Wauchope is hoping to build recognition for our creative community with the addition of a new brand for the community called ‘Creative Wauchope’.
Take a look at the marketing around NSW’s most successful country towns and they all share a theme of creativity, culture and community. Think Leura in the Blue Mountains, Bega down South, Bellingen and Byron to the North. All of these towns attract tourists in their droves and significant financial benefits for the community thanks to their booming tourist economy.
The Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Economic Development team has been working with a group of creative and business locals (with support from the Wauchope Chamber of Commerce) with aims to build on the success of Wauchope’s RV Friendly and Motorcycle Friendly Town status.
‘Creative Wauchope will inspire, engage, support and connect the creative community of Wauchope and bring the vibrancy of creativity into the retail environment and the public realm for locals and visitors alike’ says Liesa Davies, Group Manager, Economic Development & Communications.
Creative Wauchope has evolved from humble beginnings to become a networking group for local creatives as well as a brand and a platform to promote Wauchope and our creative businesses.
We have full time artists and musicians but also people from all walks of life creating all kinds of things and this new brand seeks to celebrate that creativity in the Wauchope community through an ongoing awareness campaign, events, workshops, exhibitions and activations.
From November, the RV community, motorcyclists and other visitors to Wauchope will be greeted with new flags as they approach Wauchope and you can already find Creative Wauchope symbols starting to appear on the streets in front of shopfronts and information kiosks around town.
Getting involved with, promoting and advocating Creative Wauchope can add another dimension to local business. The brand can highlight locally produced goods or creative practices and guide visitors in the town to visit these shopfronts.
Cafes and retail spaces are being encouraged to display local artists and host workshops that create synergies for both customers and business. Do you have a latent creative opportunity to activate your space and connect with the creative community? Creativity is defined using imagination to create something new: artisan bread, gourmet sausages, tattoo art, barista art, fermentation, floristry - join the more traditional creative industries and become an active part of Creative Wauchope.
The Creative Wauchope Workshop Weekend is also being held on 21-22 April, 2018 which coincides with NSW school holidays, Artwalk and Youth Week. The weekend of events will provide local artists and businesses with the opportunity to host a workshop or support the event and generally launch the Creative Wauchope brand. Workshop topics include upcycling op-shop wares, babbling in dye, social media photography and everything in between. There is scope for a broad range of workshops to suit all ages and skills. , If you have some ideas of your own, now is the time to get involved and the Creative Wauchope working group is a great place to start.
Connect, network and synergise with like minded creative people and get creative in Wauchope. You can reach the working group via their Facebook page @creativewauchope
