Marrickville Open Studio Trail

As part of Art Month and Spectrum Now, Marrickville Council, in co-junction with local art studios and workshops, is showcasing its vibrant artistic community over the Mardi Gras weekend.

Fifty-three studios, artist-run Initiatives and galleries from Newtown to Summer Hill will open their doors to the public. Free walking tours and bike tours will explore street-art, coffee crawls, photography and artist-run initiatives while multiple exhibition openings will see artists giving talks on their works and the local community.

A highlight will be the live installation at Chrissie Cotter Gallery in Camperdown; Tracing Materiality, a collaboration by Kath Fries, Renuka Fernando and Gillian Lavery, will follow the artists as they draw, examining the live-processes and rhythms underlining the artworks. The installation will finish on March 8, International Women's Day.

Other highlights include international artists Benoit+Bo exhibiting their Mardi Gras-themed piece at the Newsagency Gallery, and a talk by Tortuga Studios - "Real Estate is a Blood Sport: Surviving as an Artist in the Inner West" - that promises to reveal the juggling act many of local artists must keep up to continue working creatively. Kids can show off their creative side too at Art Camp, just off Camperdown Memorial Park. They'll be able weave plastic bags, help create a street mural and create monsters out of clay.

Events will run throughout the day and into the evening. Marrickville Council's website has a full list of artists, exhibitions, workshops, talks, walks, and a map too.