Its garden has, since its earliest days, been a gathering place for people – a place for celebration, exploration, sharing and creativity. And still today, the Penrith Regional Gallery & the Lewers Bequest remains a place of beauty and imagination, resting on the Western bank of the Nepean River and providing the communities of Western Sydney a vast range of artistic offerings.
The Gallery was established on the site of the former home of leading local artists, sculptor Gerald Lewers and painter Margo Lewers, who were instrumental in the development of modernism in Australia. They bought the property in the 1940s and made it their home and studio and a gathering place for artists.
Interior decoration and detailing, including extensive mosaic work, was completed by Margo. The stunning landscaped grounds were designed by both Margo and Gerald to complement the buildings, their artwork, the environment and their lifestyle.
A Centre for Community Creativity
In 1980, the Lewers’ daughters bequeathed the site, buildings and gardens to Penrith City Council, together with a substantial collection of art including works by Gerald and Margo and their contemporaries. Their vision was to create a centre of excellence for the presentation and appreciation of art for the community.
The Lewers’ vision is kept alive today through the Gallery’s dynamic mix of exhibitions and programs, offering the community a vibrant hub of arts and culture. Programs are designed to reflect the cultural aspirations and lifestyles of people in the Western Sydney region. The Gallery frequently works in partnership with other organisations, companies and government agencies across Western Sydney, on both exhibitions and special projects.
The Regional Gallery was established in 1981, when a large purpose-built exhibition space was added to the site. Along with Lewers House, the Regional Gallery is a venue for the presentation of the permanent collection as well as changing exhibitions of local, national and international art. Selected sculptural works from the collection are located in the garden, which also provides an idyllic setting for outdoor performances and functions.
The Magic of the Gardens
Walking around the gardens today, it's clear they still carry the enchantment of their heyday, and it’s easy to imagine dreamy summer nights with parties of artists and performers filling the air with music, song, debate and performance. The verandah was a spot where the painter Desiderius Orban held his summer school painting classes in the 1940s, with still lifes set up in the relative cool. The painters would also sit out in the garden, using the broader landscape around the house as the subject of many water colours and drawings. Participants slept on beds on the concrete verandah.
The garden was, and still is, an ever-changing, living, breathing work of art-in-progress to be experienced and enjoyed by family, friends and other visitors from within the house, from the verandahs and within the garden itself. Everyone was encouraged to share its joys and pleasures, and today it’s still a beautiful acre, used not only by Gallery visitors but also by many others who hire the space for events and functions, bringing colour and movement, the hustle and bustle of markets, performances and events; hosting the creativity and celebrations of the community.
The Friends
The Gallery is enriched, sustained and linked to the community through the Friends of Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, the Gallery’s official service and support organisation.
The Friends' generosity is extended through various services including guiding, front of house duties, fundraising, assisting with education and public program events, catering, exhibition changeover and much more. The dedicated work of the Friends is essential to the Gallery.
Something for Everyone
The Gallery runs an extensive range of public programs to complement the permanent collection, the Gallery site, temporary exhibitions and major national and community events. This includes lectures, tours, forums, artists' talks, curators' talks, professional development seminars, musical performances, workshops and children’s activities.
A visit to Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest may also include a free gallery tour, self-tutored art-making, free sensory tours (eg touch, sound and smell), audio description for the vision impaired and easy parking and access.
Great Local Food
The Gallery has recently launched its new cafe, enticing visitors to relax in the glorious surrounds and enjoy fresh home-made gourmet food from acclaimed chef Ross Dobson. A tantalising menu is available online, and the ingredients are locally sourced wherever possible.
Current Exhibitions
Currently the Gallery is hosting the exhibitions Operation Art: Kids Making Art for Kids in Hospital From Across Australia, and Kate Rohde, a Melbourne-based Australian artist who creates fantastical wonderlands in modern day curiosity cabinets.
Children can enjoy hands-on art making at weekend workshops, with adventures in making mini-theatre sets, creating creepy critters, and colour studies through mosaic art all on the schedule in the weeks to come.
Coming up in the near future are Snap Shot, the teenagers photographic prize, and Class, Classy Classic, featuring works from the Gallery’s impressive Australian Modernist Collection juxtaposed with stunning Angus Winneke sketches of costumes and set designs for the Tivoli Theatre in Melbourne.
Artistic Abundance on Our Doorstep
The Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest holds great cultural significance to the Western Sydney community. It’s a beautiful place to visit, to meander about its galleries and grounds, still the burgeoning creative hub it was in the 1940s, filled with creativity and imagination. It’s free, it’s local and it has an artistic abundance to offer.