THERE was plenty of arts activities throughout Gladstone at the weekend.

The Capricorn Film Festival was a hit and drew a crowd and the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art's new exhibition, A World View: The Time Fairfax Gift, opened in Gladstone.

Having the exhibition in regional Queensland is a big deal, GOMA is a world- recognised gallery and puts on some amazing shows in Brisbane.

So to have them at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum is a real bonus for the people who call this place home.

We are the first regional centre to receive the touring exhibition in Queensland.

People may scoff and say "so what, it's just art", but there's more to it than just some paintings and strange looking things.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly the arty type, each time I walk into a gallery thinking this could be for me, I'm more often than not mistaken.

However, art is important, in that it creates more of a sense of community. There have been countless studies that show this.

The fact is people have a choice to go check this exhibition out.

It's the same as Saturday's film festival, which is a very cool and innovative thing for Gladstone. There's not many regional cities the size of Gladstone that have their own film festival.

So we are pretty lucky in that respect.

Events like that help people have more pride in the place they live, whether you're interested in attending or not.

It was great to see some local film-makers take out prizes too.

Art is often controversial, whether it's the subject matter or the cost, but it always gets people talking about the art and the place it's in - not a bad thing, right?

Chris Lees