Arts Programs, Projects and Initiatives
Image: Rush Festival, Jackass, 2017
Current Projects
Arts and Cultural E-newsletter
Did you know that the Arts and Cultural team produces a fortnightly e-newsletter? Subscribe now to hear all the latest news about upcoming events, workshops, grants, and opportunities across our region – or send us an email to share your creative community news, events and activities.
Or click on this link to see previous editions.
Who are you? Arts and Cultural stakeholder survey
In response to community consultation we are working on improving communications with the aim of increasing opportunities for local artists and creatives.
As part of this project, Gympie region artists and creatives are invited to fill in a brief survey to submit their updated contact details. These details will be used to create an up-to-date contact database for Council's use, with the aim of increasing opportunities for local artists, performers, and creatives.
Opera Queensland and Gympie Regional Council proudly present
Are You Lonesome Tonight: A Celebration of Country Music and Opera
Wednesday 28 May
6:30pm
Nelson Reserve Sound Shell*
Free Entry
Click here to book your free tickets! https://www.trybooking.com/CZYOK
Bring a chair or a picnic blanket and join us for a night of unforgettable music under the stars!
Don't miss this free blockbuster event! Come in your jeans and boots or your tuxedos and ballgowns, this is opera like you’ve never seen it before!
Are You Lonesome Tonight is a unique celebration of country music and opera, featuring arias and songs by Puccini, Verdi, Slim Dusty, Troy Cassar-Daly and Dolly Parton. Join us for an unforgettable night of music – by the finale, you’ll be on your feet cheering for more!
Our cast of young Australian singers Gabrielle Diaz, Marcus Corowa and Jonathan Hickey will perform with soaring harmonies, masterful musicianship, and an irresistible energy. The result? A foot-stomping, heart-stirring performance that bridges two musical worlds in a way that feels fresh, exciting, and downright fun.
Returning for a second season, Are You Lonesome Tonight is Opera Queensland’s most successful regional tour in its 40-year history. Visiting more than 30 communities and travelling some 8,000 kilometres across Queensland in 2021, this show is now coming all the way to Gympie!
Come in your jeans and boots or your tuxedos and ballgowns, this is opera like you’ve never seen it before – bold, adventurous, and full of heart.
*Wet weather venue: The Senior Citizen’s Centre, 40 Mellor Street
Creative Team
Concept PATRICK NOLAN
Director LAURA HANSFORD
Design PENNY CHALLEN
Lighting WESLEY BLUFF
Musical Director ALEX RAINERI / TREVOR JONES
Music Consultant Opera DANE LAM
Music Consultant Country SARA STORER
Cast
GABRIELLE DIAZ, MARCUS COROWA, JONATHAN HICKEY
This performance of Are You Lonesome Tonight is presented by Opera Queensland and Gympie Regional Council. The National Tour of Are You Lonesome Tonight is supported by Creative Australia through the Playing Australia Fund and Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
Gympie Region Studio Trails 2025
Every July, Gympie Region Studio Trails offers a rare opportunity to explore behind the scenes of the private studios of the Gympie region’s artists and artisans and discover a hidden side of the beautiful Gympie region.
Expressions of interest for Gympie Region Studio Trails 2025 have now closed.
Gympie Region Studio Trails 2025 is coming soon!
Review Gympie Region Studio Trails 2024
Regional Arts Development Fund 2024-2025
The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Gympie Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
There are two RADF Grant Categories in 2024-2025.
Creative Projects (Rounds 1 and 2)
- To support projects that improve arts and cultural outcomes in the Gympie region through the development/presentation of new arts or cultural projects and/or through increasing opportunities for participation in and/or appreciation of arts and culture within the Gympie region.
- Maximum $8,000
- Up to 80% of the total project costs.
- Minimum applicant contribution 20% toward the total project costs.
Creative Capacity and Professional Development (Rolling Round)
- To support arts organisations, artists, and arts workers to build on established creative and professional practice and/or share their skills and knowledge with the local arts and cultural community.
- Maximum $2,500
- No co-contribution required.
- Creative Capacity and Professional Development funding can be used to attend or present professional development / workshops; attend conferences, events, or exhibitions where a professional development benefit can be demonstrated; or other capacity building or professional development activities.
The Rolling round is now open. Round two opens on 27 Janaury 2025.
To find out all the information you need on how to apply, what’s eligible, and what comes next please
Creative Recovery Mentoring Program
Gympie Regional Council recognises Creative Recovery as an essential tool in disaster preparation and recovery. In 2024 council’s Community Recovery and Resilience, Community Development, and Arts and Cultural teams have collaborated to launch a new Creative Recovery Mentoring Program. Gympie creatives were offered the opportunity to submit their expression of interest to participate in training and mentorship and develop their creative recovery project to a “shovel-ready” point.
