Born and raised in Orange, James Sutherland is a singer songwriter, whose earliest memories of music come from his mum and dad playing Keith Urban’s albums while cooking dinner, while he and his siblings would just sit and listen.

The NSW Government has announced plans for a new Destination Network, moving a large portion of the Arts OutWest region into a new Central NSW network.

Parkes Shire Council is pleased to be partnering with the Parkes Community Arts Inc to host the upcoming Teeny Tiny Art Festival next month.

Celebration event Friday 3 December, 6.30pm.  The extension project includes a new 270 square metre contemporary gallery with ground-breaking lighting design, a 74 seat gallery theatre, a new state-of-the art storage and conservation area and refurbishments to existing spaces.

The NSW Government is investing $9.37 million in the state’s arts and cultural sector through Round 1 of Create NSW’s 2021/22 Arts and Cultural Funding Program – with some wins for the Central West.

The Cowra Festival of International Understanding will be back in 2022, but rather than a focus on an individual country, next year will see the celebration of the proud history of the Festival

This is STILL one of the most popular things we get asked at Arts OutWest. Who teaches ceramics? Who supplies materials?  Who has kilns? What groups are there? Here’s an updated local list.

Mudgee until 21 November. Sculptures in the Garden 2021 is officially underway. The $25,000 Sculptures in the Garden and Mid-Western Regional Council Acquisition Prize went to ‘Ahead’ by Harrie Fasher (Portland)

The Cowra Regional Art Gallery is pleased to announce the winner of the Calleen Art Award 2021 is Bathurst based artist Rachel Ellis with her painting Claret Ash, Bathurst.

Cementa have smashed past their first milestone of $25,000 towards buying the Wayout Artspace premises in Kandos. The momentum now is for the next target – and you can contribute.

WATCH & VOTE: The finalists for the Lithgow Halloween Smartphone Film Competition have been selected from the 357 films entered this year by the expert panel from SF3.

Parkes is set to host a celebration of musical theatre and opera at the new Cooke Park Pavilion under the beautiful night sky of Parkes at the inaugural ‘Overture’ event on Saturday 2 April 2022.

WATCH: Developed using Dementia-Friendly Communities Community Engagement Program funding, the Creative Dementia Workshops focus on art, music and mindfulness therapies.

Each month the Regional Music Officers bring you a brand new update to our Spotify playlists. Filled with incredible talent from around their local areas, dive in to some of the best new tunes NSW has to offer from across…

Friday 26 November 2021. The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Regional Stakeholder Forum (online) will focus on how cultural organisations from Western Sydney and across regional NSW connected with their communities and audiences.

The NSW Government has announced $3.4 million in funding for the Regional Arts Network in 2021/22. The RADO network is pivotal in supporting and facilitating outstanding arts and cultural outcomes for communities across regional NSW.

Lakes Alive Progress Association was awarded funding from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) program in to place a mural on the water tower at the corner of Canada and Uabba Streets. 

Some precision balancing took place at Mudgee Arts Precinct last week as the sculpture ‘Balancing the Books V’ by Stephen King was installed in the precinct’s garden.

Mitchell Conservatorium have announced that their Director/ CEO Graham Sattler will depart after 8 years, to take up the role of CEO of Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand.

Three incredible writers haven made history by becoming the first joint winners in the Short Story Section of the 2021 Banjo Paterson Writing Awards and impressive writing featured in the ABC Radio Children’s Awards.

Cowra Regional Art Gallery is proud to announce the finalists for the prestigious Calleen Art Award 2021 acquisitive painting prize. Open to artists across Australian the Calleen Art Award received 407 entries and 47 artists have been shortlisted as finalists.

Looking for online activities, tours, exhibitions or workshops? We’ve compilied a list of things happening internet-side across the region.

After 15 years of amazing service Regional Arts NSW CEO Elizabeth Rogers is moving on. Elizabeth is taking her considerable skills, abilities and experience to the Canberra Glassworks, where she is taking up the position of CEO.

HOW ART CAN HELP SHAPE OUR REGIONAL FUTURE. On Friday 15 October, Asialink Arts and Cementa inc. are joining forces to host an online symposium exploring the potential of art to impact the future of regional communities.

More than $7 million will flow to regional arts and entertainment organisations to attract additional tourists to Australian regions and to speed economic recovery in communities hit hard by COVID-19, as part of the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Tourism package.

Cementa Inc is thrilled to announce the participants in the Regional Artist Professional Development Program, funded through the Regional Arts Fund Recovery Grant.

