For three decades the Antarctic Treaty System has acknowledged the contribution of creative artists – including writers, visual artists and musicians – to promoting understanding, appreciation, and protection of Antarctica. A number of national programs and tourist operators support artists and writers residencies, either systematically or on an ad hoc basis. While the number and nature of these opportunities wax and wane, this history of support has produced a very large and rich body of artistic works.

However, we know very little about the impact of these artistic works on those who encounter them. In this paper, we report on the public impact of an exhibition held in Melbourne, Australia, from February to May 2026, as an output of the Australian Research Council-funded research project “Creative Antarctica: Australian Artists and Writers in the Far South.” We provide an outline of the exhibition and a preliminary report on the results of our audience survey, which focused primarily on the degree (if any) to which the artworks changed their knowledge of, interest in or care for Antarctica.

Our findings are likely to be relevant to future arts-science collaborations as well as national programs interested in demonstrating impact from investment in residencies.