About Pink Ember

Pink Ember is a queer artist-run space in Narrm/Melbourne. We are a group of artists volunteering together to create a space that supports local queer artists, and showcases our work and ideas. We have a workshop space for ceramics, life drawing and other art workshops, a gallery and an events space, as well as a community of 22 artists who have studios with us.

How We Started

Founders Germ Flack, Aaron Billings, Aoife Billings, and Frances Cannon opened Pink Ember in 2018 in a tiny shopfront on O'Hea Street in Coburg. We've since moved to a bigger space at 22 Allenby Street in Coburg North, where we can actually fit everyone and everything we want to do.

How We Still Exist

We don't rely on external income, we're self-supported by the rent we all pay for our studios and held together by the admin and bureaucratic battling of Aoife Billings, Aaron Billings, Frances Cannon and Jemma Hayman. Pink Ember runs on an idea of if one of our artists wants to try something, we'll take turns helping make it happen. We try to keep the space as affordable as possible, hence the team works as volunteers. 

What Happens Here for the Public

Pink Ember is a place for platforming our queer community and sharing our ideas with everyone who walks through the door. We've hosted exhibitions, fundraisers, performance nights, drag shows, indie film screenings, the Great Queer Pottery Throwdown, parties and much more.

Regular Programming

The most consistent events we run:

Aoife Billings teaches ceramic sculpture every week.

Aaron Billings hosts Speaking to Pictures; a quarterly poetry, comics, and zine reading night that finally got the zine people and poetry people in the same room. Speakers bring images to show alongside their work: comics, photos, sculptures, props, sometimes puppets.

Frances Cannon and Elias Youssef run life drawing classes out of the space, prioritising queer, fat, POC, and/or disabled life models and students. 

Why We're Here

We wanted a space where queer artists and allies could feel like it was theirs, share skills and resources, and a place to make art and share it. To support artists to live as artists. We believe that artists thrive when they pool resources, share skills and have a third space, outside the home to gather and make art. When artists thrive, the whole community benefits.

Directors
Aaron Billings, Aoife Billings, Frances Cannon.

Founding Members
Aaron Billings, Aoife Billings, Frances Cannon, Germ Flack.

The front entrance is a roller door with no steps

Floors are sealed concrete in the front building, tiles in the back building.

83cm doorframes throughout the venue.

There is a 26cm step to enter the back half of the building.

The bathroom is in the back half of the building and therefore not fully wheelchair accessible.

We ask everyone to wear a face mask at Pink Ember’s events and workshops to protect our immunocompromised community members.

Face masks are available at the door.

Please stay home if you are feeling unwell

Contact pinkemberstudio@gmail.com if you cannot attend an event/workshop due to illness or have any other questions.

We are a queer-run not for profit arts organisation run by a team of volunteers

If you would like to support us, we gratefully accept financial donations to help us keep running and improving the space!

Make a Donation