Exhibitions and events

For further information on any of the exhibitions and events, please contact the Rockingham Arts Centre on 9527 0734 between 8am-4pm, Monday to Friday (please note these days are subject to change at times). Information on other exhibitions and events can also be found on our What's On Calendar.

Meeandip/Garden Island - connected/disconnected curated by Jude van der Merwe

• Exhibition dates: Wednesday 8 November to Sunday 26 November 2023  
• Opening times: 10am - 4pm, Wednesday to Sunday
• Location: Rockingham Arts Centre, 11 Kent Street, Rockingham  
• Room: Main gallery
• Cost: Free entry 

Curator, Jude van der Merwe has thoughtfully selected four midcareer artists to explore the multifaceted nature of Meeandip / Garden Island. The exhibition encompasses a range of media, including drawing, painting, printmaking and digital media. It reflects on the islands history, identity, and our connection to the natural world.

Image: Jo Darbyshire, The future SSN Aukus, 2023, oil on canvas, 150 x 150 cm. Image credit: courtesy of the artist.

About the artists

Susanna Castleden is an artist based in Walyalup/Fremantle and an academic at Curtin University. She completed a PhD at RMIT University and continues to explore ideas of mobility, mapping, distance and proximity in her creative practice. 

Walyalup/Fremantle artist Jo Darbyshire’s work often explores the social and environmental history of place and her relationship with the West Australian coast. Her work reflects her interest in its underwater landscapes, local islands, ships visiting Fremantle Port and the traces of colonial life. She has an ongoing curiosity with submarines and their connection to Fremantle. 

Bradley Kickett is a Ballardong Noongar artist. He was born in Northam and grew up in Perth. Bradley is descended from the Kickett clan in York, Western Australia. He began painting in 2007. Kickett’s style of art is abstract with paintings depicted from an aerial view and illustrated in a pouring fluid style that he has developed over the last ten years. 

Tony Windberg graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) from Curtin University in 1986. Since his first solo exhibition in 1989, he has held numerous solo shows and exhibited in prestigious national and state group exhibitions. Windberg’s landscape-based artwork uses realism and illusion to investigate and challenge pictorial conventions. 

Entwined by Carol Clitheroe, Jacq Chorlton and Tich Dixon

• Exhibition dates: Wednesday 29 November to Sunday 17 December 2023
• Opening times: 10am - 4pm, Wednesday to Sunday
• Location: Rockingham Arts Centre, 11 Kent Street, Rockingham  
• Room: Main gallery
• Cost: Free entry 

Entwined showcases the works of three local artists who have come together to explore the intricate and complex nature of artistic collaboration. Whilst each artist has  their own unique style and perspective, they have found inspiration in their shared experiences and the connections that bind them together.  This exhibition offers a glimpse into the creative and personal journeys of each artist, their artistic responses are a visual narrative of both individual histories and collaborative experiences. Entwined celebrates the power of art to connect, inspire and transform and is a testament to the magic that can emerge when artists work together.

About the artists

Carol Clitheroe is a local artist whose art practice includes murals, painting and sculpture. She loves to work with community groups to produce art works and believes that creativity is very important. She has an art based business which was started in 1993, painting murals and silk screening.

Jacq Chorlton is a local artist working predominately in the medium of clay.  Working from her home studio in Perth she produces small sculptural pieces.  Her ceramic art is a vivid blend of her surroundings, nature, flora and fauna and the warmth of childhood memories.  Jacqs imagination intertwines with reality and a touch of whimsy.
She works both as a professional artist with an online ceramic business

Tich Dixon has lived and worked as a community artist and educator in the Rockingham area since early 2000. Currently based in Shoalwater and working in both 2D and 3D mediums, which frequently incorporate site specific,found objects, and/or recycled materials.  She enjoys exploring varied materials and methods, which often reflect our natural environment, to underpin a sense of place.

Image: Tich Dixon, Untitled, 2023, porcelain and wood. Image: courtesy of the artist.

Red Flags by Adam Hisham Ismail  

• Exhibition dates: Wednesday 10 January to Sunday 28 January 2024
• Opening times: 10am - 4pm, Wednesday to Sunday
• Location: Rockingham Arts Centre, 11 Kent Street, Rockingham  
• Room: Main gallery
• Cost: Free entry 

Red Flags is a show which operates through a multitude of disparate narratives, each that deal with the heavily themed use of the 'Red Flag'. Traditionally used to signal danger, here they can be found littered through vivid, miniaturized flower beds supporting unknowable figures. This exhibition was conceived through a visceral response to the artist's personal and public perceptions. 

About the artist

Adam Hisham Ismail (b. 1980) is an Australian artist who sculptural practice echoes the mechanics and broken narratives of dreams and the elastic nature of memory. Ismail sets up a series of formal and conceptual conundrums which invite the audience to construct their own narratives.

Image: Adam Hisham Ismail, They fly apart like leaves, 2023, mixed medium, 32 x 27 x 17 cm. Image: courtesy of the artist.