An Australian Regional Artsworker with a background in Commercial and Community Arts Practice, Contemporary Arts Administration, Diversional Therapy and Arts Education, Diana Nichol established the Nichol Arts Visual Arts Practice in country New South Wales in the early 2000s. Having relocated to the New England Region from Western Sydney, she taught Visual Arts, new Media and cultural History at TAFE Tamworth in the early 2000s in addition to establishing an independent arts practice in the small town of Manilla, just northwest of Tamworth NSW. Seeing an opportunity to fill a local gap in graphic design, hand-painted signage, commission artwork and photography, many local projects were to be completed over the following 2 decades.

Working locally as a freelance commercial artist and photographer between 2000 and 2020, Diana continued painting and drawing for pleasure, whilst providing graphic services to many non-profit community organisations. 

Specific among these was Manilla Historical Society, where she volunteered professional services for 16 years between 1999 and 2014, designing and editing the Museum website, producing display signage, promotional and administration items and visitor information material. Researching local history became a passion and much was written over the years. In 2015, Diana wound back volunteer commitments to concentrate more fully on workshop and personal projects.

In 2020, with a weighty backlog of work files saved to hard-drives, time came to review all that had been achieved over the previous 2 decades, but after the sorting of files, what then? Was any of it worth saving? Would it be of interest to anyone? Perhaps it could be archived - there's quite a lot of history there. 

​

So that's how the Nichol Arts Online Archive came to be developed. It's an evolving project, with much more to be remembered and brought into the light, before it's all complete. What better way to showcase a branch of arts practice not usually seen nor acknowledged in the art world's scheme of things.