Moving Mountains Gallery opens in Globe Lane

The Moving Mountains Gallery is the brainchild of local studio Verb Syndicate, which runs the popular Wonderwalls street art festival.

In the lead-up to the festival, which will be held over the October long weekend, various street artists will fill the narrow gallery's walls to celebrate street and non-traditional art.

"We've taken over this space from Wollongong Central in the lead-up to Wonderwalls, and hopefully it might get to live on a bit longer than that too," Simon Grant said. "We'll be displaying some cutting-edge contemporary street artists, so [it's] the stuff that might get overlooked by more traditional galleries."

First up is Corrimal artist Mitch Guerin, who paints under a Cormac McCarthy-influenced pseudonym, Bafcat, and whose striking murals adorn walls in Sydney's inner west, Oxford Street and, more recently, in his home town outside Corrimal Coles.

Aside from displaying his fluoro, animal-inspired paintings and art works, the collaborative exhibition will show off three local artisans' skills.

Guerin's designs will be reproduced on products from Steel City Skateboards, DP Surfboards and screen printers Kingprint Creations, with a limited run of each available to buy during the exhibition.

Meanwhile, Wollongong City Council has lodged a new application to allow for a wider range of activities to take place in the laneway.

Under existing consent, only outdoor dining is allowed in Globe Lane, but the council wants to make way for flower and fruit kiosks, pop-up street trading, live music, pavement art, markets, performance and horse-drawn carriages.

According to the council's plans, this would "enhance the character, heritage, ambience and safety of Globe Lane", and allow existing businesses in the area to hold creative events to further activate the space.

Moving Mountains Gallery, located opposite San Churro, opens on Thursday at 6pm and will run for two weeks.