CHILDREN’S music band The Beanies, made up of Canberrans Laura Dawson and Mim Rizvi with actor Michael Yore, have signed with ABC Kids Music. “We are beyond excited to be making music alongside The Wiggles, Justine Clarke and the Teeny Tiny Stevies, who we have always looked up to,” they say. They’ve also unveiled a new album, “Full of Beans”, and a video of their song ‘“Sneaky Robber”, viewable on YouTube.

MURRUMBATEMAN painter/sculptor Stephen Harrison pays tribute to his favourite vanished animal in “The Blue Thylacine”, an exhibition of ink/wash drawings and sculpture to hang (and view online) at Helen Stephens Gallery in Collector, which promises blogs, a list of works and a price list. “Drawing for me is like a window into my subconscious mind… These drawings could be about all extinct animals, especially the ones that have died due to human interaction,” Harrison says. At helenstephensgallery.com until May 31.

HARRISON is a regular exhibitor with “Sculpture by the Sea”, which plans to be back at Bondi this spring after an agreement was reached with Waverley Council to retain the exhibition for the next 10 years. The world’s largest annual free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition will return to the 2km Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk from October 22 – November 8, pending the lifting of public gathering restrictions. Applications are now open at sculpturebythesea.com/info/for-artists 

THE ANU School of Music and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra will be taking their “Side by Side Orchestra” online during COVID-19 in a free virtual performance. ANU and CSO musicians will record their parts separately, with artistic guidance from CSO director Nick Milton. “We know how important music is in a time of crisis and this project will make music that is quite wonderful,” says Kim Cunio, head of the School of Music. 

BELCONNEN Arts Centre has joined UC’s Faculty of Arts and Design’s new fundraising campaign to support artists who are struggling financially as a result of COVID-19. “Going the Distance” aims to support artists to undertake alternate activities like online programs and workshops when they would have ordinarily been participating in exhibitions or live performances. Donations to the campaign can be made at belcoarts.com.au/support