The Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre is located on the New England Highway three hours drive northwest of Sydney and roughly two hours from Newcastle. The town of Muswellbrook lies in the Upper Hunter region among a diverse rural and industrial economy encompassing coal mining, farming, vineyards, energy generation and the horse industry.
The muswellbrook regional arts centre was originally established as a gallery in 1976 and was housed in a purpose-built annex attached to the Muswellbrook School of Arts. Following several permutations the gallery eventually moved to temporary accommodation in 1999 while a redevelopment of the School of Arts building was undertaken to convert it to a modern regional gallery. The muswellbrook regional arts centre was commissioned in July 2000 at a cost of more than $1,700,000.
The muswellbrook regional arts centre presents travelling exhibitions, local exhibitions and art prizes (including the biennial Muswellbrook Open Art Prize), along with periodic selections from the Max Watters and Shire Collections.
