OUR PURPOSE
The Outdoor Billboard Gallery serves as a dynamic exhibition platform amplifying the voices of remote and regional artists, ensuring cultural inclusivity in the public sphere. By transforming billboards into large-scale canvases, the gallery brings art directly to the public - by way of a gallery beside a highway - the Plenty Highway, part of the Outback Way.
Providing visibility and opportunities for artists who might otherwise face barriers to showcasing their work. This initiative not only celebrates diverse artistic expression but also fosters a deeper appreciation for cultural narratives that may be underrepresented in mainstream galleries. By prioritizing inclusivity, the gallery ensures that artists from various backgrounds—especially Indigenous and marginalized creatives—have a prominent space to share their perspectives with a wider audience.
Beyond its artistic contributions, the Outdoor Billboard Gallery plays a role in strengthening the economic and cultural fabric of remote and regional communities. By integrating public art into cultural tourism initiatives, the gallery attracts visitors, stimulates local economies, and provides sustainable opportunities for artists and businesses alike. Additionally, its commitment to safe and equitable access to art ensures that creative experiences are available to all, regardless of socio-economic . Through its public exhibitions programme, the gallery actively supports the cultural economy, positioning art as both an economic driver and a tool for community engagement, enrichment, and resilience.
Our Management Committee
The Management Committee Executive
President: Karen Stephens
Secretary: Dana Lang
Treasurer: Paola Cabezas Bono
Ordinary Committee Members:
Michael Jerome Smith
Mary Findlay
Ann Britton
Roxanne Highfold
Robin McChonchie
Alex Chalmers
Karen Stephens - President
Karen Stephens is an Australian artist and arts worker based in Winton (Qld) whose interdisciplinary practice examines the politics of the gaze and distorts structures of seeing through contemporary landscape and portraiture painting. Stephens completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) from Griffith University’s Queensland College of Art (2017) and is currently completing Post Graduate studies in Business, Arts and Cultural Management (Deakin University). She was appointed as Exhibition Supervisor of the Outback Regional Gallery, Winton in 2018.
Her paintings have been shortlisted in several prestigious awards and in 2016 she won the Flying Arts Alliance’s Queensland Regional Art Awards. Most recently her works can be seen on two billboard sized artworks on the Outback Way Outdoor Gallery, a major cross-cultural arts and infrastructure project on the Plenty Highway, Northern Territory supported with funding from the Australian Government’s Building Better Regions Fund and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal. Stephens is one in three Central Queensland artists to receive a place making commission and opening exhibition at the Rockhampton Museum of Art (2022) supported by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund and selected as one of twelve emerging and established essay writers from across Australia to be included in the peer-contribution collection publication made possible with funding from the Gordon Darling Foundation to detail the strength, history and content of Rockhampton Museum of Art’s collection. Karen is currently working towards two exhibitions of new work to be exhibited in early 2024.
Chris Forbes
Chris Forbes has been a corporate banking legal counsel with BNP Paribas (Australia branch) since 2015. Chris has extensive experience as lawyer working in the public and private sector advising on a range of legal areas including corporate advisory, commercial, financial services and intellectual property in Australia, England and Singapore. He has also worked in legal academic research on topics related to international environmental and climate change law in tertiary institutions in Australia and the United States. Chris has a keen interest in enabling indigenous communities and culture to grow through art; and is especially interested in the work and benefits to local and the wider community by the Outdoor Billboard Gallery Inc.
Mary Findlay
Mary has worked for several years as the director of Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery.
In other lives she worked in education and was a member and intern with ZEN ZEN ZO Theatre Company.