Creative industries in the Barossa

Creativity is part of how the Barossa understands itself, strengthens community and shares its stories.

The region’s creative industries include visual arts, craft and design, music and performance, writing, film and digital media, cultural production, creative enterprise and heritage interpretation. Together, these activities contribute to community wellbeing, learning, cultural identity, regional visitation and economic opportunity.

The Barossa Council supports a range of initiatives and services in the Barossa region both directly and through partnerships such as with Art Music Design Barossa to help this creative ecosystem thrive. We invest in cultural places and programs, support artists and creative practitioners, connect people and organisations, and create opportunities for the community to participate in and shape the cultural life of the region.

Council creates and supports opportunities for artists, makers, musicians, performers, writers and other creative practitioners to develop their work, build skills, reach audiences and connect with new markets.

This may include exhibitions, commissions, residencies, performances, workshops, professional development, public programs and opportunities to collaborate with community, business and cultural organisations.

Council supports a network of cultural places and platforms across the region, including:

• Barossa Regional Gallery
• Barossa Sculpture Park
• 1877 Hill and Son Grand Organ
• Public art and interpretation throughout the region
• Community halls, libraries and public spaces
• Online platforms and digital cultural projects
• the developing Barossa Creative Industries Centre

While the Barossa Creative Industries Centre will become an important regional hub, creative activity will continue to be encouraged across towns, villages, cultural organisations, schools, businesses and community spaces throughout the Council area.

The Barossa’s stories, collections, traditions, landscapes and cultural places provide an exceptional foundation for contemporary creative practice.

Council works with artists, First Nations cultural leaders, museums, heritage organisations and community members to preserve, reinterpret and share these stories in new ways. This approach helps make heritage active and accessible while creating distinctive cultural experiences that could not be produced anywhere else.

Creative participation is important at every stage of life. Council supports accessible opportunities for children, young people, families, older people and people of diverse backgrounds and abilities to make, learn, perform, share stories and experience arts and culture.

Projects are developed with schools, artists, community organisations, volunteers and cultural partners to build skills, strengthen belonging and encourage lifelong participation.

Council helps connect artists and creative businesses with one another and with education, tourism, heritage, community, government and business sectors.

This includes sector mapping, networking, collaborative projects, advocacy and partnerships that build a more visible, connected and sustainable creative economy.

Over the past several years, Council’s creative work has increasingly brought together artistic practice, community participation, cultural collections and the stories of place.

Recent examples include:

• the Barossa Women’s Artist Residency, which brought nationally and internationally experienced artists Belinda Wilson, Ruth Murray and Rae Howell to the Barossa between 2023 and 2025, supported through a partnership between community donors and Council
• SALA in the Barossa with the SALA Festival
• the Artist Visioning Project, which invited artists Jacob Logos, Aidan Dorrian and Daniel Fuller to imagine the future of arts, culture and heritage in the Barossa through their creative practices
• exhibitions such as Alchemy of Blue, Visioning, What Happened at Christmas and the 2026 year-long Inquiry series, connecting contemporary artists with the Barossa Museum and Barossa Vintage Festival Art Collection
• community-led projects including Our Town: A Children’s Guide to Tanunda, developed with Foundation students from Faith Lutheran College as a child-led SALA walking experience
• cultural learning, First Nations programs, Country Arts SA's Nunga Screen, creative workshops, live music, organ programs and collaborations with local schools and community organisations
• creative projects delivered in partnership with The Barossa Arts Council, The Barossa Museum, Tanunda RSL, Tutti Arts, local artists and community members to explore migration, memory, place and local heritage
• continuing care, interpretation and activation of public art, the Barossa Sculpture Park, cultural collections and significant heritage assets.