Announcing 2026 CASP Recipients
2026 CASP Recipients. Left to right: Cameron Gould, Aunty Cheryl Penrith and Haya Arzidin (Wagga Wagga Voices of Women), Jhi Rayner (Freeroam Theatre), Tania Le Petit, and Lindsay Martin.
Eastern Riverina Arts is pleased to announce the 12 successful recipients of the 2026 Country Arts Support Program.
The Country Arts Support Program (CASP) is an annual small grants program supporting professional development for artists, original creative projects and collaborations. The program is supported by Create NSW and administered by Eastern Riverina Arts with a funding pool of $17,000, plus an additional $1,250 contributed by Eastern Riverina Arts.
2026 CASP Recipients
Individuals
Projects that ‘level up’ an artist’s practice or professional development.
Cameron Gould ($750)
Cameron will complete targeted online courses, building proficiency in Rive software. He will create interactive assets, UI elements, experimental digital work and develop teaching skills to assist other regional creatives.
Fiona Currey-Billyard ($750)
Fiona will attend the Unlocking the Colours of Nature workshop, supported by Fibre Arts Australia and facilitated by Helen Coleman. This deep dive into natural dye will support Fiona’s fibre arts, painting and drawing practice.
Lindsay Martin ($750)
Funding will allow Lindsay to build and install high-quality custom acoustic panels in her newly established recording studio in Tumut. This will support his creative practice and growth as a regional studio operator.
Rory Phillips ($750)
Rory will attend the Autumn Songwriters Retreat in at the DAG Sheep Station in Nundle, NSW. This collaboration with industry professionals will expand Rory’s country music network.
Tania Le Petit ($750)
Tania will create a new collection of anodised Niobium earrings, produced in Wagga Wagga and sold locally.
Projects
Impactful projects and creative collaborations.
Falling Leaf Festival ($1659)
Falling Leaf Festival will engage Melissa Martin Art to provide a creative zone with a variety of materials, offering an opportunity for both passive and active participation from the community at their upcoming Sunday in the Park event.
Freeroam Theatre Inc ($2704)
Freeroam is teaming up with sound designers Tim Crutchett and Damian Moloney to create new, exciting sound design for Freeroam Theatre's upcoming production, War of the Worlds, a new devised retelling.
Riverina Readers Festival ($3,000)
Development of ‘Grab Me’, an embedded program within the 2026 Riverina Readers Festival, exploring the magic around captivating opening sentences and where the reader’s journey begins. It will also provide an opportunity for regional writers to anonymously pitch their book openings for panel and audience feedback, propelling ideas to potential publications.
South Wagga Public School P&C ($2287)
South Wagga Public School P&C will work with Wiradjuri artist Shelby-Rae Lyons to design and install First Nations native animal aluminium door signs across South Wagga Public School in 2026, celebrating culture, place and identity through durable, site-specific artworks.
Tumut Art Society ($550)
Tumut Art Society presents Ephemeral Art and community workshops at the Pilot Hill Arboretum. Funding to help engage professional artists to offer demonstrations and individual tuition, creating works on paper, prints, and ephemeral sculptures, concluding with an exhibition later in the year.
Wagga Wagga Voices of Women: Haya Arzidin, Vicki Burkinshaw, Cheryl Penrith, Melanie Reeves, Lliane Clarke ($3000)
Wagga Wagga Voices of Women invites diverse women from all cultures to dive into the wild waters of their imagination and unleash their story. Participants will go on a sensory walk to the river, play with written and spoken words, create and record a collaborative podcast.
West Wyalong Town Band ($1300)
The West Wyalong Town Band will purchase new music arrangements and host a regional workshop, collaborating with musicians from the surrounding region (including Griffith, Leeton, Temora, Parkes, etc), culminating in a free community concert that showcases the ensemble’s growth.