HomeGround 2026 applications closing soon
You have until Friday 10 April to apply for HomeGround 2026.
Chances are, if you’re a local Dubbo artist, you’re already across the opportunity this presents but here’s a clear look at what it’s about, including what’s actually involved.
HomeGround is a professional development program that has been running for years through Dubbo Regional Council and is designed to support emerging regional artists to develop their practice alongside curators, culminating in a solo exhibition.
Regardless of how accomplished an artist may be, a finished show comes from a much longer period of thinking, testing, adjusting while building the confidence to stand behind the work.
Behind each exhibition is a 12-month development process.
Artists work closely with a curator — through studio visits, conversations, and ongoing refinement — shaping both the work itself and how it will be presented. That includes everything from developing new ideas and testing concepts through to exhibition layout, installation, and public presentation.
The result isn’t just an exhibition. It’s a fully realised body of work, supported from concept through to opening and beyond.
Recent HomeGround Artist Exhibitions
If you’ve spent any time in the gallery at the Western Plains Cultural Centre over the past six months, you’ll have seen the artists who have come through this development process.
Here are two very different artists and practices. Both offered very different experiences but shaped through the same kind of support in time, space, and curatorial guidance.
Andrew Robards exhibition Now Screening that finished in Feburary 2026, played with identity, distortion, and the instability of image in a digital world.
Daydream by Linda Chant is currently on exhibition and finishing in June. This softer, slower immersive invites you into a space where memory and imagination sit side by side.
You may be closer than you think
What HomeGround offers isn’t easy to come by. But taking a look at the application, you might find you’re closer to submitting than you think.
Yes, HomeGround is competitive but if it is something you would love to apply to one day, we encourage you to take a closer look at this year’s application. A body of work doesn’t need to be finished — it just needs to be forming. For many artists, that’s already there, just not always recognised as something worth submitting.
HomeGround isn’t looking for something fully resolved. It’s looking for an idea, a direction, and evidence of how you’re working. The rest is developed through the process.
Successful artists work alongside a curator over an extended period, developing a concept into a fully realised body of work. It’s a collaborative process that moves from idea to exhibition — shaping not only the work itself, but how it’s presented, experienced, and shared. Then from installation through to opening events, artist talks, and promotion, artists are supported across the full exhibition journey.