This Saturday (Feb 16, 11am), Central Queensland University (CQU) Mackay and the University of Tasmania (UTAS) will welcome 15 new students into the UTAS Master of Contemporary Arts degree, during an orientation to be held at CQU Mackay.

The orientation for commencing students marks the beginning of a community arts collaboration between CQU and UTAS to offer regional arts practitioners the opportunity to study a studio and practice-based Masters in their discipline without having to relocate to southern campuses.

Professor Vincent McGrath, Head of School, Academy of the Arts, University of Tasmania said that "the collaboration is a milestone achievement because it has the potential to serve the artistic and broader cultural interests of both our regions in Australia in very exciting and distinctive ways".

Professor McGrath also said that the Master of Contemporary Arts was the first studio and practice-based academic program to be offered externally by the Academy of the Arts and that the Mackay region's lively arts scene would be a perfect place for a cross-regional advanced study.

Visual artists including painters, photographers, printmakers and sculptors, as well as teachers, costume and textile designers, and people interested in arts curatorship and management from as far south as Yeppoon and north to Bowen have been accepted into the Master of Contemporary Arts.

"We also hope that later in the year the Masters program will also attract theatre practitioners and those with a deep interest in the culinary arts," Professor McGrath said.

Students will study externally and attend various intensive workshops, tutorials and seminars at CQU with visiting academics from UTAS throughout the duration of their course.

Ann Williams-Fitzgerald, Field Officer, Academy of the Arts at UTAS and Dr Trevor Davison, Head of Campus, CQU Mackay will welcome the commencing students at the orientation commencing at 11am on Saturday, February 16 in the CQU Mackay library.