Flood disaster for arts sector

Artists and organisations in northern NSW and south-east Qld have been badly impacted by the latest extreme weather events.

A ‘rain bomb’ across northern NSW and south-east Queensland has severely impacted arts organisations in two states.

The damage is especially bad in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, where two people are confirmed to have died and central Lismore was inundated. At its height, the Wilson River peaked at 14.4 metres, causing the worst flooding in history and rising so high that Lismore Regional Gallery was inundated.  

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts