The Artery was started in 2005 as an art gallery featuring affordable artwork for the local residents of Darlinghurst and featured the paintings and artwork of many local Sydney artists. After opening the gallery, there was an immediate interest expressed by customers to the gallery for affordable Australian Aboriginal artwork and so gallery owner, Alesha Glennon, started travelling to remote areas of Australia to meet artists and learn more about Australian Aboriginal art. After many months of work the first Aboriginal artworks arrived in Sydney and were immediately purchased by savvy buyers and collectors looking for authentic and original Australian Aboriginal art. The Artery is passionate about unearthing and discovering talented new Aboriginal artists and gaining market share of Affordable Aboriginal art with prices in store starting at $25. The Artery has always worked within a strict code of conduct involving transparency in our dealings and a strong desire to create a year round source of revenue for Aboriginal artists. We are only interested in creating long term mutually beneficial arrangements with the artists we work with. We invest in our business by ensuring our staff have spent time working with Aboriginal artists in some of the most remote Aboriginal communities in Australia. We regularly travel to Alice Springs, Utopia, Kiwirrkurra, Kintore, Darwin, Katherine, The Kimberleys, Santa Theresa, Yuendumu, Papunya, Northern Territory, South Australia, Uluru, Ayers Rock, Western Desert remote regions of Australia to meet with the artists and buy artwork. Unlike most other Aboriginal galleries, we don't hold shows for artists, but aim to show a broad range of artwork from many regions throughout the year and therefore providing income and Aboriginal employment to these remote regions of Australia throughout the year. Through our online gallery we are able to reach a global audience and offer Aboriginal artwork and paintings to markets around the world - we ship paintings everywhere and have shipped to 100's of customers all over the world including United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Brazil, Arentina, Chile, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, India, UAE, China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand. We also send painting anywhere in Australia and can send to both major and regional cities including Brisbane, Cairns, Queensland, Newcastle, Wollongong, Sydney, NSW, Canberra, ACT, Northern Territory, Victoria, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide, South Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Darwin, Northern Territory.
About the Artery
Alesha Glennon established the Artery in 2005 following her passion for Aboriginal art. She has always felt - “you only get one life so you might as well enjoy what you do”. With this in mind, Alesha set out to develop a gallery with a difference and has since seen the gallery grow into the dynamic space it is today. With a background as the Head of Design for Parker Furniture in the 1990s and a buyer at Freedom Furniture for 6 years leading up to opening the gallery, Alesha certainly has a keen eye for colour, style, artistic form and stylish interiors and keeps this in mind when selecting the broad range of artworks for the gallery… but Alesha's true passion for indigenous art stemmed from her childhood travelling through large areas of remote parts of Australia and experiencing Australia's Aboriginal culture first hand.
Our team of four share Alesha’s love for the art that we sell and pride ourselves on being able to deliver a friendly, informative service to all those who walk through our door, or pop into our inbox. We are determined to ensure our gallery experience reflects the qualities of the wonderful Indigenous art that we showcase – genuine, colourful, engaging, un-pretentious and all about the stories the artists are telling.
Our Gallery Manager Hayley Retsas, grew up immersed in Aboriginal art – her family owned an Aboriginal Art Gallery in Adelaide, and Hayley worked there from a very young age. Hayley is commited to educating and informing others on the extroadinary lives of the artists. She has worked at The Artery for 2 years and dedicates her time to making the gallery a place you would want to visit time and time again.
Our Gallery Coordinator, Kate Limbach brings a wealth of talent from a background in Interior design, fine arts & photography, paired with her strong passion for the Australian Aboriginal culture that many of us either know little about, or have little exposure to.
Our Gallery Assistant, Bec Mills may only be here part time but she definately knows a thing or two about the artists we represent. With a genuine passion and interest in Aborignal art, Bec is a dynamic member of the team with years of experinece in the communications and media industry.
Our newest and cutest member of the team, Tali - is the beautiful little baby girl of Alesha.
Just this year we made some very exciting changes to the gallery - as you can see in the images above - our gallery interior is now fresh and updated. As always the gallery space is devoted to showcasing Sydney’s most unique and exciting contemporary Aboriginal art. Although humble in size, we believe we don’t need an enormous space to have the best selection on offer. We don’t even consider ourselves simply an art gallery! We don’t hold openings or exhibitions or have big empty white walls - what we do have is an intimate, welcoming space full of beautiful art and we encourage customers to visit the gallery and share the experience - come and talk with us about the artists and their culture in a warm, friendly environment while viewing the selection of beautiful art.
In place of exhibitions we rotate our gallery space once a fortnight so new paintings and new artists are hanging ALL the time – and what you DON’T see hanging you will find online on our extensive website. Our website is an integral part of our business and is updated daily. We have made sure the website, like the gallery is easy to navigate and all the information is right here for you, including price, size and info about the artist.
Our gallery is a 'Celebration of Colour'.
The artworks we showcase celebrate colour and easily translate into modern homes and lifestyles. New paintings arrive weekly and with hundreds of artworks in stock at any time we aim to have something for everyone.
Our business model is driven by our code of conduct reflecting an ethical and respectful approach and ensuring artists are empowered. Our motto is “Ethical – Contemporary – Affordable”. Our goal: To offer the highest quality and best selection of Aboriginal art at fair and reasonable (affordable) prices.
Our gallery is Identeart Accredited - and we are signatories to the new Indigenous Code of Conduct, which whilst not yet fully launched by the Federal Government, we fully support any improvements made in this area.
We are interested in developing long term mutually beneficial relationships with artists that provide an ongoing source of income to them throughout the year.
This is why we don't hold 'shows' for artists - but strive to sell a broad range of artworks throughout the year.
Buying directly from the artists or their representative at an agreed price ensuring the artist is happy and well looked after in the process, we pass on this pricing integrity to our customers – maintaining that standard without affecting the artists’ name, or the quality of work.
Be it savvy locals, first-time buyers or tourists, we take pride in our approachable and honest style. Whether you seek a sublime feature piece for your home, an introduction to the enchanting world of Aboriginal art or a conversation to connect you with the places and faces behind the artwork, we welcome you.
