Creative by Nature + Healthy by Design | Craft + Design Canberra Launches Fundraiser for Free Creativity and Wellbeing Program

Image | A selection of works created by Celia Cramer as part of the 2025 Craft + Design Canberra Daily Creative Challenge | Photography by 5 Foot Photography 

Creative by Nature + Healthy by Design | Craft + Design Canberra Launches Fundraiser for Free Creativity and Wellbeing Program 

Doate now | https://chuffed.org/project/2026-craft-design-canberra-daily-creative-challenge 

The 2026 Daily Creative Challenge invites all creatives to make their mark on a city bidding for UNESCO Creative City of Design status, one day of making at a time. 

Craft + Design Canberra (CDC) has launched a fundraising campaign to keep its annual Daily Creative Challenge free and accessible to all participants, as the 21-day program enters its fifth year. 

The 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Daily Creative Challenge runs throughout July, inviting participants across Canberra and Australia to be creative every day and share the result on Instagram. The fundraising campaign Creative by Nature + Healthy by Design, positions the program as both a community wellbeing initiative, and a demonstration of Canberra's identity as a city of design, the most creative city in Australia. 

Making Canberra's Case to the World 

Canberra's creative workforce is 2.3% higher than the national average, and the city's creative economy makes the largest proportionate contribution to Gross State Product of any jurisdiction in Australia, this makes Canberra the most creative city in the Nation. As Canberra pursues UNESCO City of Design designation, an international recognition reserved for cities where creativity is central to civic identity, the Daily Creative Challenge is one of the most visible demonstrations of creativity embedded in everyday civic life. 

‘Every act of making this July is part of how Canberra makes its mark on the world,’ said Jodie Cunningham, CEO + Artistic Director of Craft + Design Canberra. ‘This is not creativity confined to galleries and institutions. It is creativity in living rooms, backyards, and kitchen tables, and it is making people healthier and more connected’ 

A Proven Community Wellbeing Intervention 

The evidence base for creative practice as a wellbeing intervention is growing. Daily creative engagement lowers cortisol, calms the nervous system, and supports the brain's capacity to adapt and grow. Previous participants in the Challenge have reported feeling more content, connected and inspired. 

The program offers something rare: a free, structured creative practice with real wellbeing outcomes, delivered at the coldest and most isolating time of the year. 

‘Engaging in the Challenge was significantly important to me as therapy for pain management. I found my wellbeing to have improved considerably,’ said one 2025 participant. 

About the Challenge 

The 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Daily Creative Challenge runs 1 to 21 July 2026. Registration is free. Participants receive a daily creative prompt aligned with a different theme each year. For 2026, the Challenge will follow the theme of Dissent.  

Participants photograph and share their response on Instagram using #CDCCREATIVECHALLENGE26. The program is open to everyone, worldwide including practicing artists, beginners, retirees, parents, students, and anyone curious to try a new creative habit. 

The Challenge runs for 21 days, mirroring research on habit formation, with a practice designed to extend well beyond July. Three prizes are available to be won including the Experimental Process and Practice Prize ($4,000), the Contemporary Craft + Design Prize ($4,000), and the Student Prize ($500). Information on applying for the prize can be found here.

Support the Campaign 

Donations to the Creative by Nature + Healthy by Design Fundraising Campaign directly funds free access for all participants, the prize money for the Challenge, daily prompts and facilitation across 21 days, and the living community archive of creative work generated by the program. 

MEDIA CONTACT
Jodie Cunningham
CEO + Artistic Director, Craft + Design Canberra
jodie.cunningham@craftanddesigncanberra.org