Community invited to hop into fun frog project for 2026 CREATE Festival

Wee Waa is set to become a little more colourful, with the community invited to hop into a new collaborative art project inspired by the Aboriginal story of Tiddalick the Frog.

The Frogs of Wee Waa project celebrates stories, creativity and connections flowing through our community.

The Community Arts and Cultural Centre invites artists, schools, community groups and local residents to get involved in an exciting new project called Tiddalick: The Frogs of Wee Waa.

Wee Waa Men’s Shed members have already enthusiastically leapt on board, pictured in this article receiving their wooden frogs, currently blank canvases waiting to be decorated in style.

Forget the princess’s kiss; these frogs will be transformed and brought to life by locals through individual artistic flair and boundless imagination.

Readers might have spotted the ever-enthusiastic WWCACC coordinator Lisa Almagro hopping around at the Wee Waa Show, distributing wooden frog templates and sending them off to new homes ready for reinvention.

Jeff Parish, Russel Burke, Ron Lowder, Peter Lowder, Robert Kahl and Neville Patterson; front, Ken Trindall, Awan Eveleigh, Greg Robinson, Rob Downey and Elizabeth Horne. Photos: supplied.

Participants can give their frogs a makeover using any medium, including painting, drawing, textiles and fibre art, collage, weaving, mosaic, mixed media, sculpture and more.

The collaborative artwork project is part of October’s CREATE Festival and the exhibition As the River Flows, So Life Goes.

Inspired by the Aboriginal story of Tiddalick the Frog, the project explores themes of water, connection, creativity and shared responsibility.

WWCACC explains that, in the traditional story, Tiddalick drinks all the water in the land, causing rivers and creeks to dry up until the animals work together to bring the water back.

The story reminds people of the importance of water, the balance of nature and the power of communities working together.

Artists and groups will receive a wooden frog shape inspired by species found in the Wee Waa region, including Waterholding Frogs, Banjo Frogs and Crucifix Frogs.

Each design is set to reflect the creator’s connection to water, local stories, environmental themes, cultural identity, community or their own interpretation of the exhibition theme.

Greg Robinson and Lisa Almagro.

The completed frogs will become part of a large-scale installation displayed throughout the WWCACC gallery during CREATE Festival, making a collective river of stories that celebrates the creativity and diversity of Wee Waa and the wider Narrabri Shire community.

WWCACC encourages local artists and makers, schools and students, community organisations, families and individual community members, aged care groups, disability support services, cultural and social groups to jump on board the fun frog project.

As always, the Yellow Door warmly welcomes participants of all ages and abilities to take part.

Through this project, WWCACC hopes to encourage creative participation across the community, foster collaboration between artists, schools and community groups, celebrate local wildlife and environmental themes, provide accessible and inclusive creative opportunities, create a visually engaging large-scale exhibition outcome, and strengthen community connection through shared storytelling and art.