THE National Library has re-opened its galleries to the public with an exhibition, “Australian Dreams: Picturing our Built World”, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA in her weekly “Arts in the City” column.

THE National Library has re-opened its galleries to the public with an exhibition, “Australian Dreams: Picturing our Built World”, showing how artists have documented, interpreted and celebrated a variety of buildings from the Opera House and Flinders Street Station, to the inner-city terrace, the humble bush cottage and even The Big Merino. Exhibition Gallery, ground floor, 9am-5pm until January 31. Free, no bookings required but there is a limit of 75 visitors in the exhibition’s gallery at any one time until further notice.

WAVERLEY Council in Sydney has named Canberra photographer, academic and former NGA curator, Helen Ennis in the longlist for the 2020 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award for her book, “Olive Cotton: A Life In Photography”, also recently awarded the 2020 Margarey Medal. The Nib is Australia’s only major national literary award of its kind presented by a local council and is judged on literary merit, quality of research, readability and value to the community.

CANBERRA Writers Festival’s 2020 season runs this week with its usual mixture of power, politics and passion, winding up on Sunday, August 16 with sessions both live and streamed, including at 6.30pm a conversation between journo Rick Morton and 2020 Stella Prizewinner for “See What You Made Me Do”, author Jess Hill, and in the closing session, “Girls’ Night In”, a line-up of Julie Bishop, Jean Kittson, Bridie Jabour, Lizzy Hoo and Chris Ryan from 6.30pm-8pm, book here.

CANBERRA Symphony Orchestra’s Kingsland resident artist, violinist Lucy Macourt, will be performing a program of reflective music for the solo violin at Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, from 12.40-1.20pm on Wednesday, August 19. Limited seating, book via trybooking.com or 6232 7248. 

EXCITEMENT is mounting at Belconnen Arts Centre with the official opening of Stage 2 slated for Friday, August 21. Newly re-tagged “Belco Arts”, the centre has been doubled in size, with a new theatre, galleries, cafe, resident company offices and rehearsal studio. The first major performance will be a circus extravaganza, “L’entreprise du Risque”, in September.

OPERA Australia, the country’s largest arts employer, is unlikely to return to the stage until 2021 with an announcement tomorrow that the Brisbane “Ring Cycle” and “Aida” and the Melbourne and Sydney concert performances of “Lucrezia Borgia” have been postponed to 2021.

THE Australian Wind Symphony, formerly the Canberra Wind Symphony, is planning a free live music event within safe guidelines soon, but in the meantime has alerted us to its philanthropy page on the Armchair Philanthropy site, where would-be donors can support musicians for as little as $3 a week.