Artists rejoice as funding increases for first time in nearly a decade

Tamworth Regional Council has just unveiled a new Public Art Strategy alongside a boost of funding for commissioning and maintaining public art to the tune of an extra $73,000 per year.

Local artist and Tamworth Art Academy founder Danny Stanley says it's an exciting time in the local artistic scene, which has been evolving rapidly in the last seven years.

"There's a lot happening, particularly with young, talented artists," Mr Stanley said.

"There's a great community and a lot of support, especially in terms of artists supporting one another."

Now those artists are set to receive support from their local government as well.

At a recent meeting councillors voted to put the draft public art strategy on display and support a permanent increase in the annual budget for commissioning and maintenance of public art; from $24,000 and $3,000 respectively to $50,000 each.

The last time council approved a permanent increase to its Public Art Fund was in 2015.

Since then the number of public artworks in the Tamworth LGA has exploded: five more monuments/statues, 10 more contemporary works, four more multimedia works, and 22 additional murals.

Mr Stanley says many artists in Tamworth are deeply involved in providing education to kids and adults alike, and any investment in local arts is an investment in our future.

"These additional funds for public art are fantastic. In a place like Tamworth there aren't enough opportunities for young artists compared to the bigger cities," he said.

"Being able to do public art in Tamworth is a great chance for artists to do something really positive and tangible for the community."

The artist and teacher said he hopes these funds will be used to deepen the sense of community among the region's artists as well as their connection to the broader public.

"Every society ever has artwork to reflect its culture. Whether it's pictures, words, dance, or anything else. It reflects our values to ourselves," Mr Stanley said.

"If you don't have that, you just end up with a lot of advertising. I mean, most of the stuff we see walking down the street is people trying to get your money in some sort of way, whereas public art is giving you something instead."

The draft Tamworth Region Public Art Strategy is on public exhibition on council's Have Your Say website until Wednesday, June 12.