A new quartet of exhibitions this month help to mark the Forrester Gallery’s 40th birthday.

Rā Whānau – 40 Years of the Forrester Gallery; Anthony Davies: Observer and Printmaker; Animals and Us: a Wonderlab exhibition; and HERE, an exhibition by local artist Bethan Moore opened at the beginning of April.

HERE is Bethan’s first complete exhibition, and is a mix of watercolours, depicting “everyday things”.

“It’s just what I see every day . . . Cows, dogs, wildlife . . .” 

The horses, however, which feature quite prominently in her work, are a throwback to when she used to work with them after leaving school - she rarely sees them now.

Although family on her father’s side were “artists and potters”, Bethan only picked up the paintbrushes again last year, after 30 years, when she was bored between cow milkings, while living on the West Coast.

“It rained so much,” she said. “Beautiful, but rainy!”

It was “quite weird” seeing her work looking “all professional”, and she was flattered that people made a special effort to come out and see it.

“On Saturday, there was all my family, and then there was other people here and they said they came to see, you know, like deliberately, so that was kind of nice.”

All the works were for sale, and Bethan said she wanted people to enjoy the art, and tried to keep it happy.

She also wanted it to be accessible to everyone.

When it is not being exhibited at the Forrester, Bethan’s work can also be found for sale at Crafted, a co-operative art space in the Victorian precinct, which houses a collection of work from local creatives.

HERE runs until June 11.

The Epistle According to Saint Anthony by Anthony Davies is running at the Forrester Gallery until June 18

In the main gallery space is work by English-born, and Whanganui-based printmaker Anthony Davies. 

Observer and Printmaker showcases his two latest series, The Epistle According to Saint Anthony and WAR – What is it Good For? 

Anthony studied at the Winchester School of Art and London’s Royal College of Art, and subsequently lived and worked in Northern Ireland. He settled in New Zealand in 1994. 

He utilises the full range of printmaking techniques to document and also invent ways of seeing local and global concerns.

Anthony will be running a linocut printmaking workshop as part of this exhibition on April 29 and 30, but spaces are limited. Those interested should register with the Gallery.

His exhibition finishes on June 18.

Rā Whānau – 40 Years of the Forrester Gallery is a celebration of the Forrester Gallery past and present, while considering the future - as efforts continue to fundraise for building renovations, gallery director Chloe Searle said. 

The former Bank of New South Wales Ōamaru stone building had housed more than 700 exhibitions since 1983, and this exhibition comprised highlights from the gallery collection as a special dedication to staff, “Friends”, exhibitors, donors, and visitors from across the 40 years, she said.

“In this anniversary year gallery staff and the Friends of the Forrester are on a multimillion-dollar fundraising mission for a building extension.

“While the Forrester Gallery is fortunate to operate from an iconic heritage building, it is a challenging space in terms of accessibility. The proposed extension includes a lift, a purpose-built collection store space, a loading dock, a new touring exhibition space, as well as an education and events space.”

Rā Whānau runs until May 28

Also perfectly timed for the school holidays, is Wonderlab exhibit Animals and Us. 

This exhibition is a glimpse of the types of artworks, museum objects and archival photographs that are centred around animals, showing how integral they are in day to day life. It ends on April 30.