Over three days in September, Artlands 2021 on lutruwita land, Launceston will enable a series of exchanges and help to enhance a creative ecosystem which is interconnected and integrated across Country, communities and art forms.

A community performance project that uses large-scale puppetry, physical theatre and cabaret to tell the story of Mount Panorama and what it means to people has received the backing of the NSW Government.

It has sat unoccupied for almost 20 years. But not for much longer. The former Forbes and District Ambulance Station is now once step closer to becoming a cultural and arts centre

Round 2 arts and culture funding has been announced with exciting Central West NSW projects, facilities and artists funded.

The Mitchell Conservatorium of Music will this month take up residence in the former Bathurst Railway District Engineers Buildings located on the corner of Piper and Havannah Streets Bathurst.

Support the first early childhood collection by regional Australian not-for-profit publisher, Dirt Lane Press: The Secret Boat poems for children by Mark Macleod & Gaye Chapman.

Orange photographer and proud Wiradjuri woman Kristin Byrnes has launched a photography business, thanks to her ‘life-changing’ TAFE NSW experience.

Create NSW has developed protocols to give guidance and direction to the sector when working with Aboriginal artists, cultural practitioners and communities.

A quick survey about what you need from Regional Arts NSW.

Congratulations to Wayne Miles ~ winner of the 2021 Forbes Shire Council Heritage Art Competition Aquisition Prize for his contemporary interpretation of the well-known ambrotype photograph of Ben Hall.

Just wonderful to see Christine McMillan showing in Kandos! Wood, carp scales, echidna spines by Christine McMillan is currently on show until mid-June.

Cowra Civic Centre has announced a program of theatre, comedy, dance, world and classical music, workshops, feature films, world cinema and documentary screenings including Australian and international artists.

Charles Sturt University’s director of external engagement Julia Andrews has been appointed to the Board of state peak body Regional Arts NSW.

Bathurst visual artist Karen Golland has been appointed to the board of First Draft, Australia’s premier space for emerging and experimental arts practice.

May 20-26. The Orange Regional Conservatorium (ORC) is proud to be welcoming Leanne Sullivan as artist in residence for a week of lessons, classes, workshops and performances.

Exhibition to June 12. Now on at the Cowra Regional Gallery is the wonderful regional art exhibition the Lachlan Valley Biennial Art Awards 2021 showcasing 100 artworks by 61 artists based within a radius of 100 klms from Cowra.

Orange Regional Gallery’s Extension Project reached major milestones recently with the pouring of the 1070m2 slab, blockwork starting on the collection store, and community donations for the project reaching $415,000.

Composer Peter Kennard and Portland-based visual Artist Sue Daley have recently completed a project entitled ‘Love Letter’ funded by a Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust, Quick Response Grant.

The ‘Bird in Hand’ sculpture is the latest installation to be unveiled along Forbes’ Sculpture Down the Lachlan trail.

‘LET THE RIVER GO’ is the new LP by O’Connell based band The Safety of Life at Sea.

As Orange Regional Gallery’s Extension Project moves into full gear, one of Australia’s most acclaimed artists, John Olsen AO has made a remarkable gesture to mark the occasion.

Orange City Council is on the lookout for members of the community to share untold stories of previous generations and events in Orange’s history.

Congratulations to Bathurst Regional Art Gallery Director Sarah Gurich on being elected President of the NSW Public and Regional Galleries Association.

The first live music concert of the Inland Sea of Sound in 2021 will feature three great bands for the ridiculously low price of $20 for Adults and $15 for Students and Concessions (Pensioners & Unemployed).

The Orange Regional Conservatorium and Cowra Civic Centre will welcome the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows to town for performances and master classes in the last week of February.

This beautiful new artwork is located along the Mid-Western Highway in the small, rural village of Caragabal in Central West NSW. Completed in 2020, it aims to celebrate the unique local bird life at Caragabal and raise awareness of local threatened species.

The Hill End based artist and writer’s biography ‘Kate Kelly; the true story of Ned Kelly’s little sister’ is published by Allen and Unwin – release date 16 February 2021.

A mini bus of kids ages 7-14 years, a list of Central West destinations and plenty of public art and cultural experiences. Orange – Eugowra – Grenfell – Carcoar.

Residents of Parkes celebrated the opening of a new learning and cultural facility last month at The Parkes Library.

This Funding will assist The CORRIDOR project 2021 Arts and Cultural program aiming to ignite innovative, contemporary, collaborations between artists, community, and tourists.

Watch all the presentations online.

Sculpting in the Pyrocene: A Disappearing Act was one of 7 films selected for The Picture Show at the End of the World, international short film screening event.