Converge was first introduced to Lismore in March 2024, when a partnership between Lismore City Council and the NSW Reconstruction Authority was formed.

Council's Destination and Economy Manager Tina Irish, at the time, said Converge aims to revitalise Lismore's CBD and support local creative enterprise.

“Converge is designed to bring new life and energy to Lismore’s CBD, contributing to its continued growth as a thriving cultural hub, celebrating its unique character, community and world-class creative industry,” she said.

Converge launched on June 28 2024, at 123 Woodlark Street, next to the new Lismore Secondhand Furniture store.

This Friday from 5:30pm, the 11 artists in residence will celebrate a year's worth of their work as the Bright Light Habits exhibition opens.

Lismore will have the chance to view and purchase the varied pieces of artwork for two weeks.

Stefanie Miriklis grew up in the Northern Rivers. She is one of the featured artists who was given space to create her art and get back on her feet after the 2022 floods when she lost her house, her car and her studio space.

"I've really, really enjoyed the last twelve months," Stefanie told the Lismore App, "I felt very privileged that I was chosen as one of the artists. I just put my head down, got back to work and tried to save money and get back on my feet. And so I think for me, this was a great opportunity that I actually allowed myself this year of having studio time, and it was really nice to get back into my creative practice."

For Stefanie and the other ten artists, Aaron McGarry, Adrienne Kenafake, Annie Monks, Antionette O’Brien, Chris Lego, Karenza Ebejer, Matt O’Brien, Michelle Jones, Paul Walker and Scott Sinclair, it has been an opportunity to connect with another and learn in creative workshops that were held regularly throughout the year.

"It was kind of not so much just the physical practice, but also artist mentoring, basically, for anyone in the community. A lot of it was for the 11 artists, but we did have a number of events that were opened up to the broader community, and there were lots of people who came along to those as well.

"And then the space is also being used as a location to host workshops. So, there's been a number of workshops like ceramics, film and digital media and screen printing. This space has been used where the artists in residence have shared their skills and practice with the community to come along and learn or develop a new skill set."

Stefanie explained that each artist will be displaying varying types of art and various quantities during the Bright Light Habits exhibition.

"Moonshine is doing more of a performance space. Over the two weeks, there'll be a number of small events that are happening within the space as well. And I think we're doing an artist talk on the last weekend of the exhibition. I think that's still to be confirmed. Otherwise, it's showcasing work from all the different artists, which range from ceramics and mosaic and drawing, the things that I've been doing. But we also have painting, costume and wearable art, paintings, sculptures, screen printing, assemblage, like sculptural ceramics, and digital."

Linsey Gosper is curating the Bright Light Habits exhibition. She is an independent curator and also works for the Lismore Regional Gallery.

"I've been working with the artists probably for about five months, just in a part-time capacity, and we get together and chat about all kinds of things to get them prepared for the lead-up to the exhibition. We ran a curatorial professional development workshop where I had the local director of Elevator ARI (artist run initiative), Betty Russ, join us, as well as Jake Treacy from Melbourne fly up, and they're the curator at the Moonie Ponds Incinerator Gallery, which is a council run gallery, but they also have an independent practice.

"That was a whole day that we spent together. We had studio one-on-ones, and we had all kinds of questions from, How do you get seen? How do you share your artwork? How do you price your artwork? All that sort of stuff. There have been a number of professional practice workshops that the artists have done as part of this residency.

"The last few months, we've just kind of been working towards narrowing down some selections of artwork. For an exhibition, you're looking for a consistent and refined body of work. Some artists may have several different kinds of bodies of work going at once, and some of them may be more finished, in a sense, than others.

(Curator Linsey Gosper in front of some of the 11 artists body of work)

"Because there's a diversity of different types of practice here, both in terms of conceptual ideas, but also in the medium as well. For example, Chris Lego works in a lot of different practices, but he's been working with screen printing for a really, really long time. So, for me to not have some of his screen printing works in the exhibition would be a bit of a loss, because that's sort of what I think he specialises in.

"But really it's working with the artists to ensure that they have a good experience and that they get to express what they want to express and show what they want to show, but also the best that we can with the space that we've got and the resources we've got to make sure that the presentation of the work is elevated to a high standard.

"There's an exhibition catalogue that people can take away. It's the fun part of visually putting the works together in a way that they have a conversation and that they are best represented for the artist's practice. But it's also just really practical. Like, how can you make money from your art practice? How can you get seen?

"To be honest, it is really hard to make a sustainable living as an artist. And most artists will always be supplementing their income. Even quite well-known artists will be supplementing their income with other work. And, you know, I personally think the way that we view art in Australia and our values around that could be vastly improved, in my opinion. But it is also just putting the best foot forward and getting your work out there," Linsey concluded.

When the Bright Light Habits exhibition concludes, the space at Woodlark Street will close for the 11 artists. So, what is next for Stefanie Miriklis?

"It would be fantastic if there were more of these sorts of programs, or if this was to sort of continue, because everyone has to kind of empty out now, and we're all going back to find studio spaces. I've never had the opportunity to have a big studio space like this, where I can really move around, and all of my things are here, and everything's just so accessible. Where I can finish work and come in, I've just got room to move.

"I've made a number of connections within the arts community, because we have been introduced to a lot of people, whether they are practicing artists or gallerists, or other people within the arts industry in the Northern Rivers. So from that, I actually now have an exhibition that I'm working towards in December at a new gallery that's opened in Alsonville called Black Fig Gallery. So, it's been a really good platform to just make those sorts of connections within the broader community that we can kind of continue from here."

"I've got a very small studio room at home, but it's nothing like this. I'm even toying with the idea that we continue on. There's a number of empty shops that are downtown, and so, there's been talk of whether some of the artists get together and actually rent a space downtown and continue on, because it has been really beneficial just having this kind of central spot that we can come and work at in our spare time. I mean, I work part-time as well. So, it's kind of the balance of work life and creative life. But when you have a space like this set up that you can just come to, I think you really feel that.

"For me, it's just been so productive, I think the volume of work that I've produced and the realisation that all of my concepts and ideas are sort of coming into fruition.

"I think the Northern Rivers is full of some of the most amazing, unusual, creative people. And I think that there were many people who applied for this, and I just wish that everyone got an opportunity to do something like this, because it is really special."

The Bright Light Habits exhibition opens tomorrow night (Friday) from 5:30pm to 9pm at Converge, 123 Woodlark Street, Lismore CBD, located next to Lismore Secondhand Furniture.

You have two weeks to view the exhibition, as it runs until Saturday, July 26.

The Converge Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 6pm, and Saturday, 10am to 3pm.