A sleekly modern and refreshingly unassuming looking gallery slash workshop about mid-way down…read moreFitzroy's Gertrude Street, the 30 year old Australian Print Workshop is officially - or according to its website at least - 'Australia's leading printmaking institution'. Featuring not only a gallery but a fully functioning print making workshop where the APW runs a regular series of printmaking workshops in everything from etching and lithography to wood and perspex engraving, the Australian Print Workshop is that rare artistic beast: a gallery with prints that you could actually *gasp* almost afford. Stylistically, the range of prints on offer vary enormously. From the figurative to the abstract, the monochromatic to the riotously colourful, there's something for everyone. And with prices starting at around $100 for a print, this is arguably one of Melbourne's more accessible galleries. Staff are friendly and unpretentious, the space itself is spartan but welcoming and there are a range of both framed and unframed prints on offer from both the confines of the Gertrude Street gallery and the APW's awesome website.

Walking along Gertrude Street I stop to look at the small gallery at the Australian Print Workshop…read more The Australian Print Workshop producing high-end art prints by notable Australian and international artists. And its gallery regularly has exhibition of prints from the workshop. I saw something of the exhibition on the ABC's Art Nation; it is by artists who have received a scholarship to work at the Australian Print Workshop. The gallery space is such a professional space, in contrast to many of the other galleries on Gertrude St. White walls and timber floor, I instantly forget about Gertrude St. and silence envelops me. In the gallery there are also draws of wonderful art prints that you can look through and purchase. The printing workshop is next to the gallery. You can see the workshop with all of its printing presses through the front window I look at the information on their classes in printing - maybe one day I will want to do one.

After driving past the building that hosts Artbank a few times, I finally managed to break up my…read moreday and stop for a visit. What is Artbank? It's an art rental establishment which was established in 1980 by the Australian Government as an arts support program. We're sold already! Part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Office for the Arts, Artbank promotes the diverse Australian culture and offers everybody the chance to enjoy Australian art by offering the collection for rent. The revenues from the rentals are then reinvesting back in to the collection. Sweet! Walk through the sunlight filled space and you'll find a large group of artworks by emerging artists from paintings and photography, to contemporary craft, sculpture and Indigenous art. (We hear the whole Artbank collection has over 10,000 contemporary artworks for rental) And even though we'd love to have more art at home, our walls don't have the space for it right now. Just in case, we found out the costs involved anyway and were pleased to discover that rental fees start from $110 per artwork, with the minimum contract total of $550 per year. And for businesses, fees are 100% tax deductible.

Next door to the Brunswick Town Hall building, this medium-sized art gallery showcases established…read moreand emerging artists with new exhibitions each month. I'm fond of the Counihan Gallery for giving me my first opportunity to see a Ron Mueck larger-than-life sculpture in all its looks-so-real-it-is-spooky glory. That's right - even before the NGV brought a whole gang of Mueck's eerily human sculptures to the masses, the Counihan brought it to Brunswick. The standard of the other works in the same exhibition was evidence of a talented and professional curator with his or her finger on the contemporary art pulse. Lucky are we in Brunswick to have such a high calibre of art dropped in our laps like this. I'm looking forward to their annual Womens Salon exhibition showcasing the creations of women artists, designers and craftworkers from the Moreland area, which opens on 17th November.

A public art gallery, Counihan Gallery is focussed on exhibiting and promoting contemporary…read moreAustralian artists whose work is centred on the discussion or promotion of "innovation and diversity in the visual arts". There's always a mix of established and emerging artists showcased, and there's a few call outs for exhibit proposals from local and interstate artists each year. Like everything else focussed on contemporary art, the art showcased varies considerably in theme, style, form, subject etc. and will inevitably attract a different audience from exhibit to exhibit. The space is designed to maximise flexibility and accommodate a wide range of installations, and cam be quite transformed from one exhibit to the next. Like most public galleries, it's free to view, so it's a good way for the financially challenged art lover to get his or her fix. Some of the art can be quite political, so it'll also appeal to people who like their art challenging or high minded and intellectual.

I went to Sutton Gallery to see the latest exhibition by Gordon Bennett, a contemporary Queensland…read moreartist with aboriginal ancestry. I always enjoy Bennett's painting style and the thoughts behind the paintings. Sutton Gallery represents Gordon Bennett and other established Australian artists. When I arrived at Sutton Gallery as one of Gordon Bennett's large canvases, "(Abstraction) indigene" 2011, sold for $38,500. There was a small group of people talking as the gallery assistant went and stuck a small red pin into the wall beside the painting to indicate the sale. Sutton Gallery sell art to major art galleries and other public collections; I've seen a Gordon Bennett painting that I first saw exhibited at Sutton later in the Bendigo Art Galleries permanent collection. Although the address for the gallery is Brunswick Street, Fitzroy the entrance to the gallery is on the side in Greeves St. The building looks like it has been converted from an old garage or maybe a stable; there are these large doors on the side. Inside the large white walled space is divided into two gallery spaces. There is another space behind some open half doors with the gallery office. Sutton Gallery has a different exhibition every month.

