Regional Arts NSW - The peak body for regional arts activity in New South Wales

Media Release

One year on from the death of Pro Hart
New report asks, "What is the future for the arts in Broken Hill?"

4 April 2007

Cover of the reportA GROUNDBREAKING new report on
the state of the arts and cultural industries sector in and around Broken Hill will be launched today by the Chair of the Far Western Regional Development Board, Neville Gasmier at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery at 6.30pm.

The report - Quality of Light, Quality of Life: Professional Artists and Cultural Industries in and around Broken Hill - is based on new research which is the first of its kind undertaken in this remote far west region of NSW. It offers an important new model for future arts research in regional Australia.

An initiative of West Darling Arts and the Regional Arts NSW Audience Development Project, managed by Lisa Andersen, who co-authored the report, the project came about after the death of artist Pro Hart in 2006 led to concerns that the arts sector in the far west was both ageing and declining.

In a partnership between Regional Arts NSW, the Far Western Regional Development Board, West Darling Arts, the University of Adelaide, the University of Technology and the NSW Department of State and Regional Development, the project surveyed 45 professional artists in the region and captured information about arts practice, audiences and markets, and income and business practice.

51% of respondents were visual artists, crafts practitioners or designers. Others were cultural managers and arts teachers (25%), musicians (7%) or writers (5%). Interestingly, the research has shown that local consumption accounts for 39% of the market and a further 30% of sales are to visitors to the region. The are also healthy inter-regional (16%) and interstate (12%) markets and the USA and Europe account for most international sales.

"What we found was that it is a confident, growing sector and that professional artists in Broken Hill earn more income and have more time to work on their creative practices than the national average for artists," Lisa Andersen said.

"However," she added, "there is work to be done and the report makes 51 recommendations for developing arts and cultural industries and increasing community engagement, including a professional artist network, a new market development agency, mentoring and apprenticeship programs for young people, greater visibility for Indigenous artists, and the establishment of a Film Museum in the town."

A Round Table with government and peak body representatives, and representatives from the local arts industry, will also be held this afternoon to discuss in detail the findings of the research and to develop strategies to further develop and strengthen the local arts and cultural industries sector.

Download the report

Download the report in PDF Quality of Light, Quality of Life [PDF 3MB]