By Tanya Faulkner
Bringing a community together over art is the goal of a new gallery in Sassafras.
A new collective art gallery, by the name of Up Gallery, has recently opened its doors in Sassafras, creating new opportunities for artists of the Hills.
Director of the Up Gallery in Sassafras Jacqueline Christians said it’s been a long time coming.
“I’ve had a micro-gallery in a shipping container on the site for a couple of years, and I sold over 40 original artworks.
“When the building became vacant, I asked the landlady if I could hang some artwork in the windows, and put a banner on the front gates, and people started coming in to see my artwork,” she said.
Ms Christians said it was a lightbulb moment for her to start the gallery.
“I applied for the permit through council to open the gallery, and it was approved,” she said.
After the publication of her book, Hidden in the Hills: Artists of the Dandenongs (Vol 1), she had a great community of artists behind her to come together and create the collective.
Ms Christians said the opportunity was there to get local artists together under one roof, and have the chance to showcase their work.
“These artists have been doing open studios for 10 to 20 years, and we wanted a space to represent ourselves for our community,” she said.
The artists work on a rotating roster each month to show their work, and the gallery holds fortnightly features in their dedicated feature room.
Ms Christians said she has been rapped to find a place where local artists can be represented.
“It’s the point of difference for us, that we are all artists from the Hills community.
“There are a lot of galleries around, so it’s an important point for us to stay local.
“We’ve had a lot of response from outside of the area, but we are committed to our Hills locals, and we already have a waitlist of artists in our area,” she said.
Locals who visit the gallery will be treated to a wide range of great quality artworks, including sculpture, ceramics, and creative arts like jewellery, and printmakers, as well as ‘traditional’ art.
Ms Christians said it’s taken a bit of hard work, grit and grind, and now we have lots of people starting to connect with the gallery.
Her key focus now is on the affordability for local artists to continue to show their work and progress their careers in art, as exhibitions can be very expensive.
“Our artists have the opportunity to have their work on a wall in a gallery, and our goals is for locals to have that opportunity equally in our gallery.
“Since Covid it has been a lot harder for artists to progress their career with the high costs behind exhibitions, and this gives them a chance to have their work seen and given the chance to grow,” she said,
Ms Christians said it’s great when people can respond to your work, and said around 90 per cent of their current artists have sold some work, where elsewhere there may not have been the opportunity to do so.
“Affordability will be the key factor for us in the future, and will be a tell tale sign for us to see if we can continue with the gallery, similar to a lot of retailers in the Hills,” she said.
“This means the gallery can become a dynamic art space that supports artists in the Hills and helps them progress and connect with the community.
“Council has been really supportive, and they know since the cafe left that the space hasn’t been the greatest, so we’re here to make the most of it,” she said.
More information on the gallery can be found at upgallery.com.au
