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The Best Art Galleries in Hobart to Add to Your Cultural Calendar
The best art galleries in Hobart pack a mighty punch.
To do Hobart’s art scene justice, you’ll need more than a weekend and a healthy appetite for wandering. This is a city where serious art lives comfortably alongside the strange, the intimate and the quietly experimental. From sandstone warehouses filled with Tasmanian talent to underground museums that have rewritten the global art conversation, Hobart rewards curiosity at every turn.
Fuel up at one of the city’s excellent cafes, lace up something walkable, and settle in. These are the art galleries shaping Hobart right now.
Rosny Farm Arts Centre
Rosny Farm Arts Centre proves that some of Hobart’s most compelling art experiences happen away from the usual circuit. Set across heritage barns and schoolhouses on the eastern shore, it champions contemporary exhibitions grounded in community, place and practice. Shows rotate regularly, often spotlighting Tasmanian artists alongside performance, talks and festivals that bring the site to life.
Thoughtful and accessible, Rosny Farm rewards those willing to cross the river for art that feels considered rather than curated for spectacle.
22 Rosny Hill Road, Rosny Park
Moonah Arts Centre
If Artosaurus is Moonah’s creative clubhouse, MAC is its cultural stage. Purpose-built and award-winning, this architecturally striking hub brings together galleries, studios and a black-box theatre under one soaring roof. One week it’s contemporary art, the next it’s live music, film or a hands-on workshop — always inclusive, always community-driven. Step inside and you’ll feel it: this is where Moonah’s stories are told, talent is nurtured, and the suburb’s cultural buzz beats loudest.
23-27 Albert Road, Moonah
Henry Jones Art Hotel
Set within Hobart’s oldest waterfront warehouses, The Henry Jones Art Hotel doubles as one of the city’s most accessible galleries. More than 400 works of contemporary Tasmanian art spill through its public spaces, lounges and rooms, spanning painting, sculpture and printmaking.
The collection champions both emerging and established local artists, with rotating exhibitions ensuring there’s always something new to discover. Guided Art & History Tours and the annual Henry Jones Art Prize deepen the experience, weaving the site’s industrial past into its creative present. Even without a stay, it’s well worth stepping inside.
25 Hunter Street, Hobart
Salamanca Arts Centre
Housed in a grand sandstone building at Salamanca Place, Salamanca Arts Centre is Hobart’s creative nerve centre. Multiple galleries sit under one historic roof, alongside working studios and design retailers, making it ideal for slow, meandering visits.
From the Long Gallery to Sidespace, exhibitions span painting, photography, ceramics, jewellery and more, with a strong focus on Tasmanian voices. It’s a place where art feels active, lived-in and deeply connected to community.
77 Salamanca Place, Battery Point
Lady Franklin Gallery
Lady Franklin Gallery is a quirky art space (open Sundays), housed inside a historic, Greek-inspired sandstone building in the leafy suburb of Lenah Valley. It was commissioned in 1842 by Jane Franklin, wife of Governor John Franklin, and paid for out of her own pocket after she despaired at the lack of cultural spaces in Hobart at the time. Today, it operates as a community arts co-op, hosting monthly changing exhibitions and workshops led by local artists, all run by the Art Society of Tasmania.
268 Lenah Valley Road, Lenah Valley
MONA
Calling MONA an art gallery barely scratches the surface. Set on an 8.5-acre peninsula north of Hobart, the Museum of Old and New Art is a fully immersive world, blending architecture, landscape, food, wine and provocation with extraordinary confidence.
The subterranean museum houses more than 1900 works, from ancient artefacts to confrontational contemporary installations, navigated via a self-guided digital device rather than traditional labels. Expect moments of awe, discomfort and genuine wonder. MONA isn’t just Tasmania’s most famous cultural export, it’s one of the most influential art spaces in the world.
655 Main Road, Berriedale
Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery
The sensible older sister of the outrageous MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is Hobart’s more traditional cultural offering. You won’t find a poo machine here, but you will find loads of interesting exhibitions, from historical collections of convict artefacts, Aboriginal art from the palawa people, colonial arts and crafts and family-friends kids’ exhibitions. In addition to its permanent collections, TMAG hosts several new exhibitions a year.
Dunn Place, Hobart
Contemporary Art Tasmania
Contemporary Art Tasmania (CAT) is a striking and welcoming space that brings experimental and contemporary art to life in Tasmania. Since its humble beginnings in 1982, CAT has become a key part of the local art scene, offering exhibitions, artist residencies, and professional development opportunities. The gallery’s program is all about fostering creative exploration, connecting local artists with national and global trends.
Beyond exhibitions, CAT also provides a supportive environment for emerging artists, offering mentorship and a chance to present new work. Their Engagement Program sparks conversation and deepens the connection between art and community, making art accessible and engaging for everyone.
27 Tasma Street, North Hobart
Handmark
For Allanah Dopson, Handmark’s Director, the gallery is a tribute to the “… handmade, the family of Tasmanian artists we represent, and our great staff.” Since its opening in 1980, Handmark has showcased the diverse and eclectic talents emerging from the Tasmanian art scene. The gallery, located in a coveted building in the historic Salamanca hub, features works by both established and emerging artists. From raku-fired ceramics and glass sculptures to textiles and wood, the unique pieces sit alongside more traditional mediums, offering a chance to adorn your walls or simply admire.
77 Salamanca Place, Hobart
Art Mob
An integral part of the many vibrant art galleries in Hobart, Art Mob is a gallery renowned for its celebration of Aboriginal art, jewellery, and cultural objects. Specialising in works by prominent Palawa/Tasmanian artists, Art Mob has garnered global recognition for its thoughtfully curated exhibitions. Under the guidance of director Euan Hills, whose extensive knowledge of Indigenous art, its creators, and their stories enriches every visit, the gallery offers an unparalleled experience. If time allows, be sure to explore the packing room, where an extensive collection of art is available for viewing, providing further insight into this remarkable space.
29 Hunter Street, Hobart
Despard Gallery
Well into its fourth decade, Despard Gallery has been a constant in Hobart’s art scene since 1985. Housed in a beautiful sandstone building a stone’s throw from Salamanca Place, the current space was purpose-built above its original gallery location. Historic timber posts are a nod to the past, but the artwork focuses on contemporary work, and Despard is known for its brilliant and extensive exhibition featuring local, national and international artists.
A leading art gallery since its founding, it has been recognised globally for international exhibitions in the likes of New York and Chicago. Despards’ exhibitions rotate frequently, but it’s the creativity and consideration behind the curation of its shows that sets it apart.
Level 1/15 Castray Esplanade, Hobart
Good Grief
With its unmistakable yellow exterior and ever-evolving program, Good Grief brings a playful, experimental energy to Hobart’s art scene. Housed in a former automotive workshop, the gallery champions emerging artists working across performance, sound, textiles, furniture and installation.
Exhibition openings spill into the courtyard, often blurring the line between art event and neighbourhood gathering. Add in market days, film screenings and a sharp retail offering, and Good Grief feels less like a gallery and more like a creative clubhouse.
62 Argyle Street, Hobart
From world-renowned institutions to artist-run spaces quietly pushing boundaries, Hobart’s best galleries reflect a city deeply comfortable with creativity in all its forms. Pair an afternoon of art with a long lunch, a market wander or a late dinner, and it becomes clear why this harbour city continues to punch well above its weight culturally. Art lovers, you’re in very good hands here. And with an array of exceptional restaurants and markets to explore, the inspiration hardly ends when the gallery doors close.
