artsACT eNews

artsACT January Newsletter

by | 23 Jan 2025 | NEWS, EVENTS, EXHIBITIONS, Blog post

Nominations for the 2025 ACT Book of the Year Award opens today!

Nominations are now open for the 2025 ACT Book of the Year Award. The Award recognises quality contemporary literary works including fiction, non-fiction and poetry by Canberra authors published in the previous calendar year.

The ACT Book of the Year Award rewards excellence in literature with prizes of $10,000 for the winner, $2,000 for any highly commended books and $1,000 for each short-listed book. The Award aims to support the development of local writers, promoting writing in the ACT, and contributing to a positive writing culture for the city.

Nominations close 5:00pm on Thursday 20 March 2025. Visit the artsACT website for more information and to apply.

Call for Expressions of Interest from artists, performers, and other vendors for Reconciliation Day Event 2025

Calling all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous artists, performers, community groups, food vendors and stall holders! Apply now to be part of Reconciliation Day 2025, where the theme is Bridging Now to Next.

Held on Monday 2 June 2025 at Commonwealth Park, this annual event is a vibrant celebration of culture, performances, and activities designed to spark conversations and deepen understanding of our shared National story and the richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Previous participants have included:

  • Music and dance performances
  • A variety of food vendors
  • Art workshops including weaving and painting
  • Information stalls
  • Market stalls selling native plants and various products

Applications close 7 February 2025. Information packs and forms are available via the Canberra Reconciliation Event website or email your questions to OATSIA at ReconciliationACT@act.gov.au.

Applications for Seeding Storytellers are now open

Seeding Storytellers is a note-taking training program for emerging and early-career First Nations screenwriters. The program will be delivered as a series of three day-long online workshops run  by highly-experienced, working writers Sara Khan, Catherine Kelleher and Terence McCarthy. Covering note-taking, script coordinating and the basics of a writers’ room, participants will learn in a culturally safe, supported environment and come away with the skills required to find work as a note-taker in the film and television industry.

Program Manager Sara Khan, a proud Wailwan, Gomeroi and Pakistani woman and writer on HEARTBREAK HIGH, says, “Providing First Nations writers with the essential skills for note-taking will seed the growth for more visibility and representation of First Nations People in writers’ rooms.”

Applications for Seeding Storytellers close 28 February 2025. For more information and to apply, visit the Screenworks website.

Image: Courtesy of Screenworks.

More arts news

Visions of Australia Program now open 
The Visions program supports audience access to Australian arts and cultural material, with a focus on touring exhibitions to regional and remote Australia. The program also encourages curatorial partnerships across the collections sector. This round will support the development or touring of arts and cultural exhibitions that commence from 1 July 2025. Applications close Friday 14 February 2025. For more information and to apply, visit the Office for the Arts website.

The Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program 2024-25 round is now open
The program supports international projects that tell Australian stories, amplify First Nations voices, deepen bilateral partnerships, and build cultural understanding and connections overseas. Applications close Monday 17 February 2025. For more information and to apply, visit the Australian Government website.

Rebus Theatre seeking CEO/General Manager
Rebus Theatre seeks an experienced manager to take over the CEO position of the company, to provide strategic vision, manage business operations of the company, and set it up for future success. Applications close 25 January. The position is available as an initial fixed term until 30 June 2026 but may be extended. For further information and to apply, visit the Ethical Jobs website.

Vacancy – Embedding Culture Program Officer at Belco Arts  
The Embedding Culture Program Officer is an exciting new role that will engage with First Nations Elders, other knowledge holders and artists to realise a range of site-specific artworks. The application deadline has been extended to midnight Sunday 2 February 2025. For more information and to apply, visit the Belco Arts website.

Free Public Program at Canberra Contemporary
Over two days, artist Hannah Quinlivan will create a drawing using salt, live in the gallery, inviting visitors to slow down and witness this ephemeral artwork take shape. The salt drawing will be created in response to her work Subaqueous, featured in the exhibition Pattern Recognition, and will serve as a meditation on the temporality of feelings and how they form, evolve, and dissolve. 11:00am – 9:00pm on Friday 24 January and Saturday 25 January 2025. This is a free event. For more information, visit the Canberra Contemporary website.

Sydney designer and artist Martyn Thompson at Canberra Glassworks 
Artist and designer Martyn Thompson reimagines his ceramic vessels in glass, blending nostalgia and modernity through a tactile, painterly approach. Curated by Aimee Frodsham, the exhibition integrates his new glasswork with textiles, furniture, and objects from his studio, reflecting his evolving creative journey. Now showing at Canberra Glassworks until 23 March 2025. A Gallery Floor Talk with Martyn will be held on Saturday 22 February at 2:00pm. For more information, visit the Canberra Glassworks website.

Songs of Eve
Art Song Canberra presents its first concert in its 2025 Season of Song. Two formidable artistic collaborators present an expertly curated song recital that celebrates the divine in nature. Leading Australian soprano and composer Jane Sheldon will be joined at the piano by Jack Symonds, Artistic Director of Sydney Chamber Opera. 3:00pm – 4:15pm on Sunday 16 February at Wesley Music Centre, Forrest. Purchase tickets via Trybooking.

Sharing your Canberra arts events
Promote your arts events on What’s On, the most comprehensive calendar of events in Canberra. To check your event is eligible and learn how to list your event, please read Events ACT’s four simple steps to creating an event listing.

What’s On at Canberra’s Art Organisations 

Exhibitions at Belco Arts, until 2 February 2025
Canberra Glassworks 2025 Program
Workshops at photo access
Sing with Toby community choir, term-based
Every body life drawing at TAC, monthly
Art workshops at Tuggeranong Arts Centre

Opportunities  

Bayside Painting Prize 2025, closes 21 February 2025
The John Glover Art Prize, closes 24 January 2025
Youth InterACT Grant, closes 28 January 2025
2025 black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowships, closes 31 January 2025
The Homiens Art Prize, closes 31 January 2025
Young Composer Award 2025, closes 3 February 2025
Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, closes 4 February 2025
Dal Stivens Literary Award, closes 4 February 2025
Kathleen Mitchell Literary Award, closes 4 February 2025
Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year, closes 6 February 2025
Muswellbrook Art Prize, closes 7 February 2025
Visions of Australia Program, closes 14 February 2024
The Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program 2024-25, closes 17 February 2025
The Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, closes 2 March 2025
EOIs for inclusion in The Shop at Belco Arts, closes 4 March 2025
The Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, closes 5 March 2025
Call for entries: HABITAT – An Open Printmaking Exhibition, closes 7 April 2025
Belco Arts 2026 Exhibition Call Out, closes 2 May 2025
Creative Australia Grants, various
Artist Opportunities at Belconnen Arts Centre
Strathnairn Arts Studio Application

Online Resources

MusicACT’s Australian Playlists
WOLO – ACT’s Live Music Gig Guide
MARION Focus On Writers Database
Art Monthly Australasia archive

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