In 1999, under the auspices of Bathurst City Council and Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, the Hill End Artists in Residence Program was officially launched.
Contemporary artists including Richard Goodwin, Anton James, Tom Spence, Wendy Sharpe, Peter Wright, Geoff Weary, Peter Kingston, Emma Walker and James Rogers were invited to spend short periods in Hill End.
In 2003 Murrays Cottage was refurbished with the assistance of a NSW Ministry for the Arts regional infrastructure grant and added to the Hill End Artist in Residence Program.
Since 1999, a total of 289 residencies* have been awarded to artists from a diverse range of disciplines via the program. Each artist has responded to the evocative region in a different manner. Some respond to the shapes and colours, others to the buildings and people, still others are more introspective exploring their own feelings about the old gold-rush town.
*Total number of residencies awarded up to March 2016