Movie buffs might recognize Broken Hill's stark New South Wales landscape from films like Mad Max or Priscilla, Queen of the Desert . Now it's also earning a reputation as a mecca for aspiring artists.

With year-round light of relentless intensity,

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nginx/1.14.0 (Ubuntu) Broken Hill has always lured the occasional painter. But authorities are giving formal encouragement these days through the establishment of international artist exchanges, artist-in-residence programs and annual scholarships. Hobby artists from around Australia are also flocking to the town for workshops in outback landscapes.

The result is a blue-collar outpost with uncommonly...