Welcome to our list of arts and cultural events happening in the NSW Central West gathered from artists, event producers, great local venues and groups across the region. Use the contact or ticketing details listed with each event.
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For maps and details of museums, galleries, artist studios, historic sites, Aboriginal experiences and sites, craft shops, handmade retail outlets or public art go to the Culture Maps Central NSW menu.
Laura Baker: Corrugated Town
Sat 2 September - Sun 5 November
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery presents Corrugated Town by Laura Baker.
Crumbly buildings with tin roofs, chicken wire fences and hand-painted signs. The small town we grew up in; got stuck in; left; returned to; retired to; resign to.
Australian country towns have long been criticised for their unsympathetic design. Scarce funds are spread across large land, resulting in reoccurring potholes during wet summers, and businesses closing during drought, bushfire, and flood. The weather is always too hot; too dry; too wet; too.
But through rarely relenting adversity presses the spirit of the people. These are communities and homes and farms and livelihoods. Lived together. Supporting each other.
Through a reflective and laborious practice, fragile representations explore the harsh qualities of the Australian landscape. Fences, buildings and annual fallen leaves appear, suggesting a nostalgia, acceptance, and appreciation of this place.
This is an ode to the regional town; a body of work celebrating the unique landscape of power lines, uneven footpaths and corrugated everything.
Opening Friday 1 September 2023, 6pm
RSVP Essential – Click here to book
Laura Baker
Laura Baker is an Australian visual artist working in the medium of paper cutting.
Laura was born in the Central West region of NSW and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the College of Fine Arts (now UNSW Art & Design). Laura spent several years living in Sydney and Melbourne whilst working in the independent book industry, before completing post-graduate studies in Arts & Cultural Management. She now lives in her hometown of Blayney NSW.
Starting with unmarked paper, Laura uses surgical cuts to explore the qualities, detail, and shape of the Australian landscape. Forms appear from the negative space as images are ‘drawn’ with the blade. A tension exists between the pull of metal through paper and the delicate strands left behind. The final pieces are as much as about the paper imagery, as the emptiness and the faint shadows cast beyond the work.
Laura is currently exhibited in the Arts OutWest exhibition While the World Waits (2022-2024) and Artists in Volatile Landscapes at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (2023). Recent exhibitions include Watch your step at Maitland Regional Art Gallery (2023), Corrugated Town at Brunswick Street Gallery (2022), and Ghost Gums at LEDA Gallery (2022).
Image: Laura Baker, The old water heater (detail), 2022. hand cut paper, 33 x 24cm. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Related Events
The What’s On calendar covers arts and heritage events happening across the NSW Central West in the local government areas of Bathurst Region, Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra, Forbes, Lachlan, Lithgow, Mid-Western Region, Oberon, Orange, Parkes and Weddin.
Event listings are sourced or supplied from local venues and arts organisations. Many events listed here have been originally shared by the organisers on social media. Whilst all care is taken – and accuracy is our priority – we can take no responsibility for date changes or the content of contributed information. Contact the event organisers listed for more details or to book tickets.
The best way to include your event is to use our SUBMIT HERE form (under the What’s On menu at the top of each page). These listings will be manually approved by the Arts OutWest team before publication. Please allow a couple of days for listings to be published. If you have submitted an event and want to make changes just email us at artsoutwest@csu.edu.au
‘Featured events‘ are those submitted directly online by presenters.
Event promotors are asked to only include their own original images / images that they have permission to use / copyright free stock images. For more information see our fact sheet on Using Images For Promoting Events (if you can’t see this link look under ‘Opportunities’ then ‘Resources’).