This is the first of the galleries in Albert Street there are four more on this very short street…read morein Richmond. Albert Street is a good place to start if you want to see some of the best, new contemporary art in Melbourne. The gallery has several large windows at the front giving people walking by a preview of the art within. It is an elegantly converted former factory space with white walls, high ceilings, track lighting and polished concrete floors. There is an office/reception area at the front and a stock room somewhere out the back, but it's not open to the public. As a commercial gallery it represents many notable, contemporary Australian artists including sculptor and taxidermist Julia deVille, painter Michael Zavros and photographer Selina Ou. There are monthly exhibitions from the artists represented in the gallery.

Some of the best art you will see in Australia, artists like, Julia Da Ville, Michael Zavros, Danie…read moreMellor, Selena Ou, and currently Vera Möller. Also Nicholas Harding and a whole raft of younger artists. Its low key and not at all pretentious. Edwin the gallery manager is a delight. Richmond is hard to find a car park, so public transport is the best.

This is a pretty amazing arts space and they show a consistent stream of local and international…read moreart (mostly photography). We were lucky enough to attend a salon with Patti Smith there a few years back and man was I blown away. She was touring at the time and the centre was showing a collection of photographs of Smith's things taken by a documentary film maker that had been documenting her work. The large room there was the perfect place to chill on the floor and absorb the work while Smith regaled us with stories of her artistic and personal life. It's something I'll never forget. What was even cooler was that when we were leaving, Patti cruised past in the back of a car, wound down the window and said hello. We thanked her for being amazing and she bid us a great afternoon. Check this space out. It looks a little serious from the outer, but it's a treasure trove of corners and little maze-like rooms inside.

I regularly visit the CCP to see good photography exhibitions. It is Melbourne's premier gallery…read morefor photographic art exhibitions featuring exhibitions by local and international photographers. Often are three exhibitions on at this gallery at any time, two small exhibitions and one large exhibition in the main gallery space. The CCP is a not-for-profit gallery aimed at exhibiting photography and education. The photographs on exhibition are not for sale, although there is a small shop in the reception area that does sell photography books and Lomo cameras. The elegantly designed gallery is wheelchair accessible, unlike so many of Melbourne's galleries. Photo based art has changed in the last decade; there are a lot more video art on exhibition and the exhibitions have become noisy with video soundtracks mixing together in the spiraling space of the CCP galleries.

Mia, our guide at the Koorie Heritage Trust, did an amazing job of sharing information about the…read moreFirst Nations peoples of Australia. Her own great grandmother was part of the 'stolen generation,' Aboriginal and mixed-race children who were forcibly taken from their homes by the authorities and sent to orphanages and other homes between 1910 and the 1970s to 'erase the black.' Mia also led us on a walk alongside the Yarra river outlining the Aboriginal history and culture of Melbourne. Amid the soundscapes returning traditional language to the landscape we marvelled at the River and Pepper gums (Eucalyptus trees) as we walked towards the River Yarra or Birrarung - river of mist and shadows. Stopping momentarily at the scar tree, observing the patterns male (jagged edges and female round/smoother circles) embedded in the eels, Mia outlined the meaning of indigenous art in this part of the country. We learned that Koorie refers to Victorian first nations peoples. The 5 nations - Boonwurrung (Boon-wur-rung) - Dja Dja Wurrung (Jar-Jar-Wur-rung)- Taungurung (Tung-ger-rung)-Wathaurung (Wath-er-rung)- Woiwurrung (Woy-wur-rung), commonly known as Wurundjeri. Recognising the 5 nations were symbols of 5 around the precinct. 5 Spears, 5 Trees, 5 Diamonds (embedded in the eels) and 5 Totems or message sticks. Back inside the trust Mia presented a returning boomerang, # 7 boomerang, fighting shields and possum fur cloak, before explaining her ongoing connection (and disconnection) to her family's first nations background. In the attached picture, Mia stands in front of 5 artistic renditions of hunting spears, each with a unique point depending on the spear's intended prey. The far left was for catching fish, the far right for catching sharks, the middle one for eel, and the second from right for kangaroo

The Koorie heritage center and trust Isn't it beautiful and prominent new building in federation…read moreSquare. The Koorie aboriginal people were in Melbourne for thousands of years.

Place Gallery is a large beautifully renovated factory space. The single L shaped gallery has a…read morepolish concrete floor, track lighting and white walls. It is very close to Richmond railway station where there are a lot of factory and warehouse conversions underway. Place Gallery has regular monthly exhibitions of the work of the Australian contemporary artists that it represents. These are mostly mid-career or emerging artists like: Ange Leech, Van Rudd and Peter Davidson. I went to there to see their exhibition of Glenn Morgan. The one of gallery's director, Trevor Fuller came out from the back of the gallery and talked about the artist and the exhibition with me. I had seen Glenn Morgan's dioramas at the Basil Sellers Art Prize last year and I wanted to see more.