| Western Riverina Arts Newsletter October 2026| Leeton Shire | Narrandera Shire | Murrumbidgee | Griffith City | |
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Community Opening of Marrum: Marrambidya Galing |
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On Saturday, 17 October 2026, the Leeton Museum and Art Gallery (LMAG) officially opened its newest exhibition, Marrum: Marrambidya Galing.
The exhibition explores the deep connection between water and the important role the Marrambidya Bila (Murrumbidgee River) has played in shaping and sustaining the Wiradyuri people and Country for thousands of years. Featuring sculpture, artworks, textiles and storytelling, there is plenty to take in, learn and admire in this exhibition.
Bringing Marrum: Marrambidya Galing to life has been a collaborative effort, drawing on the knowledge, stories and creativity of the Wiradyuri community. The exhibition design and curation was led by Elijah Ingram and Bernard Higgins of Miil Miil Productions, alongside the Leeton and District Local Aboriginal Land Council, Leeton Shire Council, Western Riverina Arts and other project partners. The exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to connect with the cultural knowledge and enduring relationship between Wiradyuri people and the Murrumbidgee River.
The opening began at 10:30 am with speeches acknowledging the hard work, collaboration and dedication and recognising the many people and countless hours of work that go into making an exhibition of this calibre possible. Following the speeches, the new commemorative plaque was unveiled. Attendees were invited upstairs to explore the new permanent home of Marrum: Marrambidya Galing, accompanied by the smooth sounds of the legendary Lawrence Barlow on guitar and vocals.
To experience the exhibition for yourself, the Leeton Museum and Art Gallery is open Monday to Saturday, from 10 am to 3 pm, excluding public holidays. Entry is free. |
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| Image: The commemorative plaque unveiled. Photo by Zooey Korhonen, courtesy of Leeton Museum & Art Gallery, 2026 |
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Image: Visitors enjoying the exhibit. Photo by Zooey Korhonen, courtesy of Leeton Museum & Art Gallery, 2026 |
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Image: Admiration of the work involved in such a detailed weaving. Photo by Zooey Korhonen, courtesy of Leeton Museum & Art Gallery, 2026 |
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| Image: Lawrence Barlow Performance. Photo by Jay Korhonen, WRA, 2026 |
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| Image: Robyn Hutchinson (Left), Cr Nicholas Wright (Centre), and Leeton Shire Council GM Jackie Kruger (Right) presenting the plaque for the new accessible lift for LMAG. Photo by Zooey Korhonen, courtesy of Leeton Museum & Art Gallery, 2026 |
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Partnering on Lighting Up Culture Deniliquin |
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| Western Riverina Arts Creative Officer Elijah Ingram recently attended ‘Lighting Up Culture’ as a collaborator representing Miil Miil Productions and WRA. The workshop was an introduction to projection mapping, which is an innovative creative technology that transforms digital content into immersive visual experiences across buildings, landscapes and public spaces. |
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Image: Participants of Lighting up Culture. Photo by Elijah Ingram, WRA 2026 |
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Participants explored digital content creation, animation and live visual presentation while developing practical skills using industry-standard creative technologies. The workshop also encouraged artists to incorporate their own artwork, photography, designs and creative concepts into collaborative projects, exploring new ways to share culture, celebrate community and story-telling connected to place. |
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| Image: Scott Baker. Photo by Elijah Ingram, WRA 2026 |
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Delivered in collaboration with South West Arts and Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre Aboriginal Corporation, the workshop provided an opportunity for indigenous artists to explore other forms of cultural expression while building technical skills and connections with other First Nations creatives.
The visit also provided the opportunity for the Western Riverina Arts team to meet with South West Arts in Deniliquin to discuss the development of partnered projects across the southern and western regions of NSW. Stay tuned for exciting creative initiatives and collaborative projects over the coming year. |
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Image: Western Riverina Arts working with the South West Arts team. Photo by A Whitehead, WRA 2026 |
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On Wednesday, 30 September 2026, Leeton celebrated the NAIDOC theme 50 Years of Deadly with a Family Fun Day organised and hosted by the Leeton and District Local Aboriginal Land Council. The event was a huge success. The day, aimed at bringing community together for a day of family-friendly activities, cultural connection and celebration.
