Just Below the Clouds

Paul Brinkman – Manager, Arts & Cultural Services

The Cultural Centre team has shown a great deal of creativity and innovation over the last year through the rolling restrictions associated with COVID-19. It has been wonderful to experiment with new ideas and initiatives as we have grappled with the challenges of supporting our arts community and bringing the best arts and cultural experiences to our audiences. From live-stream music recordings in the gallery to virtual artist studio tours, the Cultural Centre has continued to lead the way in showcasing our creative community. Both our online content and gallery exhibitions have been hugely popular and it is heartening to see visitor numbers steadily return after the Cultural Centre’s closure earlier in the year.

I would like to thank the five artists recently commissioned to paint Froma Lane. Their murals have turned a dull laneway into a vibrant space that greatly improves the experience of visitors coming to the Cultural Centre from Katoomba Street. Keep watching the urban landscape of Katoomba throughout 2021 as we add to the public art on display.

I would also like to thank the inaugural Green Team volunteers, who are quickly turning the rooftop garden space into a fantastic educational resource, with the side benefit of producing fresh ingredients for the Gallery Café. I hope that before too long Café patrons will be able to sample some edible native foods from our menu.

To our InSight Members, thank you for your support over the last year. I wish you all the best for the festive season and look forward to 2021, when we will continue to bring you the best art experiences from the Blue Mountains and across Australia.