South West Arts (SWA) has been providing Arts and Cultural Development services across the municipalities of Balranald, Berrigan, Carrathool, Edward River, Hay, and Murray River for over 35 years. Our focus over these years has varied according to the needs and issues impacting the region, however our commitment to enabling artists, community run galleries, museums and arts organisations to become sustainable and successful is core to our service provision.

More recently our focus has been on supporting regional youth with opportunities to enable them to pursue their creative goals, in particular focusing on projects and initiatives that can support their creative career and education pathways. The ENDFM Youth Radio Station is one of our most important projects in supporting skills and leadership development opportunities for regional youth.

South West Arts has proudly supported projects and initiatives focused on opportunities for regional First Nation artists, organisations and communities. This has been a priority focus for South West Arts, but we recognise that we still have a lot of work to do in building relationships and partnerships with First Nations communities.

The Creative Industries, is one of the fastest growing sectors in NSW yet it remains one of the most underappreciated sectors. Similarly, cultural tourism is one of the most misunderstood industries, yet this sector alone brings more than $46million (2023 data) dollars into the regional economy attracting over 91,000 visitors. SWA has been advocating for the recognition of, and investment in, these important sectors for several years and have just participated in arts led research to inform regional growth opportunities into the future.

Our region has faced many disaster challenges over recently years.
South West Arts has been there through drought, floods, covid and major storm events that have devastated parts of the region. SWA has been there working and advocating alongside our local government partners and have managed more than $2million dollars’ worth of disaster recovery projects and grass roots arts and cultural investment to support the recovery and wellbeing of our affected communities.

Our commitment to the social and economic stability of our region remains firm, however we need your input and help to inform our strategic direction for the next 4 years. Major funding reforms for the arts and cultural sector requires us to be very clear about what your needs are and what your expectations are of South West Arts in supporting your needs.

We are asking you to please complete this short survey to ensure we understand how we can remain effective and relevant to your needs. All feedback is genuinely appreciated. Thank you for taking the time.

Kindest regards
Kerry-Anne Jones
Executive Director

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