Visual Arts

There are two major regional galleries in the region – Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery and Glasshouse Regional Gallery (Port Macquarie). A new and larger Coffs Regional Gallery is being developed in association with a new library and museum within the complex as part of a major plan to vitalise the City Centre of Coffs Harbour.

In total there are nearly fifty galleries in the region. Significant community run galleries with changing exhibitions can be found in Port Macquarie, Gladstone, Macksville, Urunga, Bellingen and Sawtell while many others are retail based. There are also several Aboriginal galleries and centres across the region including the Dunghutti–Ngaku Aboriginal Arts Gallery (Kempsey) and the Wadjar Regional Indigenous Gallery at Corindi.

Public Art is found throughout the region and previously a large scale outdoor sculpture competition and exhibition, Sculpture in the Gaol, was held each year at Trial Bay Gaol (South West Rocks). Street Art is also increasing both in extent and sophistication and style

Theatre and Performing Arts

There is strong interest in theatre and performing arts, with a number of touring companies and performers staging regular performances across the region. Glasshouse Theatre in Port Macquarie and Jetty Theatre in Coffs Harbour provide regional venues for touring performances across theatre, dance and music. Progress is also well underway for planning an 800 seat theatre in Coffs Harbour and major plans are being pursued for a revamp of the Jetty Theatre, upgrading many of its facilities and adding a major space for rehearsals and other community uses.

There are smaller but very active community based theatre groups in Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Dorrigo and Stuarts Point. All local companies rely heavily on volunteers and very few of these productions are sufficiently resourced to tour. Got Ya Back Productions in Port Macquarie is the exception touring both within Regional NSW and Sydney. Drama as a subject is confined primarily to the private school sector while dance occurs in many local dance schools outside of the school system.

Music

Mid North Coast communities have a strong history of engagement with music across a very wide spectrum of genres. The region’s many festivals focus upon world music, jazz, contemporary, acoustic, folk and bluegrass genres and attract broad interest both within and outside the region. These festivals typically accommodate a mix of local and touring performers and provide opportunities for emerging local talent and community participation.

The small township of Kendall hosts the Kendall National Violin Competition, Australia’s preeminent contest for young violinists for over 20 years. There is a very active and strong regional conservatorium at Coffs Harbour providing formal music training and strong music education opportunities within many primary and secondary schools. Music is a priority artform for Arts Mid North Coast assisted by the appointment of a Music NSW, Regional Music Officer and the development of the Music in the Regions organisation advising the Minister for the Arts. Arts Mid North Coast supported youth music mentorship programs in the region during 2022 and will work with APRA AMCOS in 2023 to deliver further programs.

Aboriginal Arts & Culture

Based on 2016 Census figures 5.8 percent of the Mid North Coast population were of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, well above the State figure of 2.9 percent. This is not uniform across the region with more significant numbers in Kempsey Shire (11.6 percent) and Nambucca (7.3 percent). Our region has an independent peak body for Aboriginal culture, the Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance (SWFW). It is a unique model in the RADO Network for the delivery of Aboriginal Arts and Culture in a more impactful way in line with principles of self-determination. Saltwater Freshwater Arts provides a year-round program of activities grounded in arts and skills development across a range of different art forms. It also manages the annual Saltwater Freshwater Festival.

Film and Digital Arts

Engagement with film and the digital arts has increased dramatically in the last five years. This has been led by Screenwave in Coffs Harbour and its very successful annual International Film Festival held in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen and its Nextwave workshops and film festival which focuses on the development of young film makers through high schools in the region. Screenwave has also developed a Film Industry Group. Arts Mid North Coast has strongly supported all three projects. Touring film festivals to the region are also well supported by the local population as is support for events at a number of the historic cinemas still operating in the region.

Literature

The region has several literary festivals with the most established being the Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival. In recent years the Grassroots Writers Festival which began in Dorrigo has travelled to Nambucca and Port Macquarie. These events all recognise the large number of writers groups in the region. This interest is also reflected in the active role local libraries now play in staging events throughout the year and for younger people in school holiday periods. While the traditional focus of many of the events is books they now also involve a broader range of art forms.

Museums

There are more than twenty museums in the region. Most are local museums but there are several specialist museums including the Mid Coast Maritime in Museum in Port Macquarie, the Slim Dusty Museum in Kempsey, the National Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour and the Sikh Heritage Museum of Australia in Woolgoolga. All of the local museums with the exception of the Coffs Regional Museum are managed and staffed by volunteer members of local historical societies. The multi award winning Port Macquarie Museum leads the Mid Coast Chapter of Museums Australia which provides many training and sharing opportunities across the region.

Festivals & Events

The Mid North Coast has a strong record of successful arts related events with some such as Camp Creative dating back 20 years. Today they range across all genres of music, art, sculpture, Aboriginal culture, street art, literature and film. What is common to all is that they are managed by passionate local volunteers and herein lays a challenge for there is a limit to that passion over time without proper succession planning. The challenges facing these events and volunteers include a limited sponsorship base in the region, increased management requirements and protocols and increased competition from sports events which seem to have a higher priority with Councils. Nevertheless the potential remains for them to be a major showcase of the regions talent plus bring outside talent to the region. This will require closer relationships with the tourism industry and local business.