Byron Spaces Gallery is a fresh cultural venue located within the Byron Community Centre, right in the heart of town. Launched as part of the Centre’s 130 Years of Community Spirit celebrations in 2025, it continues a long legacy of creativity and connection. More than a traditional gallery, Byron Spaces Gallery is a free and accessible space that supports local artists and welcomes visitors at no cost. Dedicated to discovering and showcasing regional talent, the light-filled upstairs space and adjoining foyers create an open and inviting environment where art and community naturally come together.

Recent Paintings by celebrated local artist Jan Rae brings together a new body of work created over the past year, inspired by the luminous landscapes of the Byron hinterland. Free from buildings or man-made features, her paintings highlight the open skies, rolling hills and distant ocean horizons that define the region. Through this collection, Rae captures the spirit of the hinterland as an idealised version of itself, a place where land, sky and light meet in harmony. The exhibition invites viewers to reconnect with the natural beauty of the environment they call home.

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For Jan Rae, this exhibition carries a deep sense of place and memory. In the 1980s, she helped paint the Byron Community Centre’s iconic mural, a vibrant reflection of local life at the time. Years later, she returned to the same building to teach tango in what was once a shared studio space. Now, her paintings fill that very room, transforming it once more, this time with colour, light and the quiet rhythm of the hinterland. “Returning here with my paintings feels special,” Rae says. “It’s like coming back to a second home.”

Created over the past year, Jan Rae’s new paintings celebrate the sky, land and beauty of the Byron hinterland, inviting locals to connect with the landscapes they call home. Having spent time sketching from Coolamon Scenic Drive and other vantage points across the Shire, Rae has sought to capture the hinterland as an idealised version of itself, free from buildings or human traces. “This exhibition is all about the Byron hinterland, the beautiful environment that we live in,” Rae explains. “Most of these new paintings have been created over the last year. These works are about sky, land and the beauty of our environment. I hope people who live here will be able to relate to them.”

The Byron Community Centre welcomes applications from local artists interested in holding a free community exhibition at Byron Spaces Gallery. This program is designed to support and celebrate the creative talent of our region, offering artists complimentary use of the upstairs Wategos Room and adjoining foyer spaces. The gallery provides a light-filled and professional environment, right in the heart of Byron Bay, where artists can share their work with the community at no cost.

Seasonal exhibitions run for up to three months, with artists encouraged to host their own opening events. Exhibitors are responsible for hanging, insurance and promotion, while the Centre provides the venue, visibility and community support, helping local creativity thrive in an accessible and inclusive space.

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