The buzz surrounding Queensland's performing arts scene has gone international with several companies looking to secure overseas tours following showcases at the recent Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM). Read full story >

Test Drive the Arts kicks into gear again this year with eight more performing arts companies and venues joining the innovative audience-building program. Read full story >

Exhibiting at London's prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum has opened the eyes, and career opportunities, of Queensland artisans Matthew Dwyer and Anna Varendorff. Read full story >

Music greats Grant McLennan and Billy Thorpe continue their legacy of inspiring Queensland musicians with two State Government-funded initiatives to promote and support homegrown talent. Read full story >

The Queensland Orchestra's Chief Conductor Maestro Johannes Fritzsch made a promise that his first concert would showcase music by an Australian composer. Read full story >

A comedy, symbolist fairytale and probing judicial drama have been short-listed for the 2008-09 Queensland Premier's Drama Award. Read full story >

Barely drawing a breath after the phenomenal success of the Andy Warhol exhibition, the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) is set to stage a second Australian exclusive, Pablo Picasso’s personal collection. Read full story >

Ipswich's Workshops Rail Museum has taken out a top prize at the Australian Tourism Awards. Read full story >

Internationally renowned Australian pianist Piers Lane, Artistic Director of The Australian Festival of Chamber Music, unveiled the 2008 program at a gala event in Brisbane earlier this month. Read full story >

Do you know an inspirational person who has made a significant contribution to the arts in Queensland? Read full story >

The launch of the $12 million art+place Queensland Public Art Fund late last year was the talk of the state arts sector. Gold Coast Art Gallery curator Virginia Rigney is the chair of the art+place Curatorial Panel and she talks to Arts Update about the fund, public art in the community and her passion for art in public spaces. Read full story >

Battles for the environment and free-will rage at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Art in April with The Carbon Footprint Cabaret and Zen Zen Zo's Sub-Con Warrior 2.0. Read full story >

An English girl arrives at Darwin airport in the summer of 1974.  An Aboriginal girl travels on horseback in the winter of 1928.  Both are fleeing a crime and will meet at the centre of a cyclone. Read full story >

Emerging Torres Strait artist Billy Missi who has embraced the distinctive print-making style that has forged international careers for Denis Nona and Alix Tipoti, has opened his first solo show at KickArts Galleries in Cairns. Read full story >

Past and present come together at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre when the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts (ACPA) presents REFLECTIONS: Referendum 40 years and to the future from 15-19 April. Read full story >

Images from the state's leading contemporary photographers will be on show this month with avid collector Dr Daryl Hewson sharing his renowned private archive for the first time. Read full story >

The stunning exhibition Mountains and Streams: Chinese Paintings from the NGV Asian Collection will be showcased at the Queensland Art Gallery 19 March - 9 June. Read full story >

The outrageous realities of living in the big smoke come crashing home in Queensland Theatre Company's riotous comedy of desperation The Prisoner of Second Avenue. Read full story >

The Australia Business Arts Foundation is holding a number of information sessions and lectures throughout March and April that will help boost the funding capabilities of arts organisations. Read full story >

The annual Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition which awards more than $18,000 in prizes to emerging artists has opened for entries. Read full story >

The Pacific Film and Television Commission are calling for applications to the Indigenous Development Scheme. Read full story >

Be sure to save the date for AbaF's Board Development workshop in Brisbane on Tuesday 3 June, 2008.  Maximise your board’s performance with this practical and interactive workshop. Read full story >

http://www.arts.gov.au/arts/playing_australia
Playing Australia, the national performing arts touring program, gives all Australians better access to some of the country's best performing arts. Read full story >

http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/philanthropy/ artsupport_australia_newsletters/artsupport _australia_newsletter
If you are interested in philanthropy as a source of income for your organisation you should subscribe to the Artsupport newsletter. Read full story >

http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/the_arts/ features/ 120_ways_we_support_the_arts
The Australia Council for the Arts has released details of its funding programs for 2008. Grants are being offered in 58 categories and more than 60 initiatives are managed either directly or with partner organisations. Read full story >

http://www.daao.org.au
The Dictionary of Australian Artists Online (DAAO) is an open access and dynamic scholarly reference work and currently includes 6944 biographies by more than 400 biographers. Read full story >

www.qac.org.au
Queensland Arts Council's Ontour onstage 2008 season brochure is out now. Read full story >

Arts Update is offering four readers the opportunity to win a double pass see the The Carbon Footprint Cabaret at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Fortitude Valley. Read full story >

We welcome feedback and contributions to Arts Update. Please contact the editor, Rachael Bottle on (07) 3225 8841 or email artsupdate@arts.qld.gov.au