Held at Gossamer Park, the event featured a range of activities for all ages, including face painting, a petting zoo, lions train rides and children's games. Parkview Public School also provided a free BBQ lunch, while supporting organisations hosted stalls offering information, resources and giveaways.
Western Riverina Arts had its own stall, featuring a collaborative community artwork centred on the theme What I Love About NAIDOC. The activity was a great success, encouraging community members to share what NAIDOC means to them and contribute to a collective celebration of culture, community and connection through art.
It was wonderful to see the local community come together to celebrate the significance of NAIDOC and recognise the importance of First Nations culture, history and achievements. |
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Image: Visitors contributing to the collaborative painting. Photo by A Whitehead, WRA 2026
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| Image: Part of the collaborative artwork, Photo by A Whitehead, WRA 2026 |
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Image: Karen Davy CEO of L&DLALC. Photo by A Whitehead, WRA 2026 |
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Western Riverina Arts. REWIRE: Mental Health Basics for Creative Lives |
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REWIRE: Mental Health Basics for Creative Lives is an interactive workshop grounded in research and lived industry experience. It unpacks what is driving stress and burnout across the creative industries, the common psychosocial hazards shaping creative work, and how uncertainty and identity-linked work can affect your nervous system, wellbeing and creativity. Grounded in current research and real-world experience, the workshop explores: What is actually driving stress, burnout and mental health challenges across the creative industries right now, from precarity and insecure work to financial pressure, public scrutiny and creative identity strain. The psychosocial hazards common across creative workplaces, organisations, productions and freelance practice, and who tends to carry the heaviest load. How chronic uncertainty, rejection, high emotional labour and identity-linked work can shape your nervous system, relationships and creative capacity. You’ll leave with practical, psychologically backed strategies to help build a creative working life that feels sustainable, not just survivable. Because creative work should stretch the imagination, not break the people making it. Delivered with support from Creative Workplaces Registration link below https://events.humanitix.com/wra-rewire-mental-health... Monday 16 November 11am - 5pm
Griffith Regional Theatre - Burley Griffin Room
1 Neville Pl, Griffith NSW 2680, Australia |
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| | Last Chance to Book Now for Speaking Place |
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The Speaking Place weekend includes an open community festival, where workshop facilitators and participants showcase their newfound skills to the wider community. This event is a celebration of regional arts, and includes presentations, panel discussions, keynote addresses, live demonstrations, and performances. ArtFarm also opens the Speaking Place Festival to local and regional makers, with the opportunity to showcase their work and hold market stalls, and network with other artists. Find out all about SPEAKING PLACE held at Piccolo Family Farm.
Workshops: Saturday 24th October Festival: Sunday 25th October |
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(First Nations Band Enabling and Training Sound-Lab / FN BEATS)
If you are First Nations and between the ages of 18-30 then this is an incredible music opportunity! Are you ready to dive into an exciting new project that’s all about your talent, innovation and creativity? South West Arts Inc is looking for enthusiastic First Nations participants aged 18-30, living in NSW (for this intake, we strongly encourage applications from the Riverina area) and eager to share their unique talents and perspectives. Whether you’re a budding musician, a tech whiz, or someone who’s into marketing, promotion and event management, this is your chance to shine!
What’s in it for you? Besides the thrill of being part of something groundbreaking, this 6-month mentored program gives you opportunities to collaborate with like-minded individuals, gain valuable experience, and maybe even learn a thing or two along the way.
So, if you’re ready to unleash your creativity and make a real impact, come join in! Message South West Arts Inc to learn how you can be part of this awesome journey. Go to FN BEATS EOI to register your interest:
Or contact Yarkuwa to get more information: https://www.yarkuwa.org.au/contact-us
Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
FN BEATS is Funded by Sound NSW, Supported by: Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre Aboriginal Corporation (YARKUWA), South West Arts Inc (SWA) & Aboriginal Regional Arts Alliance NSW (ARAA) |
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| Griffith Spring Fest 2026 |
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| Image: Murrumbidgee Shire What’s On |
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| The annual Jerilderie Flower Show returns again!
A wonderful day out for the entire community. Flower and art entries are open between 8.30am-11.00am followed by judging at 11.30am.
