Public Art Sector Development - The City of Ballarat is committed to developing the skills of visual and multidisciplinary artists, offering a rare chance for creative practitioners to upskill into public art opportunities. This special program is competitive, with successful artists from across the region provided with in-depth education, training and mentoring over a series of months. The end result is a public facing event that you can share in. This cohort of talented creative artists are creating bold, experimental, and site-responsive works that activate public space.
This year the program is supporting 6 artists from the Ballarat region to develop their skills in site-responsive public art expressed through inflatable forms. The participants are taught through practical workshops, supported to test their ideas and taught new, experimental, and emerging methods of creative practice.
THE mentors
The Event
HIDDEN 2026 was a three-day micro festival of large-scale inflatable art that transformed Ballarat Civic Hall into an immersive landscape of colour, light and imagination. Featuring six local artists mentored by internationally renowned artist Dr David Cross, the exhibition invited audiences to explore, play and engage with contemporary art in unexpected ways. Delivered through a successful partnership between the Creative City and Cultural Venues teams, HIDDEN 2026 attracted sold-out audiences, generated national media interest and reinforced Ballarat's reputation as a city that embraces bold, innovative cultural experiences.
