The Brewarrina community unleashed their artistic talents recently in a combined exhibition bringing local talent together in a spirit of shared celebration.

On the evening of Monday 7 November the long-awaited Community Art Exhibition was unveiled at the Brewarrina Information Centre.

The night was opened with a welcome to country and then a welcome dance by the young Brewarrina Waroowugagirri Dance group. 

Mayor Vivian Slacksmith welcomed a crowd of more than one hundred people from all walks of life in a ceremony on the lawns outside the centre.

Her heartfelt speech reflected her love and commitment for the community and acknowledged the benefits of coming together. 

"It was an absolute joy to open this exhibition during our tough times with flooding, a huge effort to organise this event for all the community who were seeking a social event to attend, " Cr Slack-Smith said.

"The artwork was an amazing display from our community, the talented artists should be very proud of their achievements. Let’s do it again!!"  

Everyone then entered the gallery to mingle and enjoy all the art done by the school children and many community members.  

The work of exhibition organiser Sandra Hardy (aka Kimmy) and her consistent commitment to Brewarrina Central School and its students was highlighted on that night, along with the support of Belinda Boney from the Brewarrina Local Aboriginal Land Council.

ABOVE: Kimmy Hardy & Belinda Boney

These two women went out to all of the schools and out to community - even into people's homes - to encourage everyone to participate. by put in their artwork and provided all the supplies to do so. The rule was that you could only use three colours of your choice and the theme was 'Community, Country, Culture, Connection'. They not only did this in Brewarrina but went out to Weilmoringle and Goodooga as well.  

Ms Hardy said the idea came from Ros McGregor who is a Senior Leader at the Walgett Senior Campus. “As we are both Senior Leaders we like to share ideas on what’s working at our schools," said Kimmy.

 “I reckon it was awesome, with lots of people from the whole community coming together.”

 Belinda Boney was also pleased with the community's enthusiasm for the art exhibition and grateful to be involved.

“Art is a passion of mine and I jumped at the chance to do something for community," she said.

"When Kimmy asked, I didn’t hesitate as we needed something to lift the community after all this flooding.”

“The night was awesome, and I didn’t expect that many people to turn up. It was tiring leading up to it but was worth it in the end.” 

Above: Belinda Boney

 Tiffany Winters and her organisation 'Yarruu Indigenous Corporation allowed local people to use her space to work on their art and was also involved with the event. Yarruu is a very new organisation set up by Tiffany and is becoming a community hub for all to use.

 “Our Community Art Show was a massive success with so many people at our opening," said Tiffany.

“What amazing talent we have in Brewarrina - our beautiful children and community members submitted astonishing art and stories.

 “Thank you to everyone who pitched in over the past few weeks and all who helped today. A special shout out to Sandra Hardy and Belinda Boney for all of the effort you put in to making this night a success!”