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.

seedpod opens

Seedpod ‘live arts’ theatre project opens

Following the success of Punctum’s inaugural Ballarat 2023 Seedpod program, Punctum and the City of Ballarat are welcoming applications from live arts and contemporary performance artists who live, work or study in the city of Ballarat for the 2024 Seedpod residency opportunities.

A 2024 Seedpod residency offers the successful artists time, funding, resources, and space to test ideas, push the boundaries of their creative practice, and understand how their work makes meaning with members of the public.

Artists seeking to grow their practice in a responsive, rigorous setting of enquiry, experimentation and collaboration are invited to apply.

be hear now opens

Be Hear Now live music development for 2024

The City of Ballarat’s live music development program, Be Hear Now, supports musicians by providing a framework to develop their skills and talents. We give them the tools to refine their craft.

In 2023 the Be Hear Now candidates were given direct mentoring, introductions to the industry, provided with performance opportunities and given the chance to network. In the last four years Be Hear Now has brokered record deals, supported festival bookings and secured representation.

Could you be next in line? We’re looking for the 2024 candidates - the ‘ones to watch’.

Latest in Unicorn Lane

Leah Torly: Year of the Rabbit in Unicorn Lane

The final exhibition in Unicorn Lane for 2023 is Leah Torly’s first solo exhibition. The Year of the Rabbit: Famous Self Portraits Reimagined is a series of paintings recreating famous self portraits in their original style with a twist.

As an emerging artist and recent graduate from Oxygen College, Leah has enjoyed experimenting with appropriation art, as well as developing an understanding of traditional art styles and techniques.

On show until 20 January 2024 The Year of the Rabbit can be seen day or night. Unicorn Lane is located just off Sturt St between the CBA and Unicorn Hotel.

now in art space

Ballarat Belles: Golden Futures now showing

The Ballarat Belles are challenging viewers to discover the beauty and the intrigue in the minutiae of life with the exhibition Golden Futures: A Macro View.

All artists exhibiting are members of the Ballarat Society of Artists and the artworks across different medium and subjects however all showcase where the artist finds beauty in the detail.

Golden Futures is open until 14 January 2024 and open 10am to 4pm, Wed to Sun.

Art Space is located at 14 Lydiard St N, Central Ballarat at the front of the Ballarat Mining Exchange.

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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.

CREATIVE STRATEGY ACTIONS

SUPPORTING CREATIVES THROUGH COVID

OUR CREATIVE COMMUNITY