Art meets nature in Bimblebox, a special touring exhibition which will launch at Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland, on 18 May in partnership with Museum & Gallery Services Queensland and Bimblebox Nature Refuge.

Bimblebox: art – science – nature will show at the gallery until 29 June before being taken to 10 venues across Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.

Redland City Council art, culture and innovation spokesman Cr Paul Bishop said launching the exhibition – which will go on tour thanks to a grant of $81,254 from the Australia Council – was a big feather in the gallery’s cap.

“This is further recognition of our gallery’s role as a significant regional arts promoter with the expertise to stage high-quality touring exhibitions,’’ Cr Bishop said.

The exhibition looks at western Queensland’s Bimblebox Nature Refuge, its environmental, social and scientific significance and an artist group’s creative response to their experience of this unique but threatened environment.

Featuring the work of 17 artists from Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania, the exhibition also incorporates aspects of scientific and environmental research and social history of the site.

“This is a very rich and diverse exhibition of works using a variety of mediums which make a statement about this refuge and the threat it faces from mining,’’ Cr Bishop said.

Redland Art Gallery also received funding from the Gordon Darling Foundation to print an exhibition catalogue and to develop a digital application for use on tablets and iPads.

The official opening will be at 6pm on Friday, 16 May, with a performance by exhibiting artists Alison Clouston and Boyd. There will be a panel discussion with curator Beth Jackson and artists Emma Lindsay and Gerald Soworka at the gallery, starting with morning tea at 11.30am on Sunday, 18 May. Information and RSVPs: 3829 8899.

There will also be two art workshops by Bimblebox artists during the exhibition display period, with further information and details for booking on the gallery website.

The Australia Council’s Visions of Australia and Contemporary Touring initiative assists the development and touring of exhibitions of Australian cultural material to regional and remote communities across Australia.

Bimblebox: art – science – nature is a touring exhibition partnered by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland and Redland Art Gallery in association with Bimblebox Nature Refuge. The project has been assisted by the Australian Government through its arts funding and advisory body, the Australia Council for the Arts and the Gordon Darling Foundation.