Meet and greet for local art

“It is more important to the community than people think.”

That is what Arts North West executive director Caroline Downer said about the importance of arts and culture in small communities.

Recently Arts North West hosted a function at the Council Chambers on February 3 to highlight that importance.

Arts North West offers support to art projects around the North West region by seeking grants and funding for local art propositions.

About 30 local art enthusiasts attended the meet and greet session which included representatives from Narrabri Arts and Craft Society, NDCAS, the Tourist Information Centre, the Narrabri Shire Council ADFAS, Narrabri Community College and locally-based businesses.

The attendees were informed about how Narrabri’s artistic culture would benefit from Arts North West’s involvement.

The meeting was also an opportunity for Arts North West to see what the arts community of Narrabri has in store for 2020.

Arts North West executive director Caroline Downer said the meeting was a good chance for locals to understand how Arts North West can build the arts in Narrabri.

“We help artists and arts organisations across our region to develop projects and to find funding for them,” she said.

“These types of information sessions are a two-way street.

“It gives me an opportunity to see what is happening in Narrabri and what people are up to and some of the projects they’re working on.

“And it also gives them the chance to see where we can help them.

“It’s a great way to get to know people in the shire.”

Mrs Downer said it was important to have a community which is invested and interested in the arts.

“Arts and culture are interesting because they have so many feeders into so many areas where we work,” she said.

“People tend to forget that arts and culture tend to play a role in health and community well-being.

“There are lots of projects that look at community resilience after disasters.

“So we work in that space but also have a big foot in tourism, we work in education. It’s not one of those little isolated bubbles that is by itself.

“It is very much a fabric of our society and if you can imagine your life having nothing to do with arts and culture your life would be very monotonous.”