We would like to offer our congratulation to our participants: Robert Nobilia, Debra Bennet, Elli Webb, Emily Murphy-O’Neill, Tex O’Neill, and Sheryl Anderson.
The aim of the Creative Recovery Mentoring Program is to support local creatives to develop and implement effective and meaningful creative recovery projects and support community towards resilience and recovery through active participation in cultural and creative processes. We look forward to seeing the Creative Recovery Projects this talented cohort will bring to the Gympie Region.
Arts and Cultural Strategy 2023-2028
The Arts and Cultural Strategy 2023-2028 identifies priorities to develop and celebrate arts and culture in the Gympie region from 2023-2028.. The Strategy was developed in the context of three existing documents: the Arts and Cultural Plan 2015-2025, which was endorsed in January 2015; the formal review which was carried out between April and June 2020; and the Gympie Regional Council Corporate plan 2022-2027. The Arts and Cultural Strategy 2023-2028 was subsequently developed by the Arts, Community and Culture team, in consultation with internal stakeholders.
Community Consultation on the Draft Arts and Cultural Strategy 2023-2028 and Public Art Policy 2023 was launched on 14 June and closed on 30 July. Officers then amended and refined the strategy, incorporating community feedback. The penultimate version of the Strategy was presented to Council workshop on 11 October 2023 and endorsed by Council on 25 October 2023. The Arts and Cultural Strategy 2023-2028 was officially launched on Friday 10 November. To read the final document please visit the Arts and Cultural Strategy, Policies, and Forums page.
GRC Creative Partnerships Initiative 2022 - 2023
In 2022 Council announced its Creative Partnerships Initiative, as part of its annual submission to RADF.
The Creative Partnerships Initiative requested quotes from organisations, groups, arts and cultural practitioners and workers to fund creative projects and initiatives that supported the establishment of strategic partnerships with Council and the local creative sector.
Successful applicants in 2022 were:
- Heart and Soul Sisters: Community Mural Projects - Between 2023 and 2024 Heart and Soul Sisters are working with local artists to produce two community mural projects on amenities blocks in parks in the Gympie region. These Community Mural Projects are about giving Gympie regional children & young people the opportunity to participate creatively by leaving their fingerprint (literally) on a beautiful collaborative mural that can be admired by community members and visitors to Gympie.
- Creative Arts Gympie Region: Duets Part Deux and Tourism Mixer - Duets Part Deux is the second iteration of the Duets project, following the success of DUETS: collaboration in creativity in 2021. The project pairs two artists specialising in differing mediums and asks them to create a new work that utilises non-traditional spaces throughout Gympie. CAGR will launch the festival again from the 29th of September running until the 2nd of October 2023. CAGR will kick off 2024 with a new strategic initiative to bring together local artists and tourism operators across the region in a forum that unlocks new commercial opportunities and extends the markets and audiences for local creative product. Similar to a mini arts market, the Creative Tourism Mixer will provide a platform to showcase the products and work of professional artists and artisans in our region.
Image: Studio Trails 2022
Annual Projects
Gympie Region Studio Trails
Every July, Gympie Region Studio Trails invites you to take a rare opportunity to explore behind the scenes of the private studios of the Gympie region’s artists and artisans and discover a hidden side of the beautiful Gympie region.
Meet the artists and share the secrets of their creative process. Gympie Region Studio Trails is an annual initiative of Gympie Regional Council that invites visual artists, artisans, heritage workers and designers to open their studio doors and share their passions.
Join us for Gympie Region Studio Trails this July and discover one of Australia’s most vibrant and resilient creative communities.
Click here to find out more about this year’s Gympie Region Studio Trails.
Gympie Region Arts and Cultural Forums
The Gympie Region Arts and Cultural Forums are an important part of addressing the need for networking and communication across the sector and a great chance to share your news and views.
Regional Arts Development Fund
The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Gympie Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
For more information on applying to Council’s Regional Arts Development Fund Grants program, click here
Regional Arts Development Fund - Council Initiated Projects
As part of the annual submission to Arts Queensland for the Regional Arts Development Fund, Council applies for funding to support a number of initiatives that respond to the objectives and strategic themes in the Draft Arts and Cultural Strategy.
Image: Gold Rush Parade and Carnivale, 2019
Past Projects
Flipside Circus
Gympie Regional Council was proud to bring the award-winning Flipside circus to Gympie in October 2024 for two days of free circus skills workshops culminating in a performance of The Cubby, a brand-new work created with regional and remote Queensland communities. Over 130 people joined Flipside Circus at the Pavilion to be enthralled by Flipside's high energy performance.
