	{"id":120814,"date":"2026-03-28T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=120814"},"modified":"2026-03-27T12:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:10:09","slug":"baf-unveils-2026-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/living\/baf-unveils-2026-program\/","title":{"rendered":"BAF unveils 2026 program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE launch of the Ballarat Arts Foundation&#8217;s 2026 program of events took place last week at the Canberra Hotel.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the organisation, local artists, foundation donors and supporters got a sneak peek at what&#8217;s to come throughout the year, including the return of the mentorship initiative.<\/p>\n<p>Attendees were able to network with creatives and discover other projects underway across the city.<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 program includes the next grand round which opens for applications on 1 June, a Victorian Opera concert in August, the AGM and grant award ceremony in October.<\/p>\n<p>BAF chair Paula Nicholson led a conversation with foundation grant round 38 recipients, multi-disciplinary visual artist and author Georgie Stokol and filmmaker Diana Paez.<\/p>\n<p>Stokol is developing an exhibition of sculptures and paintings exploring transformation and change, while Paez is entering the editing suite for a film on Women of the Well&#8217;s Mary Top, with an aim to screen it during June&#8217;s Refugee Week.<\/p>\n<p>Applications for the five-month-long, Rotary Club of Ballarat-sponsored mentoring program are open from 1 to 30 April, with the first workshop in June, and the final session in November.<\/p>\n<p>A previous participant, Stokol was mentored by poet Megan J Riedl.<\/p>\n<p>She said the experience gave her the confidence to cut unessential things from her process under the pressure of time constraints and to focus on her priorities.<\/p>\n<p>Visit <a href=\"http:\/\/ballaratartsfoundation.org.au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ballaratartsfoundation.org.au<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE launch of the Ballarat Arts Foundation&#8217;s 2026 program of events took place last week at the Canberra Hotel. Members of the organisation, local artists, foundation donors and supporters got a sneak peek at what&#8217;s to come throughout the year, including the return of the mentorship initiative. Attendees were able to network with creatives and [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/living\/baf-unveils-2026-program\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":120817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-120814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>BAF unveils 2026 program - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the Ballarat Arts Foundation 2026 program. Featuring mentorships, grant rounds, and Victorian Opera. 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