Residents asked to shape the direction of arts and culture in the region
Published: 10 Aug 2023
If you have an interest in anything cultural, musical, artistic, theatrical or anything generally creative and expressive, then you have an exciting opportunity to shape our region.
Council is currently undertaking community consultation to create a new Mackay Region Arts and Culture Plan.
Mayor Greg Williamson said council was passionate about enhancing our region’s liveability.
“Arts and culture are intrinsically linked to the liveability of our region,” Mayor Williamson said.
“The arts entertain us; they make our lives more vibrant, interesting and exciting; they challenge us, make us think and often evoke an emotional response,” he said.
“A region without culture or the arts would be a very dull place.”
“Luckily, our region already has a vibrant arts and culture scene – we have amazing festivals, a diverse art collection, a state-of-the-art theatre showing a range of local and travelling productions and we have an arts development program that is always working to foster up-and-coming creatives.
“What this Arts and Culture Plan will do is allow as to fine tune our efforts.
“We want to identify any gaps in the region, be they geographical or types of art and culture that residents feel we don’t support sufficiently. We would also like to hear where we are doing well – so we can keep doing it.
“If you feel that your part of the region misses out, now is the time to let us know; if you feel there are better ways we could be fostering grass-roots creative projects, we want to hear them, and if you want to see more of a particular type of art, now’s the time to make your voice heard.”
Having your input on the direction of arts and culture in our region is easy – simply head to connectingmackay.com.au. Once there, you can complete a short online survey or register to join a face-to-face focus group session. The survey closes on Sunday, September 17 at 11.59pm.
Face-to-face sessions will be held on:
- September 4, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at Jubilee Community Centre, Alfred Street
- September 5, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at Badila Art and Craft Gallery, Elsie Nash St, Pinnacle
- September 6, from 9.30am to 11.30am at Jubilee Community Centre, Alfred Street
- September 7, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at Council Client Service Centre, Broad Street, Sarina
Image: If you want to see more of a particular type of art, like paste-ups and street
art (pictured with artist Muddy Grimes and assistant), now is the time to make your voice heard.