Uncomplicated by opening hours, the revolving program of artworks is visible 24/7 to pedestrians walking along Sturt St where Unicorn Lane hits the main road.

Photographer Christine McFetridge installed her exhibition Winter Garden in the glass-fronted “galleries” on the wall of Unicorn Lane last week.

The 21 photographs, each measuring about 12cm x 15cm, are installed in eight display boxes on the wall of the laneway – opposite the gingerbread man mural that is part of the City of Ballarat’s Christmas 3D art trail.

“I haven’t installed in an outdoor space before so it was interesting,” Ms McFetridge said.

“I think because of the way my work is, it’s not meant to be viewed in a linear way so it suits the space quite well and I’ve been able to experiment with the way the images appear.”

Winter Garden is a series of photographs taken of Ms McFetridge’s family and friends in Christchurch, New Zealand, taken when she re-visited the city following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.

The landscape also takes on its own character in the works.

“I really like the outdoor gallery and appreciate having the opportunity to put my work somewhere a little unconventional,” she said.

“Sometimes I think the white walls of a gallery aren’t that inclusive. It’s nice to be more public and more accessible. Having artwork in a more unusual place can make it look different and engage people in the community in different ways.

“In a gallery it is sometimes quite exclusive and I don’t see the point in having works that aren’t accessible.”

The Unicorn Lane Gallery is attracting even more visitors than usual with its 3D gingerbread man taking a rest on the Christmas 3D art trail.

“Even as we were installing the series we had lots of people come in to the laneway to see the gingerbread man,” Ms McFetridge said.

Ballarat mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh said Unicorn Lane Gallery, and the Christmas art trail, were showcasing art in the CBD.

“When the Unicorn Lane Art Gallery was launched in 2014 it was … to encourage people to be more active and enjoy the arts,” Cr McIntosh said.

“Art is not something accessible to everyone and we want to, as a city, make it as available as possible. Some people may not feel comfortable wandering in to a gallery but to put public art in to interesting places like Unicorn Lane opens up a piece of imagination for someone who might not have discovered art before.”

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Winter Garden will be in the Unicorn Lane until early January when it is replaced with John Z McKee’s digitised drawings from January 9 to 31.

The February installation is Cover Versions featuring drawings and paintings from Dillon Naylor and Shane Van Den Akker. In March there are paintings by David Mellows, April will host 1 Million Stars to End Violence and May will be a group show by the Ballarat North Neighbourhood House Creative Arts program.

Alexandra Bell’s linocuts and photographs will start winter in the gallery with Jo Rye’s small sculptures and a group show form the Arthur Creative Arts program seeing out the cooler months.

The Biennale of Australian Art will take over the space from September to early November while Jessica Schroeter’s new works are the final instalment, from November 8 to December 3, for the 2018 program.