Dubbo's Kim V Goldsmith launches ART e-Parties website, F50 to celebrate 50th

For Kim V. Goldsmith, she decided to start her own.

After a few days of moping about Dark Mofo in Tasmania being cancelled, Ms Goldsmith decided to use her digital media skills to her advantage.

On Thursday night, Ms Goldsmith launched ART e-Parties, a website to allow artists and creatives to showcase their work. In the livestreamed event she also gave out the details of the first event, F50.

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"Our creative doesn't stop just because we can't exhibit at a gallery or we can't do a live gig at a pub, or whatever it is. We're still creating work and the arts sector has been very hard hit by the containment measures around COVID-19," Ms Goldsmith said.

F50, which will begin on May 30, will feature 28 artists from seven different countries.

"The first week is a rolling program of uploads so every two or three days there'll be new content on the website until it's all up at the end of the week. Then everything will stay online for one more week until it all disappears. It's a limited time only thing, just like a festival," Ms Goldsmith said.

There will also be livestreamed events, including a by-invitation-only chat with local author Jen Crowley and Irish poet Grace Wilentz.

At the end of the week, SOMAD (Songwriters and Original Musicians Association Dubbo) will take over.

"I wanted to make the end of the week a music event and it just made a lot of sense given that SOMAD have been doing [livestreaming] now for a few weeks. Hopefully it might bring them an international audience," Ms Goldsmith said.

It wasn't that long ago that the event didn't even exist as an idea.

"I'm not saying it wasn't hard work, because I basically spent nearly five hours a day every single day for seven weeks working on this, on top of running my business and family and my own art practice too," Ms Goldsmith said.

However, the launch showed great interest is already building around F50.

There were about 30 to 40 people who watched in live on Facebook or Instagram, and by the time Ms Goldsmith went to bed on Thursday night it had grown to about 250.

It was followed by an afterparty, not only to help celebrate Ms Goldsmith's milestone birthday, but to allow some of the international artists to meet each other.

"There are seven countries represented in the lineup for the first festival that opens on the 30th May and I'm the only common link. Other than the 11 Dubbo artists, none of them have ever met each other," she said.

Find out more at https://arteparties.art.