Burnie Arts Council Inc

Celebrating 75 Years!

2023 marked the 75th birthday of Burnie Arts Council Inc. We believe we are the oldest continuous running regional arts organisation in the country.

It is an achievement of which the whole Burnie community can be extremely proud.

We celebrated in late October with a jam-packed weekend of activities.

At the heart of the program was a focus on the extraordinary arts alumni the city of Burnie has produced over the past 75 years.

With support from the Burnie City Council and with assistance from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund - supporting the arts in regional and remote Australia - we were able to bring a handful of alumni home to share their talents, once again, with their hometown.

Birthday Events

Gala Concert – Burnie comedian Josh Earl to MC, world premiere of the Dream Burnie Municipal Band featuring accomplished Burnie musical alumni Van Walker, Will Hindmarsh and Zane Lindt, Justin Heazlewood (aka as The Bedroom Philosopher), Wendy Moles and Nic Hart, David Turner and the City of Burnie Brass Band.

Pre-show Soirée – A celebration of Burnie’s deeply-rooted creative community, with guest speakers and a spine-tingling look at some of Burnie’s most memorable cultural events.

Rooftop Concert – On the same day that Paul McCartney happened to be performing in Melbourne, Burnie will had its own version of the Beatles rooftop concert. The middle floor of the Kmart carpark never looked so cool. Saturday morning shoppers were delighted and surprised by the full-blown, pop-up entertainment!

Wall of Fame – There are so many alumni we couldn’t fit them all on the bill – so we made a wall! Around 150 fantastically talented people ‘grown by Burnie’ were featured.

One for the kids – The Friday prior to the concert, the Dream Burnie Municipal Band and Josh Earl performed lunchtime gigs at Hellyer College. All were once aspiring young creatives hanging out in the same cafeteria.

Coming later in 2024 – Authored by Justin Heazlewood, a book which takes a deep dive into Burnie’s creative alumni. It may well have to be the first of several volumes… there’s so many to pick from. Must be something in the water!

Media

MEDIA - The Advocate 28th September, Arts Alumni praise Burnie Arts Council for support

MEDIA - The Advocate 16th October, Present and Past artists to be celebrated by Burnie Arts Council

MEDIA - The Advocate 21st October, Justin Heazlewood puts together the Dream Burnie Municipal Band

MEDIA - The Advocate 26th October, Letters to the Editor

Galleries

Thanks to the support of the Burnie City Council and the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia, Burnie Arts Council were able to engage Tara Palmer to photograph the 75th Birthday events.

Tara has a special relationship with the Burnie Arts Council, as she was the recipient of the Helen Denise Jones OAM Memorial Arts bursary for the year of 2022.

Tara’s photos are stunning, so we have separated them into three galleries for your viewing pleasure.

See more of Tara’s work HERE