Indigenous perspectives on family and culture feature in ArtWalk Young Artists show
Indigenous perspectives by Mid North Coast artists Melodie Cicak, Hayley Galea-Elson and Keira Graham are a welcome presence in Port Macquarie’s 2026 ArtWalk X Luminance Young Artists Exhibition.
Melodie, Hayley and Keira’s artwork speaks of family, culture and history. These themes recur in many of the other works by young local artists from Port Macquarie, Wauchope, Thrumster, Bowraville, Rosewood, Cooperabung, Telegraph Point and Nambucca Heads.
The Port Macquarie ArtWalk X Luminance Young Artists Exhibition is in Port Central from 1 - 6 June 2026, in the Arts Mid North Coast MakeSpace venue: Shop 50, Ground Floor, Port Central Shopping Centre.
On the night of ArtWalk, Friday 5 June, we will be on Town Green in Port Macquarie’s CBD.
“I am an 18-year-old emerging artist based in Wauchope,” says Hayley Galea-Elson. “As a Biripi person, I wanted to incorporate my cultural identity while portraying a location that holds personal significance for me,” Hayley says of Our Country - Oxley Beach, one of several Indigenous artworks featured in Port Macquarie’s 2026 ArtWalk X Luminance Young Artists Exhibition.
Expressive, imaginative and orthinological portraits by Lana Cooper, Sha-lohm Jamieson, Alycia Lipovac, Dhavve Manoharan, Wren McDowell and Charlotte Rabie add lustre to the young artists exhibition, alongside fantastical creatures by Sophie Burt and contemplative still life paintings by Macky Lambert and Jake Durbin.
Landscapes by Luke Baker and Katie Chambers are a beautiful part of the mix, as are abstract works by Charlotte Newman and Peyton Hardesty. Photographer Katie Chambers will be exhibiting Lavender Light, an image which captures “a coastal moment where stillness and motion co-exist”.
Sha-lohm Jamieson’s potrait, luminary, offers the viewer a feeling of wonder and hopefulness as the subject looks to a light source beyond what we see.
Wren McDowell, 14, from Telegraph Point will be showing a watercolour called Blue Feathers. “My calling for art has always been nature and birds,” Wren says. “I love to illustrate movement and shifting forms in a way that no string of words can capture.”
The 2026 ArtWalk X Luminance Young Artists Exhibition features artwork by 16 local artists and photographers:
Luke Baker, Guiding Light, acrylic paint on canvas, 30cm x 30cm.
Sophie Burt, Antroths, clip studio paint & procreate on paper, 21cm x 30cm.
Katie Chambers, Lavender Light, photograph, 85cm x 60cm.
Melodie Cicak, Beating Heart - My life As I Know It, acrylic paint pens on paper, 65cm x 78cm.
Lana Cooper, Curiosity, watercolour on paper, 90cm x 60cm.
Jake Durbin, Reflection Between Us, acrylic on canvas, 40cm x 50cm.
Hayley Galea-Elson, Our Country - Oxley Beach, paint pens & acrylic paint on canvas, 40cm x 50cm.
Keira Graham, Stories We Share, Paint, posca on canvas, 100cm x 100cm.
Peyton Hardesty, Even when there's darkness, I'll still be there, oil pastels on canvas, 30cm x 30cm.
Sha-lohm Jamieson, luminary, gouache and pencil on paper, 30cm x 21cm.
Macky Lambert, Softly falling apart, acrylic and oil on canvas, 40cm x 30cm.
Alycia Lipovac, Looking Glass, acrylic on canvas, 51 cm x 40cm.
Dhavve Manoharan, RGB, photograph, 84cm x 60cm.
Wren McDowell, Blue Feathers, watercolour on paper, 45cm x 33cm.
Charlotte Newman, Worth it All, pens and ink on paper, 30cm x 50cm.
Charlotte Rabie, Hidden Within, chalk and paint pen on paper, 30cm × 25cm.
Luminance Gallery gratefully acknowledges this exhibition’s supporters:
Alice’s Art Craft & Paper Supplies
Thank you to all those who helped spread the word.
Special thanks to the participating artists.