Only one week left of my residency! It’s gone impossibly fast. People have asked me how they can apply for a residency. Here’s the link to Lighthouse Arts where you’ll find all the info you need.

Karen Croft, the Director of Lighthouse Arts, is passionate about the project. She’s seen how this unique setting has influenced the artists’ creative practice. The walk to the Lighthouse is like a ritual, she says. You leave the city chaos behind as you cross the pier and climb up into a space where the only sound is the breath of the sea.

In planning the space, the Lighthouse team has consciously adapted the cottages to reflect this contrast. Two cottages provide quiet spaces to work and a third is a noisy communal space where there’s conversations about collaborations, creative practices and a sense of concentrated community.

Artists come for different reasons, Karen says. Some have busy noisy lives and treasure the opportunity to seclude themselves away. Others normally work in isolation and crave a sense of connection. The residencies cater for both these possibilities. I need the quiet to write, but I also treasure the little interactions on my ‘walks’, and the camaraderie with whoever has lunch when I do.

Although only the artists-in-residence can enjoy the Lighthouse during the week, it’s open to the public at weekends. There are live events, an Arts Trading Store and exhibitions. In the community cottage I snuck through the current exhibition, an amazing photographic exhibition called Flow, all about water, from the WH!P Collective (Women of the Hunter in Photography). It’s open from 4th December, Saturday and Sunday until 20 Feb 2022. Booking are free but essential due to Covid restrictions and tickets are available here.

“Supporting a culture of creativity is essential for NSW to succeed, but for culture to truly flourish it needs a home, places where it can be created, shared and enjoyed.”

NSW Government Cultural Infrastructure Plan

At Nobbys-Whibayganba Headland, Newcastle, NSW, Lighthouse Arts has brilliantly adapted and reused existing buildings, in light of the Cultural Infrastructure Plan, to develop a perfect home for creativity to flourish. I can testify to that!