Mayor’s art social media post racks-up the thousands

The Facebook account for the Mayor of Dubbo is not usually considered one of the world’s hottest social media entities.

That has all changed for Dubbo’s very-own high-powered influencer, Josh Black, after his recent post about the new exhibition by the “world’s most popular artist”, Yayoi Kusama, went wild.

“I’ve had 90,000 views on my account over just a day and a bit, maybe two days,” the somewhat surprised local government supremo told Dubbo Photo News late last week.

“It’s certainly got a lot of attention, and from many people from outside the region,” he added.

He thinks that the striking show, (see full story, “In Focus”) will likely attract a few travelling art aficionados to the Orana to view the exhibit over its two-year run.

“I only put it out yesterday, so we’re thinking we could have a lot of visitors to the exhibition,” Cr Black said.

“It’ll bring a few people into town, which can only be good for Dubbo and local arts,” he added about the Western Plains Cultural Centre-housed display with the rather-unlikely title: “The Spirits Of The Pumpkins Descended Into The Heavens, 2017”.

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Aus Day 2026 Award noms open

With the controversial move of Dubbo’s Australia Day events to January 25, it will be revealing to see how many nominations Council receives for its 2026 awards.

Award nominations are being accepted for both Wellington and Dubbo communities for the following categories:

Wellington:

• Citizen of the Year

• Senior Citizen of the Year

• Young Citizen of the Year

• Sportsperson of the Year

• Young Sportsperson of the Year

• Community Event of the Year

• Services to Sport Award

• Community Service/Achievement Award

Dubbo:

• Citizen of the Year

• Senior Citizen of the Year

• Young Citizen of the Year

• Sportsperson of the Year

• Young Sportsperson of the Year

• Services to the Arts

• Community Group of the Year

• Services to Sport

Dubbo Regional Council Mayor Josh Black said it was a great opportunity to recognise community members who had contributed significantly to the region. Well, we’ll see…

“Residents are encouraged to submit nominations as soon as possible to avoid missing out” Council’s blurb stated, with noms closing on Monday, December 8.

More details are on the council website.

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Council accounts in the black, have your say

Tuesday’s Council meeting presented the state of finances for local government in the region, with the figures looking good.

For those interested, the LGA’s “Net Operating Result” for the 2025 year improved from about $29 million in 2024 to more than $60 million over just one year, with income now up to $234,927,000 from $210,896,000 the year before.

Total Current Assets declined about 10 per cent, however, to $204,113,000 from $236,926,000 the year before, with total equity now more than $3 billion.

If you want to comment on these provisional figures, submissions in writing close on November 4.

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Making library entrance safer with marine tiles

Dubbo’s Library is installing new “marine tile carpet” on the ramps up to the returns chute and entry doors to make coming and going safer.

“The marine tile carpet will aim to decrease the risk of slips and falls caused by wet weather on the front entrance ramp,” Council stated.

However, this work will require changes to the entryways for a day next week, with entry via the side door on November 3-4.

“Staff will be on hand to assist patrons with accessing the alternate entry during this time,” Council assured our avid local readers.