Wardandi Wanil Art Centre opens in Bunbury with free gallery and artist studio

Wardandi Wanil Art Centre began welcoming visitors in Bunbury, Western Australia, on 30 September 2026, according to the City of Bunbury. Its free gallery gives the public a place to see and buy work by Aboriginal artists connected to Wardandi Country, while an existing studio gives artists space to work and share knowledge. The centre is at 20 Prinsep Street and opens to visitors on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 4pm.

The public opening follows months of activity inside the building. The city says artists have used the studio since May for workshops, artist registrations and creative programs. The September opening therefore adds regular public access to a space where artists had already begun working.

What visitors can see at Wardandi Wanil

The inaugural exhibition, Wanil – Healing Gathering Growing, brings together work by local Aboriginal artists connected to Wardandi Country and community, the city says. It was curated by Candice Nannup, a Willman and Ballardong Noongar curator and artist. According to the city, works in the exhibition are available to buy, with purchases supporting the artists and the centre.

The exhibition takes its theme from the Wanil, or peppermint tree, which gives the centre its name. The city says the tree has long held healing and cultural significance for Noongar people in the South West. That connection gives visitors a way into the exhibition's focus on the stories and perspectives of artists connected to Wardandi Country.

How the centre is intended to serve artists

The city says artists and Elders co-designed the centre as a place where Aboriginal artists can make and exhibit work, sell it and share knowledge. Its description places the studio alongside the public gallery: one supports making and learning, while the other allows visitors to encounter the work and, where offered, buy it. The city's account also says the space is intended to bring different generations together around creative practice and cultural knowledge.

Dellas Bennell, a Wardandi artist and arts representative of Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation, said artist consultation and Elders' guidance had helped turn the idea into a place artists could call their own. In the city's announcement, the centre's Artist Reference Group described a place to gather, pass on culture and create opportunities for younger artists. Those statements set out what participants want the institution to provide; they are not measures of its future results.

The city says it developed the centre in partnership with Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation, which represents Traditional Owners, with support from the Alcoa Foundation. Gnaala Karla Booja also posted an account of the opening, but its wording closely follows the city's announcement. The two accounts should be read as statements from organisations involved in the project, rather than separate independent reports of visitor numbers or outcomes.

Funding for artist-led governance

The centre's leadership is still developing. Acting Mayor Cheryl Kozisek said the city's role is to support Wardandi Wanil as it grows toward becoming fully Aboriginal-led. Neither that statement nor the opening announcement gives a date for a change in governance. The distinction matters because the centre is already open to the public, while its proposed long-term leadership model remains work in progress.

A separate Western Australian Government funding announcement lists Wardandi Wanil for $47,185 through the 2026 Regional Aboriginal Arts Development program. The stated purpose is to develop governance capacity and help establish an Art Leadership Group as a foundation for a culturally grounded, artist-led centre. The grant record describes intended work; it does not say that the group has been formed or that the centre has completed a transfer to Aboriginal-led governance.

Wardandi Wanil was one of seven recipients named in that $691,060 regional funding round. For Bunbury's new centre, the allocation addresses a specific next step beyond opening the doors: developing the structures through which artists can lead it. The available announcements do not report how many people have visited, how many works have sold or when the planned governance work will be complete.