Yamba Museum | Pyhs Museum

We respectfully acknowledge the Yaegl people as the traditional custodians of the

land on which the museum is located.

BIDHIINJA:

Restoring Our Oyster Reefs

10 January - 1 March 2026 at the Old Kirk

Bidhiinja explores the overlooked history of oyster reefs in New South Wales and highlights current efforts to restore these vital ecosystems. The exhibition invites visitors to engage with the past, present, and future of Australia’s oyster reefs. The exhibition integrates First Nations knowledge, western scientific research, and contemporary design, and features illustrations by exhibition artist and Yaegl woman Frances Belle Parker. Bidhiinja is presented by the Australian National Maritime Museum in collaboration with the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) as part of the NSW Oyster Reef Restoration Project.

What's on

STRANGE OYSTER STORIES

Oysters suffer from jet lag (Becker R. O. & Garry Seldon, 1987).

No marine invertebrate has been so intensely studied & we know so little

(C. M. Yonge 1960).

Oysters have been around for 200 million years. They started life just after the world’s biggest life extinction – just like the Clarence River.

Oysters can live to over 500 years.

In Australia there are 3 main species, Sydney Rock (indigenous), the “Native” (indigenous) and the Pacific (imported).

A decent sized oyster can pump up to 37 litres of water per hour

(Nicolette Stasko 2000).

An oyster’s sex life is amazing. Some change from male to female and back to male and some have been observed to be both male and female at the same time (Nicolette Stasko 2000).

Research by Dr. John H. Jackson (“The Rock Doctor”)

Photo of Ostrea angasi from “The Oyster Province”

Artwork by Dr. John H. Jackson The Rock Doctor.png

“OYSTERS ON THE EDGE”

“The eldest Oyster looked at him,

But never a word he said:

The eldest Oyster winked his eye,

And shook his heavy head –

Meaning to say he did not choose

To leave the oyster-bed.”

– Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass.

Oysters have been on Earth for over 200 million years. These examples are early Cretaceous fossils from the Isle of Purbeck. I was introduced to them in September 2018 whilst exploring in Dorset. As Nicolette Stasko wrote an oyster is “beautifully compact and concise with no extraneous decoration or superfluousness.”

Artwork by Dr. John H. Jackson (“The Rock Doctor”)

What's Coming

Bush Dirt Flowers - Art Exhibition by Jacinta Fox

6-31 March 2026

Emerging Northern Rivers artist Jacinta Fox presents her first solo exhibition, a body of work inspired by the quiet, earthy beauty of the Australian bush and coastal heathlands surrounding her home in Wooloweyah.

Living beside national park and close to the coast, Fox’s practice is deeply shaped by daily immersion in the landscape. Her paintings draw from the heathlands of Yuraygir National Park and her local surroundings, capturing subtle textures, shifting light, and the overlooked details of place—twisted branches, fading leaves, and quiet shadows.

Fox grew up on a 100-acre property in Taloumbi, where much of her childhood was spent outdoors riding horses, swimming in dams, bushwalking, and exploring the land. These early experiences formed a lasting connection to the Australian landscape, one that continues to inform her work today.

Working primarily with acrylic paint on canvas, Fox’s paintings sit between observation and imagination. While grounded in the natural environment, her works often feature bold, unexpected pops of colour—hues that subtly contradict the true palette of the land. This tension brings emotional depth and energy to her landscapes, offering viewers a sense of both familiarity and surprise.

Her creative practice is continually shaped by time spent walking through the bush. These walks are an essential part of her process, allowing her to observe the land’s textures, colours, and quiet details. Fox paints in an open-air studio, where weather, light, and atmosphere influence the work as it unfolds. Natural materials collected from the environment—such as twigs and branches—are sometimes used to create prints and organic marks, strengthening the physical and emotional connection between the land and the finished work.

Although Fox completed a Fine Arts Diploma at TAFE Maclean as a teenager, she considers herself largely self-taught. After returning seriously to painting in 2019, she has worked consistently, developing a distinct visual language informed by place, memory, and connection.

This exhibition brings together works ranging from 40 x 40 cm pieces to large-scale canvases up to 1.8 metres. Most works are available for purchase, with a small number from the artist’s personal collection included in the exhibition.

This first solo exhibition offers an intimate glimpse into the landscapes that calm, ground, and inspire Jacinta Fox—inviting viewers to slow down and experience the quieter moments of the Australian bush.

What's Coming

Yamba Upshot Exhibition 4 - 30 April 2026

‘Yamba Upshot’ art exhibition invites you to enjoy, absorb and connect with the detailed 2D and 3D pieces created through the eyes

of 3 local Yamba Artists Jan Armstrong, Allan Armstrong and Penny Levett. Their individual art practices are unique, the results of their sense

of fun and quirkiness and the need to tell a story. Whether it be real or imaginary, do not expect the normal or everyday.

The final upshot of their creative processes asks you to embrace the amazing figurative soft sculptures and print making of Jan Armstrong, the fascinating metal fabrications of Allan Armstrong and the detailed story telling, through pattern and colour, of Penny Levett’s miniature and larger artworks.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Penny Levett, a practising artist of over 30 years, moved to Yamba from Sydney in 2020. Currently exhibiting at Ferry Park Gallery, Maclean and Creative Artisans Gallery, Ballina, Penny predominantly focuses on creating miniature and small artworks (up to A2).

Her preferred mediums are watercolour, gouache and mixed media, utilizing colour and pattern to weave stories into her personal eclectic style of artwork. Penny is working on a new body of acrylic canvas artworks especially for this exhibition, her interpretation of the new Clarence Valley (Yamba) environment she views every day.

As a Member of NSW Miniature Society Inc. and a founding member of the Annual “All Things Great are Small - miniature/small artworks exhibition" in Bowral’s Community Art Gallery, there will most definitely be a few miniatures displayed, along with larger artworks on paper. Collectively, Penny's works showcase a vast range of creative techniques, the upshot being a great counter balance to the unique 3D sculptures and printmaking that will share the space.

Allan Armstrong hails from a metal trade background and started his artistic hobby by designing and making items out of his scrap metal. He is only restricted by the materials available! Allan uses mostly marine metal for his sculptures, but also copper or stainless steel. He has exhibited in the Coraki Art Show. ‘ The Shark’ is 2.2m long which took a few weeks to complete working constantly on it. ‘The Albatross’ has a 2.4m wingspan, with a stainless frame inside to stabilise the sculpture.

Allan creates a modern twist on metalwork contemporary individual pieces and he does commissions. Anyone for a garden sculpture? He is your man!

Jan Armstrong has a knack of creating 3D eclectic fabric/textile sculptures. All ‘one off’ unique pieces with their own character, 15cm – 50cm. Some with repurposed fabric. All Pieces have multiple components carefully chosen and sourced to create their unique subject. Truly lovely pieces.

Jan also creates collograph prints, these are collage style artworks. Ten years ago Jan began with lino cuts and progressed from there. Exhibiting in Ballina and Ferry Park and local art fairs and markets. Jan’s interest in soft sculptures developed 2 years ago and rapidly became her preferred artwork. Each piece with intricate stitchwork, combining different elements to create characters with attitude. Jan enjoys the search for materials, especially antique pieces.