Community Programs
Townsville City Galleries provides a series of community programs that aim to inspire innovation, connection and inclusivity in the arts, some of which are developed partner programs that add value to the arts ecology in Townsville. See our current offering of community programs below.
Current Community Programs
Transitions
Launch your career as a visual artist or arts writer!
Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts and Townsville City Galleries are now calling for applications for Transitions 2025.
Building on the strength of previous years, the expanded 2025 program will see four emerging visual artists learning and working alongside an emerging visual arts writer. All five emerging practitioners will become mentees, supported with one-on-one mentorship, professional development, networking and group critiques. Throughout the program, the mentees will hone their skills and knowledge while developing a greater understanding of the contemporary arts landscape.
Read more and apply online at www.umbrella.org.au/transitions.
About Transitions
The Transitions program is a partnership between Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts and Townsville City Galleries, that combines mentorship, critiques, and development for emerging and early-career visual artists who have recently finished formal arts training. Mentees are paired with an established local artist to help build their studio practice and portfolio, create artist CVs, and develop grant and exhibition application skills. Filling a void in the Townsville Arts Community, Transitions aims to give emerging artists the opportunity to source information, pursue opportunities to collaborate, inspire innovation, and grow in confidence to establish a career in the arts.
Hear more about the program and from the Transitions participants in the videos below:
Art Outreach
Townsville City Galleries’ Art Outreach programs aim to carry out creative community-building by developing connections between local community groups and Townsville City Galleries. To achieve this, we engage local artists to deliver workshops in the community, providing opportunities for people to come together and share stories, experiences, and to inspire innovation and creativity. Groups are also offered tours of the Galleries to foster inclusivity in the arts and our Gallery spaces.
The Herberts
In 2024 Townsville City Galleries worked with Community Gro and local artist Tony Fitzsimmons on a series of workshops in aged care facilities.
The Herberts was a program run in partnership between Townsville City Galleries and Community Gro, as part of the Grey Matters! Initiative, in which an artist, Tony Fitzsimmons, was engaged to deliver workshops to aged care facilities. Participants were given the opportunity to learn about portraiture and create their own portrait in a creative, innovative, and inclusive environment.
The program is inspired by national portraiture exhibitions The Archibalds, and Townsville’s The Percivals. The program aimed to provide opportunities for participants to come together and share stories and experiences. As part of celebrating the program, there was an exhibition to showcase The Herberts creations at Citylibraries.
Grey Matters, Townsville City Galleries, and Townsville Citylibraries along with partnering aged care facilities were excited to see residents living their lives to the fullest and being enabled to express their artistic selves.
Images: The Herberts Workshops 2024
Whispering Vines
In 2023 Townsville City Galleries worked with local artist Chontelle Gillies on a series of collaborative workshops with Townsville retirement and lifestyle villages. Participants from Bolton Clark Rowes Bay, Brooklea Lifestyle Village, Carlyle Gardens Townsville, Oak Tree Retirement Village, and Fibres & Fabrics Townsville created individual artworks in a series of workshops that culminated in a collaborative community artwork called the Whispering Vines that was exhibited at Ephemera: Seaside Sculptures 2023. Knitting, crocheting, sewing, beading, macramé and weaving were techniques use to make these beautiful textile tree vines.
Image: Lifestyle groups with Chontelle Gilles Whispering Vines 2023. Photographer: Andrew Rankin.
Community Hub Workshops
This year Townsville City Galleries is working with local artist Cassandra Roberts and Althea's Community Hub on a series of workshops for the Community Hub clients.
Image: Cassandra Roberts.
