ANU student founds new art gallery in Canberra

Founded by ANU Art History and Curatorship student and practicing artist, Adam Bell, Civic Art Bureau is a new commercial gallery and project space in Canberra City. Located on the first floor of the historic Melbourne Building above Smiths Alternative, Civic Art Bureau will be dedicated to exploring and promoting contemporary art.

“The Civic Art Bureau aims to invest in and infect the cultural life of our city.”

Civic Art Bureau has been established to reach a broad audience, provide opportunities for artists and curators, and to encourage collectors to support their practice. The gallery will program innovative presentations by emerging and established artists and operate within a distinct local precinct that includes the ANU School of Art and Design, Drill Hall Gallery, National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), and Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG).

Gallery director, Adam Bell, is an experienced cultural producer, printmaker, and musician. He studied visual art under Arthur Wicks at CSU. He curated experimental music and sound art festival Unsound in regional NSW, now a major international event, and plays guitar in the King Hits. He is a friend of the Drill Hall Gallery, Megalo member and secretary of GLAM Peak.

“I founded the Bureau because I want to be immersed in contemporary art and ideas, to share that experience, and to work with artists to realise significant projects” says Bell.

Gallery opening hours
Wednesday–Friday 11am–5pm, Saturday 10am–4pm or by appointment

Upcoming exhibitions and events

Exhibition No.1
Exhibition No.1 opening celebration is 3pm Saturday 5 October 2024.
5–26 October, 2024
Works by eleven distinguished artists working in and around Canberra: Emma Beer, Vivienne Binns, Lucy Chetcuti, Liz Coats, Kirsten Farrell, Nicci Haynes, Merryn Lloyd, Raquel Ormella, Dionisia Salas, Stefanie Schulte and Ruth Waller.

Futile Futures Satellite event
CIVIC ART BUREAU presents FUTILE FUTURES, an art social during NFSA Fantastic Futures conference
Tuesday 15 October. Bar open from 5pm, event from 5:30pm.
Exploring the crappy, absurd and abject dimensions of intelligent machines and tech hype. Performance, disillusion and installation by Katrina Sluis, Litia Roko, Nicci Haynes, and Saskia Haalebos, with a selection from the Machine Listening Songbook. Tickets are limited.

Land and Language, paintings by Lucie Thorne
November 2 – 23

Peter Maloney and Richard Larter
November 2 – 23

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