An art gallery has popped up as an unexpected tenant in a northern NSW industrial estate. 

Named after the street it is in, Lundberg Gallery was opened after three challenging years for artist, curator and director Clive Sheridan.  

"I didn't even walk in the door," Mr Sheridan said.

"I came around the corner and went 'I'm home'."

Tired of the Sydney lifestyle, he sought out a new home in the Northern Rivers region but craved somewhere different to Byron Bay.

Mr Sheridan discovered Murwillumbah.

His artistic eye saw potential beyond the concrete panelled walls and electric roller doors of the new industrial estate before him.

"I needed to come to somewhere that didn't have anything like this," he said.

Been there done that

He knew the challenges he would face, having launched a gallery 15 years ago in an industrial estate in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom.

Devastating floods in northern NSW this year stalled his progress.

"The walls were muddy and brown," he said.

"It was the last shed to be completed because they used this as the garage for all the machinery, all the paint, all the acid."

The gallery has since hosted its first exhibition, Unfold, featuring six artists.

 "I think the title speaks for itself and all that we've been through," Mr Sheridan said.

Even close friends were not allowed to see the gallery until Mr Sheridan was satisfied.

His neighbours were surprised by the new business.

 "At first they were a bit mixed," he said.

"They couldn't believe that I would want go open such an establishment on an industrial estate.

He said the picturesque Murwillumbah region, in the middle of an extinct volcanic caldera, was ready for a cultural explosion.

He said when he first arrived there was local resistance to late night bars, restaurants and entertainment but that had changed.

"I've watched this town almost turn on its head and for the better," Mr Sheridan said.

The next show in August will be a photographic print exhibition featuring artists from London and Vanuatu.