ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
The Artist in Residence program is a philanthropic aspect of The Lumber Yard which supports local artists, giving them the opportunity to grow and evolve in a creative environment which nurtures and mentors.
Residency: January 2025 - Current
Billie Baker is a multidisciplinary artist currently creating on unceded Bundjalung Country. Her diverse body of work spans film, digital drawing, photography, weaving, painting, and textiles. She employs acidic and saturated colours alongside ethereal mark-making to craft dream-like interpretations of the human form and natural landscapes.
CHERYL BAILEY
Residency: September 2024
Cheryl Bailey is an artist local to the northern NSW region. She was a finalist of the 2024 Wollumbin Art Award and her work recently featured in the latest edition of Art New York Magazine. Delving into themes of identity, belonging, and sense of place, her work explores the essence of travel and the profound experiences it brings. Bailey flourishes in unfamiliar settings, drawing inspiration from the distinct sights, scents, and sounds of various places, which fuels her passion for exploration. Through her art, she revisits cherished destinations, skilfully preserving the memories they hold and evoking a sense of nostalgia within their essence.
KATHERINE SIMMONDS
Residency: August 2024
Katherine Simmonds is based in Byron Bay, NSW. She completed her undergraduate studies in fine art at UNSW Art and Design (Sydney) in 2002 and also attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London, UK. After extensive travels she settled in the Northern Rivers and established a local handmade jewellery brand ‘Made In Byron Bay’ while continuing her painting practice.
Katherine is influenced by her travels in India with a Zen meditation master, the climate crisis, and her emotional connection with nature. Through the mediums of oil painting and watercolours, she conveys a fluidity of existence and an emptiness of form. The subject of her paintings take a slight departure from true representation towards abstraction, as Katherine blends her inner emotional and spiritual world with the external natural world.
MILENA GALLI
Residency: March 2025
Milena Galli is a Brazilian-Australian multimedia artist known for bold, vibrant colours in large-scale works. Inspired by pop art, she explores 2D and 3D forms, focusing on ceramics, painting, and printmaking.
Since moving to Australia in 2013, she has expanded into ceramics and visual arts. A Greek residency deepened her study of ancient ceramics, raku, and ash glazes.
NIC PALMER
Residency: September 2024
Nic Palmer is an award winning artist and musician based in Lismore, NSW, Australia(Bundjalung Country). Nic was raised on a cattle and goat farm in Murrurundi, where she first started drawing, painting and playing the piano. Her journey with art has allowed her the opportunity to travel to different parts of the world, to study, and to exhibit her art.
ZELIMIR HARASTY
Residency: July 2024
Zelimir Harasty’s work is about stillness, and the oscillating, bubbling energy that lies within stillness. The idea of tea, flowers and un-imbued portraits was one that Harasty explored in a search for honesty in painting; capturing the beauty of the seemingly simple objects which surround him. This body of work likens the ceremonial nature of tea to that of painting, presence and most things in our lives.
The work is a reminder to take a moment from our day to revel in the blossoming, simplicity of the present.