Project overview
North Sydney Council is calling for Expressions of Interest for an artist or creative to develop a creative project as part of Stage Two of Council’s Notable Women of North Sydney initiative.
Launched on International Women’s Day in March this year, #NotableNorthSydneyWomen is a multi-year community campaign that celebrates the lives and achievements of women who have lived, worked in and shaped North Sydney.
Stage One (2025/2026) of the project included a First Nations-led panel talk at Ensemble Theatre and a large-scale public decal campaign highlighting past and present North Sydney women – from canonised nuns to youth environmental campaigners, by way of community volunteers, cardiologists, civil rights activists, Archibald Prize-nominated artists and pioneering architects.
Learn more about these women here, or find their decals along Miller St, North Sydney. Throughout 2026, Council continues to seek nominations from the community of other notable women to celebrate, to join a longer list of historical and contemporary women that Council has already identified.
Stage two
For Stage Two (2026) of the project, Council is inviting artists and creatives to dive into the stories and archives to research and develop a proposal for a work, project or program that highlights and celebrates and continues to uncover these #NotableNorthSydneyWomen.
Proposals can be multi/interdisciplinary and look to take the finished form of public program/s and/or material outcomes including, but not limited to, small publications or zines, podcasts or audio recordings, performances, guided walks and/or temporary activations/interventions.
Stage Three of the project, which is slated for 2027, will see the realisation of this proposal.
Project timeline
- EOI opens: 5 May 2026
- EOI closes: 5 June 2026
- Successful applicants notified by 15 June 2026
- Contracts issued by 22 June 2026
- Stage Two project commences: 1 July 2026
- Stage Two Project Complete: November 2026
- Stage Three Project: early 2027
Key objectives
- To build on the research, outreach and visibility of Stage One of the Notable Women of North Sydney project
- To develop a proposal for a work or program that engages with and promotes the history, stories and current contributions of women to the life and community of North Sydney. To note: this proposed work will be funded and delivered in 2027 as part of Stage Three.
We are particularly looking for projects/artists that:
- Demonstrate experience and appetite for research, community engagement, social history and working collaboratively
- Engage thoughtfully and creatively with the storytelling possibilities of the lives and contributions of any notable women
- Consider whose stories have not yet been told and ways to do this that are sensitive, creative and inclusive
- Invite input or engagement/response from the wider North Sydney Community
- Have a clear conceptual and/or creative remit that could help inform other aspects of the Notable Women of North Sydney project
- Are from artists or creatives living or working across the North Sydney LGA
Stage two project budget $8,000 (ex GST)
EOIs should include an indicative budget that accounts for artist fees, project development, any community outreach or engagement necessary for the development of the Stage Three proposal.
Eligibility
The artist does not have to reside in North Sydney but should be based in Sydney and willing to work/travel to and from North Sydney as required.
For more information, please contact artsandculture@northsydney.nsw.gov.au