A considerable body of research seeks to map and measure the impact of the creative industries. This is constrained in cities like Adelaide by a narrow conceptualisation of creativity that fails to reveal how diffuse creativity is within the economy and society.

This project came about after the death of local artist Pro Hart in 2006 led to concerns that the arts sector in far western NSW was both ageing and declining. Instead researchers Lisa Andersen and Jane Andrew found a confident, growing sector where professional visual artists in Broken Hill find inspiration from the landscape and...