BEAVER Galleries has “Instance”, works on paper and ceramics by Judy Horacek. At 81 Denison Street Deakin, 10am-5pm, Tuesday to Sunday, May 2-19. Everyone is invited to the opening, which kicks of at 6pm, Thursday, May 2.

FORM Gallery in Queanbeyan will be hosting a champagne breakfast at the gallery, which will coincide with the group exhibition, “Interpretations of Place”. Ticket sales and 10 per cent of any art purchased on the day will be donated to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation. At 1/30 Aurora Avenue, Queanbeyan, 11am, Friday, May 3. Tickets $20 at the door. This is a fully catered event with canapes and bubbly.

IVA Hancevic-Grabic round board paintings use high flow acrylic paint in her exhibition “Shapes and Circles”. At Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court, Belconnen, 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday, until May 17. The opening celebration will be from 5.30pm on Wednesday, May 1. All welcome.

“CONNECTIONS” is an exhibition of art quilts created by members of the Studio Art Quilt Associates – Oceania. It explores the many interpretations of connection from relationships to physical bonds, the simple state of feeling connected, and how people connect in difficult circumstances with ideas or people who are unlike ourselves. SAQA president Lisa Walton and exhibition juror Meredith Hinchcliffe will open the exhibition at 6pm, Friday, May 3. All welcome. The exhibition continues until June 1.

M16 Artspace has new exhibitions opening this week. “In My Mind’s Eye: Responses to Place, Southern Highlands Printmakers” draws on the diversity, skill and professionalism of the 24 current members of the Southern Highlands Printmakers, “Digitas” by Keely van Order grapples with how technology interacts with human perception, and “Woodlands” sees artist Shannon Donahue’s installation inspired by folklore, animals and nature. In Chute Space, “In3D” sees Rajan Reddy and Franz Schroedl combine coloured surfaces (lustre glazes) with digital prototyping (clay 3D-printing). All opening at 21 Blaxland Crescent, Griffith, 6pm, Thursday, May 2. All welcome, then showing noon-5pm, Wednesday to Sunday, until May 19. 

THE “What Is It With Earrings?!” exhibition at Bilk Gallery has outstanding earrings and ear ornamentations by more than 25 artists. At Palmerston Lane, Manuka, opening 6pm, May 3 then continues until June 7.

IN “On the Verge”, two graduates from the ANU School of Art & Design, Thea Katauskas and Susan Banks, turn the spotlight onto the overlooked life of the nature strip, noting the invisible human interventions and activity that maintain the life of Canberra, as well as the thriving nature that persists whilst being hemmed by roadways and built environments. At ANCA Gallery, 1 Rosevear Place, Dickson, 10am-5pm, Tuesday to Friday, until May 19.

“THE Crossing” mixed media collages by Pete Smith, Deborah Perrow and John Pratt are based on 12 sketches of Lake George by the Canberra artist Smith. It’s at Strathnairn Arts Gallery, 90 Stockdill Drive Holt, from 10am-4pm, Wednesday to Friday, May 2-26. Official opening by Rob Painter, 11.30am, Saturday, May 4. All welcome.

BELCONNEN Arts Centre has two diverse and experimental exhibitions. The first, “Around Squares” by Al Phemister, features cubes without straight edges. The second, “Metamorphosis Unframed”, is an open exhibition of works on unframed A3 paper with a $500 people’s choice award. Opening at the centre on Emu Bank, 6pm, this Friday, May 3. All welcome. The exhibitions will continue until June 9. 

BDA Interiors brings together Canberra designers and makers such as Sparks & Dust, Made by Marcell, Polka Luka and Core Interiors in a pop-up exhibition showcasing cutting edge homewares, furniture, and jewellery, at BDA Interiors Showroom, corner of Franklin & Furneaux Street, Manuka. It opens from 6pm, Friday, May 3.

TOM Campbell and Kute Bash present an investigation into critical ideas of place through textiles, objects and documentation, which began as a site-specific project in the Bendora Arboretum. “Arboretum / The Map Shop” is at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka, 19 Furneaux Street, Manuka, opening at 6pm, Friday, May 3. It continues until May 12.