Musician Gelareh Pour performs on the kamancheh. Image copyright Chris Warr, 2025.
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Welcome to our creative city
Ballarat is working to become the city of the sustainable and resilient practitioner, and we’re supporting all forms of artist, maker, creative and producer. Whether you are seeking to develop a fine arts practice and devote yourself to being a professional practising artist, or wanting to grow your creative business, the City of Ballarat wants to see you succeed. Designated a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts & Folk Art we’re steadily working towards economic resilience through support of the micro and artisanal.
Here you’ll be able to find opportunities for makers, creatives and artists alike. We’re working to create a clearinghouse of opportunities - expressions of interest, open jobs and other briefs - and support networks you can call on. You can also find out what kind of happenings are going on around town, perfect for the local creative. We profile our growing community of artists, makers, performers and producers, building a better city for all.
Ballarat’s heart of creativity
Over two years the City of Ballarat was focused on the development of it’s Creative City Strategy. This strategy is one that embraces the energies of makers, crafters, artists, innovators, entrepreneurs and problem solvers, linking them closer to the engine room of the city’s heart.
We know that a creative city is one that can wear the changes in economic forces, delivers new ideas, drives businesses to grow and delivers greater community cohesion and wellbeing. The creative sector in Ballarat is crucial to our prosperity, helping create better people and better places to live and work. It is creative thinking that helps all sectors to blossom, and underpins a healthier, happier and wealthier city. The City of Ballarat is dedicated to embedding creativity within its very fabric.
Current Projects & News
Image: Green angular vase. Provided by artist.
Image courtesy of Danielle Francis
Image: Call for members of Arts and Culture Advisory Committee
Image: Grieving through tap dance. New work revealed.
aRT SPACE Ballarat WELCOMES… mICAHEL cREANEY
15 May - 14 June 2026
Michael Creaney has spent his life engaged with the arts and surrounded by it. He has now joined the arts as a practitioner, a maker, working with clay and glass to bring his visions into reality.
Visit Art Space to discover Michael's creations and meet the artist who will be at the exhibition on open days.
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm.
Art Space is located at 14 Lydiard St Nth, Ballarat.
Danielle Francis
Artist-in-Residence | ART HUB
March - June 2026
Creative Ballarat is excited to welcome Ballarat’s Danielle Francis, who will be turning Art Hub into her own dressmaking studio as new the Resident Artist.
Danielle is a passionate and creative dressmaker who has taught classes at her sewing school, Thread Den, in Melbourne since 2012.
Over the next three months Danielle will be hosting drop-in sessions, workshops and private lessons for anyone looking to discover the art of sewing and dressmaking.
want to be part of the change?
Applications are now open for the City of Ballarat’s Arts and Culture Advisory Committee. The purpose of the City of Ballarat’s Arts & Cultural Advisory Committee is to provide information, advice and recommendation to Council.
Expressions of Interest are now being sought for membership of the Advisory Committee. This Committee acts as a communicative forum between the City of Ballarat officers and members appointed to the group. If you are interested in being considered, please complete the Expression of Interest Form.
PILOTLIGHT PROGRAM FOR NEW THEATRE WORK
Work-in-development showing
18 April 2026 - The Rat Lab, Arts Incubator
PilotLight is a program telling new Ballarat stories for the stage. Two artists are currently working through a research stage for their works, and you have a rare chance to see their process unfolding.
Check out the work of Andrew Drava. This work explores the machinations of a grief stricken family that comes back together for Christmas. Processing the sudden loss through their second language of tap dance.Yet with such a sudden change and the world still turning, new opportunities of personal gain arise.
Please note: PilotLight is a work-in-development showing for artists to test their work, not finished material. We appreciate you being a supportive audience that helps this new work grow.
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FIND PLACES TO GO
There are heaps of tiny galleries, small studios, workspaces and hiding places for our creative community. Have a little scout of our open studios and micro-enterprises.
FIND WHAT’S ON
Looking for a great night out? A local experience? Check out Ballarat In the Know, designed by locals for locals.
Or do you have an event, exhibition or show you want to promote?
‘Cut Off Your Hands’ jewellery - Alana Smith - pic by Tony Evans (2023)
Weaver Ana Peditis at work - pic by Tony Evans (2023)
Activating the city streets. Artist Kelsie White takes over Mackenzie Street