For most of the audience it was their first time seeing a show live, so Flipside quickly showed them how to clap and cheer for the performers - an exercise they showed great talent for! Flipside loved the venue, the audience, and the vibe and we hope to see them back in Gympie soon. Flipside Circus is Queensland’s largest youth arts company – an award-winning company with a reputation for excellence in training and performance as well as for supporting Queensland’s world-leading circus sector. Gympie Regional Council was proud to bring Flipside Circus to Gympie as a Regional Arts Development Fund project.
MZAZA performance August 2024
Three-time Queensland Music Award winners MZAZA toured nationally in 2024 and Gympie Regional Council was proud to bring them to Gympie for a free performance on Friday 9 August.
MZAZA has enraptured audiences at MONA FOMA, Queensland Music Festival, Cygnet, National and Woodford Folk Festivals, and visited airwaves and venues internationally and now it was Gympie’s turn.
A sold-out crowd was awed and exhilarated by the impressive and powerful performance.
To see more about MZAZA please click here. MZAZA
Arts and Cultural Forums 2024
The first Arts and Cultural Forums for 2024 was held on Wednesday 21 February at the beautiful Gympie campus, University of the Sunshine Coast, 71 Cartwright Road, Gympie. This was an opportunity for the creative sector and general community to take a look at Creative Recovery and hear more about the new Creative Recovery Mentoring Program.
The second Gympie Region Arts and Cultural Forum for 2024 was held on Tuesday 10 September in the Gympie Music Hall at the AICM (Australian institute of Country Music) co-presented with Creative Arts Gympie Region. Approximately 45 artists, arts workers, and advocates joined us to meet, mingle, and hear from key creative stakeholders, including Perseverance Street Theatre Company, the Australian Institute of Country Music, Mary Valley Arts Link, ART POST and Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival, and take the first steps towards exploring Cultural Mapping in the Gympie Region.
Arts and Cultural Forum 2023
The Arts and Cultural Forum was held on Tuesday 11 July 2023 at the Pavilion, as part of Community Consultation on the Draft Arts and Culture Strategy 2023-2028. Approximately 46 community members and stakeholders participated in a positive and challenging discussion ranging from the wording of the strategy, to the community’s most urgent concerns and priorities. Valuable feedback on the strategy, priorities, and actions was received and documented. The forum concluded with a performance by Linc Phelps.
GRC Creative Partnerships Initiative 2022 - 2023
In 2022 Council announced its Creative Partnerships Initiative, as part of its annual submission to RADF.
The Creative Partnerships Initiative requested quotes from organisations, groups, arts and cultural practitioners and workers to fund creative projects and initiatives that supported the establishment of strategic partnerships with Council and the local creative sector.
An Online Information Session was held on Monday 6th February 2023. The recorded session can be accessed here
First Nations Regional Partnerships
Respectful and meaningful engagement with our First Nations people is a priority for the three neighbouring local government organisations in Gympie, Noosa and the Sunshine Coast. The three Council boundaries all fall within the Kabi Kabi Native Title Claim area; therefore, a regional collaboration is an opportunity for a comprehensive approach to effective engagement with the broader First Nation’s community.
This project aims to:
- Establish lasting and meaningful connections with First Nations artists and cultural practitioners across the local government areas with the Traditional Owners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people residing in the Gympie, Noosa and Sunshine Coast regions;
- Engage key stakeholders and local government officials in Cultural Protocols Training and Cultural Awareness sessions.
- Develop a framework to collaborate effectively with consideration and respect to engagement protocols.
- Provide an opportunity for First Nations people and arts and cultural practitioners to inform Councils on their priorities and how to work together to achieve desired outcomes.
- Scope and plan for a pilot project developed from the framework and to work as a catalyst for future projects.
The Tank – Gympie Gold Mining and Historical Museum
This project aims to support the Gympie Gold Mining and Historical Museum in the development and curation of the primary exhibit space located near the entry to the Museum – The Tank.
Currently this space houses a collection of artifacts, memorabilia and donated heirloom objects. The vision for this space is to curate a contemporary, dynamic and interactive exhibit with the inclusion of digital storytelling to present the chronological story of gold mining in Gympie.
Red for Remembrance 1918 - 2018 We Will Not Forget
On the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War, Remembrance Day 11 November 2018, we remembered all those who served, died or suffered serving our country during conflicts. This project acknowledged our region’s history and the significant contribution of Queenslanders in the WW1 campaign for their courage, integrity, resilience, mateship, teamwork, duty and sacrifice.
This historic event was commemorated with a major event from 4pm on Saturday 10 November at Memorial Park in Gympie.
A series of short film documentaries was created as part of the project.
- Red for Remembrance video clip
- Memorial Park and Laneway: a place of Remembrance in Gympie
- George Thomas
- Queensland's Emu Plume: the kangaroo feather
- The Home Front: the impact on families during WWI
- The Larrikin Streak: humour in adversity
This project was proudly supported by the Queensland Government.