Orange has a strong and vibrant art community, but for many practicing artists, finding opportunities to actually exhibit their work can be a struggle.

Local painter Hank Spirek decided to take matters into his own hand and has formed a small group of like-minded artists who are now working together to get more of their work on show.

“It is really hard getting places to exhibit,” said Hank, who has been a professional artist on and off for the last 50 years.

Hank relocated to Orange two years ago and is keen to put more of his work in the public eye.

“There is a lot of competition. The few galleries that are around have their pick of who they choose, so what I decided to do was form a small group of people to work together to find exhibition space,” he said.

Already Hank and his fellow artists have leads on four possible exhibitions outside of Orange next year, but they are really looking for affordable local spaces they could rent or businesses interested in hanging local art.

“We really would like some local places to maybe put their hand up and say, yes we're willing to exhibit local art,” said Hank.

“Anything at all, any places we can rent or maybe wineries, businesses, restaurants… I know I have tons of work and the other artists that I'm involved in they all work steady in their art so we could exhibit in a lot of different places if we get interest.”

It’s early days yet, but if enough venues are interested, Hank is hoping his artists group can act as a way to connect artists and exhibition spaces.

“At the moment we don't really need more artists, we need more venues. But once we start to get a feel for how many venues are available and how well people are working together, in my mind there should be no limit to the number of people who could be involved,” said Hank, who plans to get a group website up as soon as possible.

“I see it could be like a sort of bulletin board. You put your name down that you are interested in exhibiting, you have examples of your work and then another artist says, yes I like his stuff, I'd like to exhibit with him, then we also have a list of possible venues where you could exhibit and they can make arrangements with the venue.”

Any potential venues interested in contacting Hank can reach him at hspirek@gmail.com

You can find examples of Hank’s work at hankspirekartist.com