OUTBACK ARTS LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE CREATIVE COUNTRY, TO SHOWCASE FAR WEST NSW’S PUBLIC ART AND CULTURAL EXPERIENCES ON INTERACTIVE MAP

Creative Country, this region, in the words of our project artist Andrew Hull “is where land opens up, the spaces are bigger, and inevitably the people and the culture reflect the scale of this landscape.

This expanse is where ideas have space to grow and where art fills the space diversely and authentically,” and I couldn’t agree with him more said Jamie-Lea Trindall, Executive Director, Outback Arts.

“It’s truly remarkable what this wide, wild outback place has to offer, and Creative Country is the perfect tool to gather this information together. For the first time, locals and travellers to the region

will be able to pinpoint creative places, meet the makers, learn the story behind pieces of public art, connect to Aboriginal experiences, get the low down on local museums, find festivals, events,

and fun things to do with the family – and even help plan their next road trip,” continued Jamie-Lea.

Encompassing over 163,000 kilometres and seven local government areas including Bourke, Brewarrina, Bogan (Nyngan), Cobar, Coonamble, Walgett, and Warren, and all the towns in between,

Creative Country will collate more than 150 galleries, experiences, public art and events in one handy location.

Travellers heading to this year’s Lightning Ridge Easter Festival can use Creative Country to make sure they don’t miss out on any of the other exceptional experiences during their visit to the

Opal capital. From the John Murray Gallery, full of unique and funny bush artworks by Australia’s leading outback artist, to Stanley the Emu, an 18-metre-tall emu constructed from

more than a tonne of scrap metal, three Volkswagen bodies and a pair of rusting satellite dishes.

Visitors making their way to Brewarrina for the Baiame's Ngunnhu Festival, can also use Creative Country to experience the culturally rich sites Brewarrina has to offer, like the Brewarrina

Aboriginal Cultural Museum which showcases a variety of artworks and artefacts from local and regional artists or a guided tour of the extraordinary Fish Traps, thought to be one of the

oldest man made structures in the world.

The interactive map can also help travellers discover the towns on route to the festival – from Nyngan’s Big Bogan statue, the abundance of murals throughout Gulargambone and

Coonamble, or visit the newly opened Warren Museum and Art Gallery, showcasing the region’s cultural heritage and landscape through interactive displays and video projections.

To celebrate the launch of Creative Country, Outback Arts is giving away 25 limited edition Creative Country Caps and a $25 Outback Arts Gallery Voucher** this Easter school holidays.

Simply share a picture on Facebook or Instagram at one of the many galleries in the Far West from 7th to 17th April, tagging @outbackarts and #creativecountrylaunch for your chance to win.

“We’ll continue to expand on the content of Creative Country. Locals will be able to keep us up to date with new listings and events, and we are also looking to include our two

neighbouring regions of Arts North West and West Darling Arts, so soon you will be able to use Creative Country to explore and plan all the way from Broken Hill to Tenterfield,”

concluded Jamie-Lea.