All-inclusive River Walk Community Art Project in Queen Elizabeth Park, Manning River, Taree

On Monday, December 18, the River Walk Art Project will be officially "unveiled" on the banks of the Manning River, with the community invited to join some of the 300 plus artists who's work will be permanently on show from that date.

The project is a culmination of a partnership between Dundaloo Support Services, Manning Regional Art Gallery and MidCoast Council, headed by Matty Zarb of Dundaloo.

The paintings to be displayed come from two years worth of work by people living with disabilities from around the MidCoast local government area and Norfolk Island.

They were created for two previous exhibitions, We Are One and Imagine, in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The two exhibitions were community art projects with the aim of bringing people with disabilities together through art.

"After having all those artworks, I thought, 'what are we going to do with them? We can't just them all sit.", Matty said.

Matty is excited for the upcoming unveiling, which is taking place as Dundaloo's celebration of International Day of People with Disability.

"For me the number one thing of all this is, I imagine all those more-than 300 artists painting and what this will mean to them and their families when they can see their work permanently installed." Matty said.

The two previous exhibitions were installed on the outer walls of the Manning Regional Art Gallery. The works from those installations have been digitised and Barrier Signs are creating 15 panels displaying 327 art works to be installed along the 36 metres of wall behind Valley Fair, with the permission of the owner of the property.

To pay for the creation and installation of the panels, Matty sought sponsorship from local businesses (for a list of sponsors, visit the Dundaloo Support Services Facebook page).

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