Wendy Hornsby and her artist husband, Lloyd Hornsby are starting to hang pictures in the space they’ve built on the edge of town on the New England Highway towards Armidale.  The Gawura Gallery they’ve created is to open on October 6.

Lloyd Hornsby said he grew up thinking he was Maori.  He was abandoned by his parents but brought up by a close relative who decided not to tell him about his Chinese-Aborigine parentage for fear he would be taken away.  She told him he was Maori and only in his late 60s, about a decadea go, did he learn his true heritage.

A couple of inspiring teachers put him on the track to art and now he is recognised as an established Aboriginal artist.  

He and Wendy say they have been welcomed to Glen Innes both by ordinary people and by the council which has seen the venture as a potential tourist draw.