Real stories, real people – Everybody Now!
Featured, What's On
a bright bold work of art

BEACON

A bright and bold BEACON of belonging this epic, large-scale installation becomes a landmark for joy across the 10- days of BLEACH Festival.  

Led by Everybody NOW!, BEACON is a new commission designed by Internationally acclaimed Artist Morag Myerscough (UK), in collaboration with hundreds of Gold Coasters who participated in creative workshops.

Impossible to miss, BEACON calls you in with vibrant colors, hand-painted patterned entrances and adorned gateways. Step inside to discover a welcoming space for all people, of all ages to explore, connect and create. 

Become mesmerized as the natural world interacts with the artwork; light dances through space, shapes move with the wind, and poetic text by best-selling author and ABC TV presenter Holly Ringland signal messages from people and place.

Across the festival, as dusk falls BEACON sends out a siren of song with local community singers, our BEACON Festival Choir, performing a special musical arrangement of Holly’s Ringland’s poem, before neon light transforms the artwork into a glowing nighttime festival hub. 

Want to Get Involved? Check out our FREE Artist Talks & Workshops happening all throughout BLEACH Festival!

Click here for your Visual Access Guide to BEACON and visit the HOTA website for more information on Accessibility at BLEACH Festival.

BEACON

Everybody NOW! & BLEACH Festival

BLEACH Festival 2026

HOTA Lake Precinct, Home of the Arts

Time

1 - 11 October, from 10am daily

Artists

Everybody NOW!

Everybody NOW! creates participatory arts projects that generate joy. Proudly based on the Gold Coast, as a HOTA Home Company, Everybody NOW! is an Impact award-winning organisation dedicated to the creation of high-quality, community-engaged arts projects, that are made with and for community, alongside outstanding professional artists. 

Since 2015 we’ve reached over 80,000 people, aged between 3 and 100 years young in 250+ communities across Australia, creating a range of innovative arts projects from slam poetry for seniors, intergenerational radio stations, roller skating rock shows, artists-in-residencies, digital programs, large-scale social dance works, to industry and community workshops and talks.

https://everybodynow.com.au/ 

Morag Myerscough

Morag Myerscough is an acclaimed UK artist and designer, renowned for her vibrant and immersive public art installations that transform urban environments. She is best known for her use of bold colours, patterns, and words to create spaces that foster a sense of community, belonging, and joy. 

Myerscough’s work spans a wide range of projects, from schools and hospitals to cultural hubs and town centres, often involving local communities in the design process to reflect their cultural identity and shared history.

 

Myerscough’s work is instantly recognizable for its energy and ability to resonate with diverse audiences worldwide, having been featured in cities across the globe, including London, USA, Hong Kong, and Mexico City. 

In addition to her design work, Myerscough is a passionate advocate for belonging, often speaking about the importance of creating spaces that promote inclusivity.

https://www.moragmyerscough.com/

Holly Ringland

Holly is an international best-selling author and TV presenter for ABC’s Back to Nature. She is best known for her 2018 novel The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, which won the 2019 General Fiction Book of the Year Award, and was adapted into a television miniseries in 2023 starring Sigourney Weaver.

Holly grew on the Gold Coast and returned home in 2020 after living abroad. In addition to her best-selling fictions Holly regularly writes & speaks on topics of belonging & creativity. In 2023, she authored her first non-fiction The House The Joy Built. 

Holly is delighted to be collaborating with internationally acclaimed Artist Morag Myerscough (UK), and Everybody NOW! to create a new poetry commission which will be woven throughout the artwork as well as sung by hundreds of voices in specially created festival choir. 

www.hollyringland.com

Gallery

Partners

BEACON is a project by Everybody NOW! featuring Morag Myerscough (UK), presented by BLEACH Festival and supported through the EGC Arts Fund and Australian Government through Creative Australia.

Everybody NOW! is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, and the City of Gold Coast, and are proudly a Home Company at HOTA Home of the Arts.

BEACON was originally devised as part of our 2025 International Residency Program supported by ArtWork Agency, Griffith University and HOTA Home of the Arts.

Credits & Billing

Project Lead

Everybody NOW!

Artist and Designer

Morag Myerscough

Writer and Poet

Holly Ringland