School artwork, stalls, cooking, craft, delicious lunch and afternoon tea available and of course flowers! When Friday, 23 October 2026 | 11:00 AM - 03:00 PM Where Jerilderie Civic Hall, 33 Jerilderie St, Jerilderie, New South Wales, Australia, 2716 |
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| | Museums, Galleries & Culture |
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| | | | Art in the Bush - 80 Years of Regional Arts NSW |
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Celebrate 80 years of Regional Arts NSW with Art in the Bush, a free exhibition showcasing the creativity and talent of artists from regional and remote New South Wales, including Griffith-based artist Sharon De Valentin. Discover the diverse stories, perspectives and artistic practices that make regional arts such an important part of our creative communities.
Exhibition Dates: 4 - 26 November 2026. |
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| Image: Supplied by Regional Arts NSW. |
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| | Griffith Regional Art Gallery |
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Continuum: Rhonda Miranda | Noel Hicks | Kerri Weymouth Continuum reflects the connection between the different generation of artist and their artistic journey. Each artist brings their own materials, lives journey, and perspective, yet their works are united by a shared sensitivity to detail, strength of expression, and an awareness that making is both an act of holding on and an act of letting go. Grounded in the landscape of the plains where these artists have lived, grown, and been shaped, the exhibition acknowledges how environment has influenced their identity and creative process. Vast horizons, shifting seasons, the physicality of working within the regional landscape, and the memories of moving through it freely and instinctively become part of the visual language of their works. There is a quiet recognition of those who came before, generations whose lives were also intertwined with this country and whose presence continues to echo through material, gesture and form. Through their creativity they apply oil painting, textiles, sculpture and mixed media, the artists explore what endures, memory, skill, emotions resistance. Continuum becomes a space where past, present and future meet, revealing creativity as an ingoing rhythm rather than a fixed moment. Ultimately, this exhibition invites viewers to reflect on their own space within this flow, to consider what they inherit, what they reshape, and what they carry forward. |
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| | Leeton Museum and Art Gallery |
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What Iris Taught Me to See
What Iris Taught Me to See, an exhibition by Leeton born artist Jaelene Durrand.
Dedicated to her nana, Iris, the exhibition is a reflection on the ways we learn to pay attention to the world around us. Bringing together works across different media and styles, Jaelene explores places, spaces, and observations of the world around her, drawing together memory, imagination and the things that might otherwise be easily missed.
For Jaelene, bringing this exhibition back to her hometown adds another layer of meaning, connecting the work to the places, people and experiences that first shaped the way she sees the world.
Now based in Queensland, Jaelene continues to build strong connections through her creative practice, arts leadership, education, and mentoring. In 2026, she was recognised with an Australia Day Cultural Award for her significant contribution to community cultural life.
Supported through the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF), a partnership between the Queensland Government and Tablelands Regional Council. |
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| Image: Leeton Museum and Art Gallery & Jaelene Durrand |
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| | | Connect through Creative Groups |
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| Make and Mingle | A Common Thread Gathering |
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| Come along. Bring something you're making. Make, chat and share.
The program provides the space. The community brings the creativity. Join us for a yarn with yarn! Drop in or stay all day!
Fortnightly meet-ups provide an opportunity to build the relationships, creative practices and community connections that sit behind the exhibition.
10:30am to 2:30pm Fortnightly on Saturdays (next date 31 October 2026) Leeton Museum and Art Gallery 27-33 Chelmsford Place, Leeton
𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙 While many of our A Common Thread community focus on fibre art, there are no rules! All creative practices are welcome! *Attendees will be able to purchase tea/coffee and are invited to BYO lunch*
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| | Tuesday Night Jazz Griffith |
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Tuesday Night Jazz sessions at Griffith City Band Hall at 496 Banna Ave is the new venue for TNJ (Tuesday Night Jazz), which will be held on alternate Tuesdays between 7.00 pm and 8.30 pm.
This is an opportunity for jazz players to get together and play through a varied repertoire of music, which will be provided, as well as developing improvisational skills under the guidance of Multi-Instrumentalist Martyn Cook.
The evenings are designed to be fun and totally non-judgemental, and with the aim of ‘getting out there ’and performing publicly.
