Created in Noosa with Locate
Jodie Cameron discovers the platform putting Noosa’s creatives on the map…
Noosa has always been home to an extraordinary creative community. Mosey down the Junction laneways, wander the many galleries, market stalls or festivals and the talent is impossible to miss.
But finding the right photographer, the right illustrator or the right maker for a project meant relying on word-of-mouth, a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend or a lucky Instagram scroll. That disconnection is exactly why Locate was built. Noosa Shire Council’s newest initiative is an online directory where artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers, producers, artisans and fashion and textile makers can be found – not by algorithm, but by intention.
Ruby Donohoe, Cultural Development Officer at Noosa Council and a creative herself, has been instrumental in bringing it to life.
“Much of the creative work exists across scattered networks, word-of-mouth connections and fleeting visibility online,” Ruby says. “Locate was built as
a direct response – a platform designed to make the region’s creative community more connected and discoverable.”
So why Locate and not just a quick Google search or Instagram scroll? Where similar platforms reward follower counts, trending content and advertising spend, Locate offers slower, more meaningful browsing rooted in curiosity, collaboration and place.
“It allows people to encounter local artists and creative businesses within a broader cultural landscape, rather than through posts or disconnected search results,” Ruby says. “You might find what you were looking for, but you’re just as likely to discover practices, projects and people you never would have otherwise.”
Locate was built to dissolve the idea that creativity exists separately from the wider life of the region. A local café might commission an illustrator; a festival producer might discover a performance artist and a business seeking a fresh perspective could connect with a designer working just down the road. It opens pathways for the kind of exchange that produces the work people cherish and remember – not just transactions.
“Artists are not operating in isolation,” Ruby says. “They are contributing to tourism, hospitality, events, public life, education, design and storytelling. Creativity isn’t an extra – it’s central to the life of this place.”
The platform is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund, a partnership between the Queensland Government and Noosa Council, but Locate’s vision is much bigger than its funding source. Think of it as creative infrastructure, less visible than a new road or building but just as formative in shaping how a place feels and who it is.
Even in its early stages, Locate is already generating new conversations. Artists are finding one another across disciplines, festivals are identifying emerging practitioners, a filmmaker has discovered a choreographer, a designer has found a musician. These are the relationships that become the next festival, the next public artwork, the next thing people are talking about long after they’ve left.
Lyndon Davis, a Kabi Kabi man whose work spans painting, community arts and cultural mentorship, represents the kind of practice Locate was built to honour – creativity inseparable from Country, community and responsibility.
Visual artist Amanda Bennetts creates large-scale immersive installations exploring chronic illness, disability, care and the aesthetics of wellness culture. Working across video, sound and sculptural environments, her practice has recently featured at Ars Electronica, ISEA, CTM Festival in Berlin and received major acquisitive prize at the 2025 Girra: Fraser Coast National Art Prize.
“Locate brings contemporary art into Noosa, not the beach paintings you might expect, but rigorous artistic practices that hold their own alongside anything you’d find in a major city,” Amanda says. “I’m proud to be part of this community who’s gaining institutional recognition at state and national levels.”
New North Inc is an artist-run initiative and curatorial platform by Megan Rowland, Travis MacFarlane, Brian Keayes and Kellie O’Dempsey. Working at the intersection of public art and contemporary happenings that involve installation, projection, visual art and performance. Their Apparent Light project in Peregian Beach Village in 2027 will transform walls, alleyways and public surfaces through projection and light across two evenings – an after-dark happening that shifts how familiar environments are seen and inhabited.
“We’re excited by creatives working experimentally across the region and beyond, especially those making things happen outside the norm and bringing people together,” Kellie O’Dempsey says. “We want more people to experience works that feel urgent, unexpected and alive to the moment, where the scene is real.”
And Thomson Knife and Utility – the handcrafted knife-making practice of Jason Thomson. Drawing from a background in restaurants and outdoor life, Jason creates kitchen and utility knives from high-grade mono steel and reclaimed local timber. In a culture defined by mass production, his work is a quiet argument for precision and objects built to outlast their owners.
“Locate is an invaluable platform for small makers and artists like me,” Jason says. “It’s given me greater visibility and created real pathways.”
This is what Locate is really about – not a directory in the functional sense, but a portrait of a region where culture is being made every day from studios, workshops, galleries and laneways.
Get amongst it – you might just find a connection you never thought possible, until it happens. If you’re a creative, get listed for free – and if you’re looking for a creative artist or experience, you now know where to Locate them!
LOCATE IS LIVE!
Explore our creative community, discover immersive events, inspiring spaces and heartfelt gifts – or get listed on Locate.
www.locatenoosa.com | Follow them on Instagram @locate_noosa_creatives
