Host Ilona Nelson interviews local artist and psychologist Terri Russell Barker on The Artier Side about growing up in Melbourne’s West, then leaving and returning. Barker describes always identifying as an artist, but shifting into visual communications and corporate design, then reconnecting with her personal practice around 2016 through women’s group exhibitions and The Art Room (TAR). She discusses vulnerability, the support of creative community, and evolving from skill-building in drawing and painting into clay, sculpture, video, and photography. Her first solo exhibition, “Rage Be Comes Her,” explores women’s anger, embodiment, and feminism, informed by research and her psychology work, and invites audiences to engage with discomfort and speak about what makes them angry. The show runs at Parallel Projects, Footscray, 18 July–21 August 2026, with an artist talk 15 August.

Host Ilona Nelson introduces The Artier Side and interviews Erika Gofton, founder of The Art Room, about moving from Hobart to Melbourne’s west, her early creative life, art-school experiences, and the shift from identifying mainly as a painter to a multidisciplinary practice centered on drawing, the human body, and motherhood.

Erika explains how teaching began after having her son and evolved into The Art Room, which grew from community classes to a large Cowper Street studio with galleries (Parallel Projects and Conduit), a maker shop, library, and dedicated teaching spaces for drawing, ceramics, painting, open studio, and printmaking. She outlines the philosophy: artist-led, kind teachers; a safe, non-assessed environment; and programs designed to build skills toward autonomous, sustainable practice. The episode closes with local favorites in Melbourne’s west.