Recipients Announced for the Artist Respite Program 2025
Grafton Regional Gallery and Arts Northern Rivers are pleased to announce three recipients of the Artist Respite Program for 2025. This program was developed to support artists who live in the Northern Rivers areas affected by natural disasters.
Sarah Gurich, Director of Grafton Regional Gallery said “The Artist Respite Project is a unique partnership between Grafton Regional Gallery and Arts Northern Rivers and we are thrilled to offer this program. We look forward to welcoming Holly, Kate and Hunter to the Clarence Valley.”
Each recipient will receive an artist stipend, accommodation, and studio space for one week between January and June 2025 at Grafton Regional Gallery.
The successful applicants are based in Lismore and were significantly affected by recent floods:
Holly Ahern | 1 - 10 March
Holly Ahern is an early-career artist, researcher and arts worker living on Bundjalung Country. Her practice focuses on collaboration, installation, and practice-based research.
Holly’s work centres on interdisciplinary approaches, exploring public spaces as sites for artistic intervention and connection. She engages with projects that encourage meaningful connection and advocacy for sustainable creative futures in the Northern Rivers.
As the region nears the third anniversary of its major flooding event, her practice continues to reflect a deep connection to the regional ecology, evolving with sustained care and intention. Through the lens of regional witnessing, her work invites audiences to engage with the Northern Rivers in a slow, deliberate manner, offering an authentic connection to material, time and place.
Website | Artist Profile | Instagram
Kate Stroud | 28 March - 4 April 2025
Kate Stroud is a vision hunter, a visual communicator, artist, sign writer and large-scale muralist, whose joyful, provocative, and sometimes rebellious works are synonymous with the outspoken and creative spirit of the Northern Rivers region. Her vibrant murals and signs adorn laneways, footpaths, walls, arcades, shopfronts, and the interiors of local businesses from Lismore to Perth, and chances are she has designed the logo or interior of that local businesses you love. A fierce advocate for community-led development and a vibrant creative economy, Kate’s work is a constant celebration of identity and survival.
Website | Artist Profile | Instagram
Hunter Wilson | 12 - 20 May 2025
Hunter Wilson is an emerging multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans sculpture, print, photography, and projection. Identifying as a minimal metamodernist conceptual artist, his work examines the profound societal shifts brought about by the advent of the internet, social media, and mobile technology.
Focusing on the contrasts between pre- and post-digital life, Wilson’s work interrogates how these innovations have transformed communication, identity, and connection. His minimalist approach distills complex ideas into powerful, thought-provoking visuals and forms, encouraging viewers to reflect on their relationship with technology and its pervasive influence on modern culture.
Wilson has participated in multiple group exhibitions, achieving notable success, including the sale of his work and recognition through awards in highly competitive arenas. These achievements underscore his dedication to his craft and his ability to engage audiences with compelling narratives that explore the intersection of technology and humanity.
Through his projects, Wilson seeks to foster dialogue about society’s growing dependence on digital tools while questioning their impact on human interaction and collective memory. His work invites meaningful conversations about where we have come from and where we are headed in an increasingly digital world.
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