Art Studio for All Abilities Celebrates 30 Years Strong

Stephen Corsini has big dreams for his portrait of Julia Gillard. The artist wants his colorful painting of Australia's first female prime minister to hang in Parliament House, where it would join another work by a Hands On Studio artist already displayed there.

Hands On Studio is celebrating 30 years of creating art without limits. The Canberra organization has been offering supported space for people of all abilities to paint, sculpt, garden, cook, and create since 1996.

It started small, in a shed in Curtin. A group of parents wanted their children finishing school to have somewhere meaningful to go, so they built it themselves.

Today, 125 artists work alongside 25 art teachers each week at the M16 Artspace. They explore everything from painting and ceramics to stop-motion animation and sculpture, breaking creative rules and making their own.

Manager Tilly Davey calls it a creative vortex. She's been there for 11 years and says it's the best job she's ever had.

The popularity speaks for itself. Some classes have waiting lists stretching 20 years long, with artists refusing to leave once they start.

The Ripple Effect

The studio's impact reaches far beyond its walls. This year alone, Hands On Studio curated a special exhibit at Canberra Contemporary and has shows lined up at Goulburn Regional Art Gallery and Canberra Art Biennial.

For Stephen Corsini, who's been creating at the studio since day one, the space has given him three decades to develop his craft. He deliberately built up his Gillard portrait layer by layer, showing the prime minister in her office with the Australian and Aboriginal flags behind her.

The studio gives artists more than technical skills. It offers freedom to be themselves and express what matters to them, whether that's history, color, or their own unique vision of the world.

The organization now faces funding challenges and is turning to fundraising to keep its doors open. This weekend's 30th anniversary celebration doubles as a fundraiser, with artworks and other items for sale.

Davey jokes that if the studio ever closed, there would be a riot, and she can manage an art studio but not that.