Arts North West is delivering a project called ‘Something to Talk About’ which includes a series of pop-up events where projections, roaming murals, yarnbombing, live music, and art workshops coming together to activate the CBD's of the region.

Why do we need ‘something to talk about’?

After years of drought, fire, floods, plagues and COVID, Arts North West and Create NSW acknowledge the need for communities to recover, restart and reconnect. ‘Something to Talk About’ aims to create spaces for regional communities in the New England North West to sample different types of activations through a series of ephemeral pop-up events.

This project also aims to increase economic opportunities for creatives, create a platform to showcase our regional artists and increase foot-traffic into our regional CBD’s and accompanying businesses while boosting the night-time economy.

Tone Cotter is a professional barber with a passion for art, both in digital and traditional mediums. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic provided him with unexpected free time, allowing him to focus more on his artistic pursuits. Tone’s artistic journey includes painting murals for "The Welders Dog," both inside and outside their Tamworth bar, as well as at their new brewery in Armidale, commissioned for a mural in an office space for "Compassionate Horizons," a local NDIS support provide and volunteered his time to paint a mural for "Tamworth Safe Haven," an after-hours emergency mental health facility. He has also created murals and large scale art pieces in non-commercial, private spaces. For the past three years, he has managed a youth engagement program at Peel High School, designing and painting a mural on school grounds.

Fonda Shea is a local artist based in Gunnedah. Her passion for community art projects allowed her to work with Gunnedah Shire Council as their Cultural Programs Coordinator and at the Work Of Art Community Gallery. Sharing her love for art and the community, Fonda has recently joined Gunnedah Hospital’s Arts Working Group. As an artist, Fonda has painted jeans for Jamm for Jeans (a Genes for Jeans initiative), and she is currently creating two local murals for public display; a 6-metre shearing mural and a mural for Gunnedah bakery Reverence Sourdough. In 2022 and 2023 Fonda entered the Archibald Prize and she has won many local awards for her artworks. Fonda sells prints of her artwork via her online Redbubble store where her work has been purchased by international buyers.

Amy Cantfield is a Moree-based creative. She studied a Diploma in Art and Design at university. However, she soon realised that the traditional academic path was not aligned with her aspirations. Seeking a different route, Amy embarked on a journey of exploration and self-discovery, venturing into the realm of travel while nurturing her artistic career. By winning a local competition in Moree, NSW, Amy stumbled upon the world of murals, which became a pivotal moment in her artistic journey. Prior to this, she had already dabbled in painting children's bedrooms, unaware of the potential for it to become a viable career. Fast forward several years, marked by unwavering dedication and hard work, Amy has been fortunate enough to collaborate with esteemed charities, businesses, and notable corporations, including McDonald's.

David Allan is an illustrator and artist based in Armidale, NSW. He has had solo and group exhibitions, including at the Armidale Art Gallery and NERAM. David has illustrated several books and anthologies, including The Stuff of Tales, published by Arts North West in 2018. In 2019 David, along with local artist Fiona McDonald, designed and painted a beautiful dragon mural at the Armidale War Memorial Library. His work is in private and public collections around Australia.

James O'Hanlon is an artist and storyteller based in Armidale. He works at the intersection of art, science, and storytelling and creates work that celebrates themes of nature, exploration, and discovery. James’ large-scale public art pieces can be seen throughout regional NSW having worked with a range of commercial, private, and local government clients. Mostly, his public art pieces can be seen throughout Armidale including the Mall Arcade, The Welder’s Dog, Paper Tiger Eatery, NOVA, NECOM and more. Having moved from a career in science to focusing on his art, James draws from his background to create and influence his works. James was the 2021 recipient of the Varuna-New England Writers Centre Fellowship and the 2022 recipient of the Helen Dangar Memorial Bursary.

Jodie Herden is a proud Gamilaraay woman born and raised in Tamworth. Growing up she was strong in spirit and the connection to country and culture. Art is her passion; she knows it is her ancestors guiding her. Jodie has co-authored and illustrated the published children's book Star Dreaming and has been an exhibiting artist for over 25 years. She has had works exhibited overseas and promoted in an ad for Qantas with one of Australia’s largest Arts Network Bluethumb. Jodie has been commissioned to create artwork for Fire and Rescue NSW with her work adorning several fire trucks across the Gomeroi Nation. She has completed several large murals in schools around the region and recently completed a commissioned piece and mural for Hockey NSW. Over the past 10 years, Jodie has facilitated cultural and art workshops around the NENW region and she has received many awards for her contributions to the arts and community.

Karen is an emerging visual artist from Tamworth. She returned to her passion for art and illustration in 2015 when she joined the art team on Tamworth Regional Council’s Tamworth Adventure Playground project, contributing vibrant large-scale murals featuring native animals. Karen is a founding member of TRAC (Tamworth Regional Art Collective), a group of like-minded artists with an interest in public and community art. Some of her collaborations include mosaic works, murals on electrical boxes and walls in local schools.  Following Karen's debut (collaborative) exhibition of metal sculptures, The Strength Within was acquired within the Tamworth Regional Council Public Art Strategy and installed as a public artwork in Nundle, NSW.

Maisie is a local multi-medium artist based in Moree. From a young age, she has been making and creating art from everything around her. Maisie’s art takes inspiration from her surroundings by use of colours, music and interior design. Her mediums include painting, weaving and ceramics.

Charlie Nivison is a visual artist, illustrator, and designer originally from Walcha. In 2008, a chance to exhibit 20 t-shirt designs in a small gallery in Sydney sparked the idea of creating the design label, Silly Pear. Since that exhibition, Silly Pear has morphed into much more than just a t-shirt company; it is a design hub, now based in Syndey, offering illustration, design, creative direction, branding, and screen-printing services. Silly Pear’s distinct murals and artworks have been exhibited around the world.

After studying and working in Sydney, CRISP spent over 10 years living, working, traveling and creating art in the UK, Europe, Asia, North and South America before settling in Bogota, Colombia. This amazingly vibrant, chaotic and “street art” mecca inspired CRISP to start expressing himself on walls rather than more traditional mediums. CRISP believes in communities reclaiming the street aesthetic as their own from capitalist advertising, corporate slogans and even just the mundane boring obsession of sterile grey concrete walls, city councils tend to prefer today! He has recently been combining his love of travel and street art by putting works up in London, New York, Miami, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Alaska, and Colombia. He recently was part of Festival Anonymous in Sayulita, Mexico.

Something to Talk About Events

Tamworth Country Music Festival - Tamworth

2023 Gunnedah Christmas Festival

MARGARITA & TACO FESTIVAL - gLEN INNES

Railway Art Walk at the Glen Innes Margarita and Taco Festival
When: Saturday 25th November, 2023
Time: 4:00 pm - 9.00 pm 
Where: Lambeth St, Glen Innes NSW 2370

Arts North West brought the Something To Talk About CBD Activations project to the Margarita and Taco Festival in Glen Innes! This was the first time that the Something To Talk About murals were displayed for the public to enjoy!

Did you attend the Margarita and Taco Festival? We invite you to share your thoughts! Complete the Community Survey below:

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