Players should be able to read a bit of music, and have a love of jazz. There is a small donation of $5 per session to cover costs. |
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| | With One Voice Riverina Community Choir |
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| Join in and sing up a storm at the Narrandera Arts Centre every Tuesday night (unless advised otherwise) at 6:30 pm. Everyone is welcome and free to sing in a safe and caring environment and together, we can change the world, one voice at a time. |
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| | ArtsHub @ Narrandera Railway Station |
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| Location: Gordon Hall, Leeton Multipurpose Community Centre, 3-5 Wade Avenue, Leeton.
For more information, contact Vita Vitelli via email leetonartsociety@gmail.com |
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| | | Griffith Art Collective meets monthly. Contact Jenny Ellis via email or through their socials: griffithartcollective@gmail.com |
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Griffith Regional Art Gallery - Open Studio |
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| The Griffith Regional Art Gallery is opening its courtyard for artists to come in and enjoy a collaborative art space. Have you got an art project or artwork you have been working on at home that you just can’t get finished? Book a place at the GRAG Open Studio and join other local creatives for ideas, encouragement and inspiration. Open Studio Sessions are facilitated by GRAG Public Programs Officer, Isis-Rae Ronan. Contact them through their socials or email: Gallery@griffith.nsw.gov.au or visit: https://artsculture.griffith.nsw.gov.au/Griffith-Regional-Art-Gallery/Public-Programs |
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| The MAKE Group Coleambally |
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| The M.A.K.E. Group in Coleambally is a regional social enterprise and community art collective based at the Kerri Weymouth Art Gallery and Studio, empowering local marginalised women through creative projects. https://www.kerriweymouth.art/make |
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| | Leeton Library Writers’ Group |
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| Meets third Saturday of the Month at Leeton Library. Contact the Leeton Shire Library for details. Phone (02) 69530945 |
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| | Jerilderie Library Knitting Club |
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Knitting Club hosted on Thursdays, excluding public holidays, at the Jerilderie Library. All are welcome to attend. Weekly on Thursdays 10:00am to 11.30am. Location: Jerilderie Library, 45 Jerilderie St, Jerilderie, New South Wales, Australia, 2716
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| | Grants and Funding Enquiries |
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| 2026-27 NSW Community Band Program |
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| Photo: Lilac City Band, Goulburn NSW. Photo by James Webb, Image supplied. |
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| Community concert bands, wind ensembles and brass bands across NSW can now apply for quick-response grants of up to $2,500 to keep the music playing, with Create NSW’s expanded $100,000 2026-27 NSW Community Band Program.
Now in its second year, the program supports community bands with small grants to cover various costs such as purchasing music or equipment, music workshops, commissioning new compositions, band-related travel costs, or to support marketing and fundraising activities.
Create NSW has doubled the support in 2026-27 to $100,000, expanding eligibility to now include community bands from metropolitan Sydney and Western Sydney, in addition to the continuing regional NSW support. The targeted initiative is designed to provide support on a quick-response basis to cover one-off project costs, reducing the burden that could otherwise be passed onto band members. The program also aims to boost the opportunities for young musicians, disadvantaged or remote band members to overcome barriers to engagement and participation in their community band as regular ensemble members.
Applications are open on a quick response, first-come basis until 5 February 2027. This latest program builds on the inaugural 2025-26 round, part of a raft of funding commitments of the NSW Government’s HEARTLAND: A plan for regional NSW arts, culture and creative industries. Aimed at addressing funding gaps and sustaining community bands in regional NSW, the 2025-26 program delivered more than $47,000 to 20 community bands in the regions from Bega to Lismore, West Wyalong to Wee Waa. The full recipient list of 2025-26 Regional NSW Community Band Program is here.
For more information about how to apply, visit create.nsw.gov.au
Create NSW Executive Director, Kerri Glasscock said: “Create NSW is pleased to increase our support for community bands through these quick-response grants, so they can continue connecting musicians of all ages. “From regional towns to metropolitan Sydney, community bands are an important part of NSW's cultural life. By doubling funding and expanding state-wide, we're helping more community bands cover costs, support young musicians and continue bringing the joy of live ensemble music to communities across NSW.” |
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| Regional Arts NSW Quick Response Grants |
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Funding for artists, acts and industry professionals to tour, showcase and undertake professional development.
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| | | | Searching for a Career in the Arts? |
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Bookmark this page if you have a desire to follow a career pathway in the arts. @artshub prides itself on being a central information source across Australia. |
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