The Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum is preparing for three new exhibitions, which staff hope will have something for everyone.

The Ashburton Embroiderers’ Guild will stage its Braided Threads show from 6-27 February.

Jonathan Kay’s photography exhibition Cryosphere documents landscapes through environmental, political and scientific filters (5 February to 6 March).

Motoko Watanabe is a Dunedin artist who creates large-scale, softly-sculptured forms from second-hand and recycled materials (5 February to 6 March).

Facility director Shirin Khosraviani said the embroidery show was a chance for visitors to see the fascinating and intricate work of local craftspeople. The show was postponed from last year because of covid.

“The Embroiderers’ Guild has a long history in the community and its 40-odd members hold a show every two years.

“There’ll be an impressive array of their artworks that celebrate the practice of embroidery, in a traditional and contemporary form. We hope visitors will check out all three new exhibitions."

The gallery recently hosted workshops for adults and children to learn from acclaimed New Zealand author and illustrator David Elliot, who has a special connection to Ashburton.

A competition as part of that workshop saw two story writers earn $25 vouchers from Paper Plus (Ruby Carr and Angus Schmack) and six artists earn $25 vouchers from the Warehouse (Madison Usmar, Angus Schmack, Noah Baynes, Rebecca Field).

Downstairs, the Museum’s hugely popular circus exhibition, Under the Big Top, continues until 13 February.

As part of the circus theme, members of the Canterbury Circus Trust last week ran short courses teaching circus skills like juggling.