Upcoming on Thursday 22 October, AusArt Day is a nationwide fundraising initiative across all arts disciplines. It is hosted by Creative Australia, our nation’s principal arts investment and advisory body.
According to the official website, AusArt Day is “designed to mobilise artists and arts organisations to raise funds for their work and creative ambitions on a single, powerful day”. It is a call to action, aiming to “amplify the visibility of arts philanthropy and inspire greater generosity across the country”.
More than a fundraiser, the event is a public movement that celebrates the vital role of the arts in our life. As Creative Australia CEO Adrian Collette explains:
“Australians have a deep connection to arts and creativity. It’s in the music we listen to, the books we read, the stories we watch, the performances we experience and the creativity that shapes our communities.”
“Our research shows that 97% of Australians engage with the arts, often without necessarily thinking of it as ‘the arts’. AusArt Day is an opportunity to recognise the artists and organisations behind those experiences and directly support the work we value.”
The first AusArt Day took place in October 2025, with 323 Australian artists and arts organisations calling on their fellow citizens to help Make Art Happen. That event attracted 4768 individual donors, who contributed a total of $2.4 million to support a great variety of arts activities, programs and projects.
This year, whether it is individual musicians, dancers, singers, writers, translators, actors, filmmakers, designers, photographers and painters, or arts collectives planning workshops, exhibitions, concerts, performances, festivals, community events and publishing tasks – they deserve recognition and help to turn their creative vision into something real.
So, if/when you are able and willing, how can you support AusArt Day? The first step is to locate the Participant Gallery. You will find a great variety of projects proposed by individual artists, arts groups or collectives, and arts organisations.
Next, search your state/territory and favourite art form, and click on the projects to view their briefs. Each will link you to a campaign page where you can discover more details about the project, including but not limited to what they are raising funds for and how they will report impact to supporters.
Keep in mind that you can make a pledge during the “quiet phase”, which covers the days leading up to (and beyond!) the public campaign on AusArt Day. Some of the campaigns will arrange their own online donation methods (with a few even offering perks/rewards), but you can also contact your preferred project organisers to discuss offline giving.
Please, let’s help make AusArt Day a success. We can all do our small bit to MAKE ART HAPPEN.
Note: This article was published by Ranges Trader Star Mail, October 20, 2026, P.20.
