Bellingen Shire Arts Week - part 1

This weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the inaugural Bellingen Shire Arts Week along the mid-north coast of New South Wales.  For those unfamiliar with the area, Bellingen Shire encompasses the coastline and beautiful inland spaces south and west of Coffs Harbour. Roughly 5-6 hours by car from both Brisbane and Sydney, the area is also served by flights to Coffs Harbour airport.

Although my trip was brief, it was clear that Bellingen Shire is a creative enclave which takes pride in its local talent, community and landscapes. With views like this, it's easy to see why so many are making a tree-change:

Like many of my travel posts, I'm going to break this into a few parts. The first of which will focus on the festival and local artists; followed by landscapes, community and more. I must admit that it was a lot to take in for two days, you could visit for two months or more and still have only scratched the surface.

Arts Week is a multidisciplinary event combining the Bellingen Music Festival, art exhibitions, reading and writing events and workshops.  Arts Week is being held over nine days (August 20-28, 2013) and is hosted by scores of venues throughout the region. Of course with so much on, I was only able to get a small taste of the festival in the days that I visited.

The Bellingen Music Festival launched into full swing on Friday with the Arts Week opening and a fundraiser for Bellingen Youth Orchestra including a performance by the Australian Chamber Orchestra 2. I wasn't familiar with ACO2, but was delighted to see their efforts to develop classical musicians in regional Australia. It's easy to get behind a group that's passionate about what they do and passionate about sharing it with young Australia.

The music festival continued throughout the weekend with both local and international talent contributing to the program. I want to pay a special nod to the Bellingen Youth Orchestra. I was fortunate to hear both their string quartet and full orchestra. With a repertoire which reached from classical music to the likes of Louis Armstrong and cartoon scores, the Bellingen area has their hands full of talented young musicians. The introduction to Arts Week video gives you an inkling of their capability.

Along with attending performances, I enjoyed my time in the shire visiting galleries and taking in pop-up exhibitions in storefronts and cafes.  The Bellingen Shire is home to many galleries that have rotating exhibitions throughout the year including the Nexus Gallery at the Old Butter Factory and Bellingen Gallery & Framing Studio in the heart of Bellingen. During Arts Week, shops and cafes opened their walls and windows adding additional display spaces  to the already arts rich area. As I heard in the festival opening, the week was about making art accessible to everyone. Most of the exhibitions are free and there are a number of workshops available for those who want to extend their skills.

The clay, ceramics and pottery in this post are shown from the Coastal Clay Makers exhibition; photographed and shared with the permission of the exhibition curators. I took special interest in the photography and print exhibitions, of course; but I knew taking photos of photos wouldn't do them justice. Thankfully, the festival organizers have done a terrific job of collating and sharing links to the exhibitions on the festival Facebook page.  

On a personal note, my favorite exhibition was collaborative showing from Alex Cowley and Tim Aickin, Gethin Coles and Jack Meaghar called Long Shots featuring landscape and life photography held in the exhibition space in Bellingen's historic Hammond and Wheatley Building.  

As a maker myself, one thing that really stood out to me about the artists in the Bellingen Shire area is that while it's a supportive and collaborative community, each artist has managed to retain a unique voice with their work - collective but independent, if you will.

This year's Arts Week workshops ran the gamut including drawing, storytelling, model making and even breathing.  In addition to Arts Week, the area also hosts Camp Creative in January with additional opportunities to engage in new ideas or try your hand at a new medium.

I must be honest; when I was first invited up to visit Bellingen Arts week, I was a bit nervous that I'd been sent to report on naff craft. Rooster embellished quilts, needlepoint kits, state fair art -- you know the sort. Although I've lived in Australia for ten years and traveled extensively, it's hard to shake regional stereotypes. I was completely taken aback. As you can see, the work wasn't just good; it is of a quality that could be displayed in galleries or museums in any city. I'm not sure how I missed hearing about the creative talent in mid-north NSW before, but one thing is for certain. I'll be back to visit and won't overlook it again.

If you are quick, there's still time to pop up to Bellingen Shire to see exhibitions, screenings and performances at Arts Week which is on through September 28. If you can't make it this weekend, don't fret; there's plenty to see and do throughout the year. The next post will cover more about the community, and landscapes.

Pack your bags, grab your camera; go see the Bellingen region.

^Disclosure: this was an organized media trip including travel and accommodation. Content, reviews and recommendations are based on personal experience.