There were no less than 12 nominations for the Canberra Area Theatre (CAT) Awards, held in Dubbo on Saturday night and two, the Molong Players and David Bunting (pictured) received a gong for their efforts.

Orange City Bowling Club became home to bush poetry on Saturday night as part of the Banjo Paterson Australian Poetry Festival, showcasing the best of the best in the written word.

To top it off, Orange Regional Conservatorium is growing to meet demand, having welcomed four extra teachers. 

First and foremost, congratulations are in order for those who were nominated for awards or who had the courage to not only put pen to paper, but perform their work in front of a live audience – it’s tough to do and the results clearly paid off.

But it also highlights that while the push might be all about STEM at the moment, ie maths and science, and jobs certainly point to those areas, the value of creative arts cannot be underestimated.

A study was conducted recently where a sample of people was divided into four groups and their IQ was measured.

Two groups were taught a musical instrument and then the whole sample was tested again.

The results found the IQ of those who learned an instrument improved far more than those who did not.

But again, the value of creative arts cannot be measured on just brain smarts.

Music, theatre and poetry enrich life – they comment on current issues and family and experiences with emotion and humour in a way that other forms of expression can’t.

They are inclusive – they bring people with a common passion together to learn from each other and create something that wouldn’t have been possible alone.

It is encouraging that we are lucky enough to have a strong cultural sector that local government and business generously support, and we are actively bringing more people into it.

All we need now is for the NSW Board of Studies to recognise this value when they decide how to scale cultural subjects.

Perhaps then, all those early childhood guitar lessons might have a better chance of extending past high school and into the adult community.