Arts Northern Rivers is seeking support from urban, interstate, national and international communities to assist in the
recovery from the catastrophic 2022 floods across the Northern Rivers region. In parallel, the peak arts organisation for
the region is underway advocating for support from all available avenues including state and federal governments,
philanthropic, corporate and private channels. While these take time, the creative community needs assistance now,
launching Arts Northern Rivers’ Flood Recovery campaign.
The creative sector across the entire region has collectively suffered untold losses: galleries losing entire collections,
studios, equipment, and artworks in ruin, and livelihoods in freefall. Along with this, Arts Northern Rivers also have
completely lost their office to the floods. Unfortunately, like many across the region, the not-for-profit organisation is not
insured for floods. With insurance premiums beginning at $30,000 per annum, this is simply an unattainable cost for most
across the arts sector.
With a core value of advocacy, Arts Northern Rivers has already reached out to the region’s colleagues and peers to
begin the task of tracking the scale of the damages. These damages are rising into the 10’s of millions in building and
infrastructure alone including Lismore Regional Gallery, The Northern Rivers Conservatorium, Lismore City Hall
(NORPA), M-Arts (Murwillumbah), Byron School of Art, Spaghetti Circus, and so many more. What is extremely
prevalent is the magnitude of loss for the region’s independents, which, with the highest concentration of creatives
outside a metro area numbering into the hundreds, are suffering greatly, and it will take months if not years to come
through this.
Arts Northern Rivers Executive Director Jane Fuller said:
“It’s heartbreaking to witness our community suffer. Following a run of unprecedented crises, we are
collectively exhausted, and the concept of ‘resilience’ seems to be out of reach right now. All assistance
contributes to the imminent needs of the creative sector to start recovering from the destructive impact of
flooding that inundated our region and we thank anyone with the ability to support our creative recovery.”
This call for donations will directly assist Arts Northern Rivers to provide funding assistance to the arts and cultural sector
across the region to recover from the flood losses. Funds will also be partially allocated to assist the Arts Northern Rivers
office re-build, including the purchase of core equipment and resources.