Sydney Street Gallery and Studios opened in 2025 and is situated close to rail, metro and bus routes right in the creative heart of Marrickville’s industrial area. Surrounded by boutique breweries, music venues, galleries, coffee roasters and restaurants, the gallery offers a contemporary space with an industrial vibe, where creators can make an impact with their art works or products. It also hosts weekly life drawing events, and is one of the venues for Makersville and the Inner West Creative Trail. The music studio is available by appointment with the audio engineer for production and editing of music tracks.

Who and what led to the establishment of Sydney Street gallery and studios?
The gallery and music studio are operated by Cathie Griffith, a practising mixed media artist and Peter Varley, a music producer and performer who offer their experience of curating, lighting and recording to  enhance artists’ exhibiting and recording experience. Both are active in their creative fields as well as managing the gallery. Our prime motivation was to make this space available for both local and regional artists. We’ve lived outside of Sydney and seen how hard it can be for artists to navigate and access the Sydney art scene. For some people it would never even be a possibility to exhibit in Sydney, and we are trying to address that.

What are the initial goals of the gallery?
The gallery aims to support local and regional artists and community events. To date the gallery has hosted both emerging and well established artists, attracting visitors from across Sydney and further afield. The artists have come from a wide demographic and diverse range of artistic practice and backgrounds. The gallery encourages regional artists to see exhibiting in Sydney as a real possibility and offer services to assist artists to achieve this goal.

How does the gallery fit within your neighbourhood and how does it support the needs of the Inner West?
Sydney Street, Marrickville where the gallery is situated, is fast becoming a creative precinct, home to street art and a variety of innovative businesses. The street offers a great combination of both industrial enterprises and creatives who work well together. They include artists, performers, crafts people, designers, brewers and many establishments offering services and manufacturing goods. As well as performance spaces offering opportunities for film, live performances and other events, there are a number of artist studio spaces in the street and nearby which the gallery aims to support and work with.

What are the terms of use of the space for creatives?
The gallery is open from 10am-4pm during exhibitions and the space is hired on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. Currently there is no commission on any works sold. The gallery aims to show diverse and high quality art works and operators assist with the curation, hanging and lighting. The exhibition is manned by the artist/s or event organiser. Assistance with opening nights is also offered, with the operators having RSA certification. Depending on the exhibition, some works are excluded for reasons of size or suitability.

Does the gallery specialise in exhibiting any particular style of work?
The gallery does not restrict its exhibitions to particular art forms and offers an exhibition space that is flexible and welcoming. A moveable wall can be used to divide the open space and plinths and shelves offer opportunities to exhibit three dimensional works. Wall hung works can be exhibited on both the brick walls of the gallery and the four sides of the moveable wall. Each exhibition is curated to present the works in their optimal position.

As a new enterprise what have been your experiences and successes so far?
The local community has welcomed the gallery opening and we have had a very positive response to our presence in the area. We have been encouraged by visitor reviews of the exhibitions so far and many have commented about the light and airy space, attention to detail, and excellent lighting and hanging system. Artists have also remarked on what a positive experience they have had exhibiting in the gallery, citing the professional approach to the planning and curation of their exhibitions. Sale of works has been strong and having no commission they were able to price their works accordingly.
Social media plays a big role in attracting visitors, and establishing our presence in the creative community of the inner west.  Sydney Street is fortunate to have good foot traffic, so many locals and visitors who may not have been aware of the gallery have dropped in to see the exhibitions.

Looking to the future, how do you see the gallery growing its range of services and events?
The gallery has been encouraged by the positive response of both artists and visitors in our our first few months of opening. As the profile of sydneystreet.gallery grows, it will be exciting to see the exhibition calendar expand. There have been many interesting workshops held in the space so far, and there are many more planned. Recurring yearly exhibitions are also on the calendar for this year and beyond. The gallery is excited by lots of possibilities for the future.               

Article by Tamara Winikoff
Tamara Winikoff is an independent consultant with extensive experience in arts advocacy, policy, and cultural leadership. She was a a founding member of the Inner West Creative Network and served as Executive Director of the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) for 22 years, championing artists' rights and sector development. As Co-convenor of ArtsPeak, she coordinated national arts policy initiatives. Previously, she managed the Community, Environment, Art and Design (CEAD) program at the Australia Council for the Arts and lectured in Cultural Environment and Heritage at Macquarie University. Based in Sydney, she continues to influence the cultural landscape through strategic consultancy.