The Guide: July 2026
It’s our mid-winter edition of The Guide this month.
July marks NAIDOC Week 2026 (5–12 July), a time to honour the culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This year’s official theme, 50 Years of Deadly honours the five decades of NAIDOC Week – the people who built it, the stories that have been shared, the culture that has been celebrated, and the leadership that has inspired.
Closer to home the free Sunshine Coast NAIDOC Family Day will take place at Kings Beach Caloundra on Sunday 5 July from 10am - 4pm.
To learn more about what is happening head to the official NAIDOC website and explore local events via the NAIDOC Regional Guide.
Looking to connect with artists, arts workers and organisations across regional and remote Queensland through free, expert advice? The Regional Arts Services Network (RASN) does just that. An initiative of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, RASN provides specialised support designed to amplify the voices of regional, rural, and remote creators. Get to know the regionally based advisors and book a time to meet here.
Read on for a taste of other news, events and opportunities happening.
R|Think Big artists in residence update
The first stage of this extraordinary multi-year creative journey to conceptualise a large-scale sunrise ritual to be performed simultaneously across the Great Barrier Reef, from north to south is underway with R|Think Big artists Ashley Saltner Jnr (Wulgurukaba) and Lyndon Davis (Kabi Kabi) and musician Cameron Deyell meeting on the Sunshine Coast in July.
Stay tuned for opportunities to meet and hear from Lyndon, Ashley, Cameron and Kyle later this year via INSTAGRAM.
Approach - presented by IN | artist run initiative
Through moving image, photography, rock, moss and floral sculpture, Approach brings together the practices of Chelsea Holden and Ryan Jones.
Developed during their 2026 Cellmates Residency, the work emerges from a shared life spent outdoors. Walking, climbing, observing and returning to the natural environments that shape their daily experience. Rather than depicting the landscape as a distant subject, the exhibition considers how sustained attention can foster a deeper relationship with place.
Together, the works invite a slower way of looking; one grounded in curiosity, observation, and appreciation.
Saturday 4 July, 6pm-8pm, The Old Lock Up, Maroochydore | RSVP here.
Stay up to date with IN | artist run initiative via INSTAGRAM.
R|The Path
R|The Path with Dr Kellie O’Dempsey officially kicks off this weekend, and we’re thrilled to introduce this year’s cohort of artists:
Alicia Sharples:Alicia Sharples art
Elijah Huckel:math_feels_
Holly Field:Holly Field Artist
Jamie Davidson:Jamie Davidson art
Jordyn Stirling:Jordyn Stirling Art
Jude Muduioa:Jude Muduioa art
Michael Norris:Michael J Norris
Lee McIntosh:Lee McIntosh
Ro Clark:Ro Clark Art
Sally Chippendale:Chippendale Art Studios
With the support of Sunshine Coast Council and Noosa Shire Council these 10 artists will join Dr Kellie O’Dempsey from July to September on the path journey from concept to production development of a new body of work.
OPPORTUNITIES
FUNDING
The Music Australia Export Development Fund is a partnership between the Australian Government and the Australian music industry designed to provide financial support to a diverse range of Australian artists across three different categories.
The program supports emerging, breakthrough and established acts and is available for Australian citizens or permanent residents who are practising contemporary music artists. This includes solo artists, instrumentalists, bands, ensembles, electronic artists, producers, songwriters and composers.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Presented in partnership with QPAC, Red Handed Productions is running the First Nations Event Photography Training Program alongside Clancestry from 30 July - 8 August 2026. Participants will received hands-on mentorship and training in event photography as well as the art of event coverage, what clients seek, how to get the winning shot and how to edit and deliver according to a brief.
Expressions of Interest now open for First Nations photographers
FUNDING
Applications open on 27 July for Round 3 of the Queensland Arts Project Fund (QAPF). The fund provides one-off grants to support the development and presentation of new creative work by Queensland-based individuals, arts companies, groups and organisations.
The Fund will supports the delivery of Queensland’s Time To Shine strategy priorities including sharing our stories and celebrating our storytellers.
WHAT’S ON
CONFERENCE
Presented by AIDC and Screen Queensland with the support of Sunshine Coast Council, and in association with Sunshine Coast Screen Collective, Regionality - Sunshine Coast is a one-day screen industry event designed to support and elevate documentary and factual practitioners in regional South East Queensland. Explore the full program here.
EXHIBITION
LORE and LAND is an exhibition grounded in the deep cultural knowledge, ancestral connections, and sovereign rights of Australian First Nations peoples.
The exhibition recognises that lore is not simply story - it is so much more: an enduring system of knowledge, responsibility, kinship, and custodianship that binds people to Country across generations. A celebration of the resilience, brilliance, and continuity of First Nations cultural knowledge, and a challenge to Australia to recognise, respect, and uphold the sovereign rights, lore, and custodianship that have existed on this continent since time immemorial.
MUSIC
Acclaimed songwriter Jackie Marshall brings her new album The Last Of The Human Troubadours to Coolum, Maleny, Cleveland, Pomona and Eudlo this July, presented by Red Chair.
A rare meeting of soulful songwriting and cinematic strings, the tour sees Marshall joined by the hauntingly beautiful Black Square Quartet and esteemed guitarist Chris Pickering, performing arrangements by composer Robert Davidson.
FESTIVAL: The Australian Festival of Wearable Art
FESTIVAL: NOOSA alive!
Image credits (from top): Path 2026 artist Lee McIntosh. Image courtesy of the Artist / Adrian Dzvuke. Image courtesy of Creative Australia website /Free Solo (image still). Image courtesy of AIDC /LORE and LAND Image: Tony Albert | Notorious B.E.L.L. | 2006 | Type C photograph. ed.1/5 | 100 x 100 cm. Gift of the artist through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2008. Sunshine Coast Art Collection. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo by Sarah Jane Smith. / Jackie Marshall. Credit: Jo Bell.
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