.: Arts North West :. - Art as an Industry

Art as an Industry

The Art as an Industry Project focuses on the visual arts in the region. It aims to provide valuable information to visual artists and the visual arts industry, to generate further employment and investment, and create more opportunities for visual artists in the region to increase exposure and markets for their work.

Art as an Industry Symposiums are being held across the region. They are an opportunity for artists, art teachers and students, galleries, arts and crafts suppliers and others with an interest in exploring new ways of engaging with art as an industry.

Visual Arts Surveys, which are being taken alongside the Symposiums, are providing a valuable picture of the status of the industry in the region and identifying future opportunities - including the development of artists’ pages for the web.

The project has been developed in collaboration between Arts North West Regional Arts Board and the Northern Inland Regional Development Board. It has received support from the Department of State and Regional Development, the New England Institute of TAFE and participating local government Councils in the New England North West region.

Regionally based artist, Angus Nivison proposed the original idea based on feedback he had received from visual artists in the region.

Art as an Industry Symposiums aimed at increasing people's understanding of how artists are an integral part of this region's cultural sustainability, have been held in Armidale (2006), Tamworth (2007), Moree (2007) and Inverell (2007).

The fifth and final Symposium was held in Quirindi on Friday 16 May 2008. Survey reports will now be collated and will be a valuable resource in the development of follow-up projects.