Arts & Culture

Eurobodalla Shire Council has granted $25,000 to the River of Art festival to create large-scale street art murals that celebrate the community's resilience and renewal after the Black Summer bushfires. The murals will remain as permanent public artworks, with two in Batemans Bay, two in Narooma and one in Moruya. During the festival’s nine days from 18-27 September, the collaborative...

It’s the 1980s in rural NSW and Gini is living the ideal life of a country wife and mother of two. She and her then husband shared a love of horses, farming and their kids in a small community near Young, in the state's South West Slopes. It was Shangri-La for a time, but a sense of unease was creeping...

Art will be taken to new heights in Harden-Murrumburrah with plans afoot to use the twin towns’ soaring historic flour mill as a canvas. The transformation of the landmark building – which sits on the town’s main thoroughfare in Murrumburrah – will end decades of speculation which at one time could well have seen it become a five-storey glass planetarium...

Bega Valley Shire Library is bringing the joy of storytime to children who are deaf and hard of hearing with the tale of a little dragon who lost his spark. Jim Averbeck’s Oh No, Little Dragon! is the first of many books to be simultaneously read aloud and delivered in Auslan sign language by the Bega Valley Shire Library. Long-running library...

Love hasn't quite gone to plan for Farmer Wants a Wife's Neil Seaman of Crookwell and his chosen wife, Justine Adams, from Queensland, since filming of the reality television show ended. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works, closing the NSW and Queensland border just one week after the pair's reunion, which airs on the evening of Monday,...

From the ashes of the Dunns Road bushfire arises a reason for the communities of Batlow, Tumut and Tumbarumba to celebrate with the announcement of a new festival to aid bushfire recovery. Exactly one year after the calamitous 50-day fire wrought havoc on families, farms, towns, villages and forests in the region east of Kosciuszco National Park, there will be...

Mogo zookeeper Chad Staples shot to national attention when he led his team in the battle against the devastating Black Summer bushfires. Now his fighting spirit is being celebrated in an entry in this year's Archibald Prize. Painted by Mogo Wildlife Park's resident artist, Lord DJ Stief, the work is titled The Tiger of Mogo and was inspired by Chad's leadership,...

Among those South Coast institutions adapting to COVID restrictions is the Far South Film Festival, which will be held online or the first time on August 23 this year and will be followed by an awards presentation on the same day. The Film Festival Awards will be hosted by award-winning actor Frankie J Holden and actress and President of the...

Photographer Michael Harris knew exactly how he wanted his photo of Sugar Pine Walk, and now it has netted him $500. Michael, from South Nowra, has been announced as the winner of the Sugar Pine Walk commemorative photo competition with his image titled Winterlong. The commemorative competition – a Forestry Corporation of NSW initiative – was announced earlier this year after...

The Federal Government has announced the Tilba Festival and the Welcome to the Snowy Mountains 2021 Concert will receive Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants. Funding of $20,000 to the Welcome to the Snowy Mountains 2021 Concert, and $30,000 to the Tilba Festival 2021, will help boost domestic visitors to the Eden-Monaro region and support the local tourism industry in response...

The latest additions to Batemans Bay's Sculpture Walk have provoked a social media storm, with some critics labelling one a "dangerous rust bucket" and another "malnourished whale tails". For the small, hardworking Sculpture for Clyde committee, it could be seen as a kick in the guts, but volunteer Maggie Brennan prefers to look at it as lively public debate. "It's...

With the 2020 River of Art Festival scheduled to start in September, artists are being urged to enter their work in this year’s festival art prize. Working within COVID-19 restrictions, the festival’s art prize will be a highlight of the Eurobodalla’s annual celebration of the region’s rich artistic life. Now in its 15th year, arts events will be held from...

Bega Valley musicians Corey Legge and The New Graces are keeping each other company in country music top 10 charts this month. The New Graces – comprising band members Robyn Martin, Kate Burke and Melanie Horsnell – have been holding a place in the Australian Country Radio and ABC Country top 10 since the release of their debut album, "Seasons", in...

Finalists for the biennial Basil Sellers Art Prize have been announced, with the winner to be revealed on Friday, 9 October. The works of the selected finalists will be exhibited at the Basil Sellers Exhibition Centre in Moruya from Saturday, 10 October to Monday, 9 November. The Basil Sellers Art Prize is named after Australian businessman and philanthropist Basil Sellers,...

In spite of bushfires, floods and COVID-19, art is alive and well in the Bega Valley Shire. A new digital arts showcase launched on Saturday (1 August), promoting the region's artists, musicians and talent. The Bega Valley Regional Gallery (BVRG) launched Art Month Sapphire Coast 2020, a digital celebration of artistic talent from the region, while the gallery itself hosts...

The 2020 Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award has been won by Western Australian physiotherapist Cameron Richards from a field of 38 outstanding entries. Mr Richards has no formal art education and uses painting as a creative outlet. He used acrylic on canvas for the winning portrait entitled Miss Priya Premkumar. As a guest judge, National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan...