NESTLED in the heart of the beautiful country town of Kalbar, a creative new venture is about to throw open its doors.
The Kalbar Gallery, situated at 56 Edward St, has made its home inside an original rustic shed – a fitting and characterful space that perfectly captures the laid-back country charm this region is so beloved for.
The gallery was born from a deeply felt need in the local community.
Its founder, Alisha Wilson, an eco artist with a passionate commitment to sustainability and the natural world, recognised a significant gap in available exhibition space for artists in the region.
“I feel it is important to have a gallery space for not only established artists, but also emerging artists and those artists that are a little more hidden away,” she said.
The gallery founder’s own practice speaks powerfully to the ethos of the space. Working with clays, ochres, shell, natural inks, rocks, wool, and recycled materials, her work embodies a genuine reverence for the earth.
“As we move further away from our natural way of being, I see eco art as a gateway back to nature, through the healing and well-being that comes from nature,” she said.
The Kalbar Gallery is truly a family affair – it’s a shared vision of art, antiques and preservation.
Alisha shares the space with her husband, Steve Wilson, a furniture restorer and antique specialist with 30 years of experience behind him.
Operating under the name The Preservation Station, Steve’s guiding philosophy – restore, repair and recycle – is a natural counterpart to the gallery’s own values.
Visitors to the space will also find a curated selection of vintage furniture available for sale.
Together, the pair have created something that is more than a gallery – it is a celebration of the handmade, the time-honoured, and the sustainable.
The gallery’s ethos, “a call back to nature through art and handmade wares”, runs through every corner of the space, with a focused emphasis on eco art and handmade wares where, as the couple put it simply: heart and hands create.
The Kalbar Gallery will hold its grand opening on Saturday, April 18, from 2-4pm.
The community is warmly invited – entry is free.
