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: Tiffany Titshall framed by the work of Jayne Newgreen
Image courtesy of Danielle Francis
Image: Montaigne, a professional mentor for Be Hear Now
Image: Grieving through tap dance. New work revealed.
GET READY FOR BALLARAT CRAFT + DESIGN WEEK
The full program is released
Ballarat will come alive with creativity from 1–10 May 2026, as the city hosts the inaugural Ballarat Craft + Design Week, a bold new celebration bringing artists, makers and designers together to create something new, local and deeply collaborative.
Running across ten days, Ballarat Craft + Design Week invites curious culture lovers, families, creatives and community members to experience the city’s creative heart through workshops, talks, exhibitions, open studios, retail experiences and public installations, designed to be touched, experienced and discovered.
The official program is now available to start exploring and planning ahead, with currently more than 20 different exciting events and activities completely designed and implemented by the community. .
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.
MENTORS COME ABOARD FOR BE HEAR NOW
The City of Ballarat’s contemporary music development program, Be Hear Now, is all about providing support for artists to establish and maintain viable musical careers. Over the last five years this program has established a reputation for supporting and extending upon the talent in Ballarat.
But we can’t do this without our professional mentors who are carefully matched to the selected cohort. This year the selected musicians are lucky enough to be working with Montaigne (pictured), Hayley Mary, Johnny Took and local legend Raul i Sanchez.
“There’s a lot of advice that gets thrown around the entertainment industry, but what I’ve learnt is that everybody’s path looks different,” said Montaigne. “I look forward to helping an artist find out what they actually need for their specific project."
Montaigne will be mentoring local musician Patlova.
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