In what has been a year full of challenges and adapting to a new normal, Arts North West is excited to launch another new initiative for the New England North West, an expansion of the Arts North West Connect program and website.
First launched in 2012 as Country Art Escapes, Arts North West Connect started as a physical art trail through the New England North West, promoting arts and cultural venues through hardcopy maps, a phone app, and a website. This original version operated on a subscriber model and at its peak, incorporated around 70 subscriber venues.
In 2018, Country Art escapes underwent a refresh and a rebrand, transforming into Arts North West Connect, shifting focus to be primarily a subscriber based online arts directory promoting cultural venues, artists and events in region.
From the end of 2020, Arts North West Connect will be taking on a completely new look and purpose. Firstly, and foremostly, Arts North West Connect will be completely free and cover the entire New England North West creative and cultural landscape.
“2020 has brought about a complete overhaul of way in which we operate at Arts North West, we have had to rethink ways in which we interact with our arts and cultural community and the ways in which we can best support the region as we begin to reopen to the new norm” said Steph McIntosh, from Arts North West.
The new Arts North West Connect website launching in the coming weeks, has been separated into sections to capture the myriad of talents and skills in the region, arts and cultural venues, artists portfolios, technical skills registry, comprehensive maps, and events.
“Arts North West Connect will be an incredible and valuable resource for the entire New England North West region. This will essentially be the most comprehensive database of all things creative and cultural in the region, disguised as a new snazzy and sleek website.
This approach of crossing across 12 different local government areas, through a unified website, promoting solely arts, culture, and tourism in the region, has never been done before in this region.
We are determined to make this a success, but the website will only be as good as the information that is put into it, so please follow us on Facebook and spread the word” Mrs. McIntosh continued.
In celebration of the new website and just in time for Christmas, Arts North West Connect will also be facilitating an online Market Place for the month of December. Details will be released via the Arts North West Facebook page and Arts North West Connect website www.artsnwconnect.com.au
Individuals, groups, organisations wanting to register their details can do so all online via the website.