Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery has three new exhibitions on display until 12 May. Contemporary art, design and fashion come together in the JamFactory travelling exhibition New Exuberance: Contemporary Australian Textile Design, that celebrates creative collaboration, sustainability and the versatility of textile craft through storytelling and conceptual ideas. There are more than 30 creatives and 10 commissioned works including from Ikuntji Artists, Iordanes Spyridon Gogos, Grace Lillian Lee and Romance Was Born.

New Wave 24, is an annual showcase of incredibly talented local VCE and VCE VET students, and an important platform to support the next generation of emerging artists. There is also an exhibition of Flinders-based weaver Emma Shepherd. Using yarns collected from all around the world, she reflects on the deeper history of fibre, its role in human history and weaving's legacy as humanity's earliest algorithms. This exhibition presents a selection of recent works which embed pine needles, horsehair and bark taken from Shepherd’s immediate surrounds.

Alongside the exhibitions are curator talks, a weaving workshop with Emma Shepherd, an upcycled textiles workshop with Mt Martha local Angelia Dixon and school holiday workshops for primary school aged students.

Entries for MPRG’s biennial National Works on Paper (NWOP) prize are open until 5 April. This major award attracts leading artists from across the country working with paper. MPRG is also facilitating the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Artist in Residence program at Police Point, Portsea. They currently have an EOI out for creative practitioners to undertake residencies during 2024. See their website for further information on how to apply for either of these opportunities.