art Misadventure #3 drew together diverse talents and stress-tested them with a short exercise responding to unexpected stimuli. The results revealed the techniques and working methods of nine locals in media including sculpture, collage, photography, video and poetry.

The Roxy Gallery has provided a venue to display artists from Leeton and the surrounding region. Its popularity has shown both the talents within the community as well as the support and interest of a large audience.