Media Release
Eight Project Grants have received over $170,000 in funding through the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, delivered in Victoria by Regional Arts Victoria.
Australian Government Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, congratulated the recipients and their contributions to Australia’s arts scene.
“The Regional Arts Fund not only helps ground-breaking arts projects come to life across Australia, but also helps generate employment in the arts – with this round to create over 500 employment opportunities for artists and arts workers in communities from Alice Springs to Longreach.
“A thriving cultural and creative arts sector is vital for the one third of Australians who live in our regions. We want more Australians to be able to experience and engage with the arts, wherever they live.”
Director, Partnerships and Programming at Regional Arts Victoria, Susie Lyons thanked everyone who applied in this round noting the high calibre of applications received.
“Regional Arts Victoria is proud to continue working with the Australian Government to deliver the Regional Arts Fund throughout Victoria and in particular with the additional ongoing support through Revive. This support ensures that our regional artists and organisations contribute to a vibrant national arts sector that reflects Australia’s depth and diversity.
As always, we thank the members of the independent assessment panel for their time and commitment in supporting our artistic communities. We look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition.”
The Regional Arts Fund is an Australian Government program that supports sustainable cultural development in regional and remote communities in Australia. The program is managed by Regional Arts Australia and administered in Victoria by Regional Arts Victoria.
Please see the full list and description below of all recipients.
Information regarding upcoming rounds will be made available via our website shortly.
2024 SUCCESSFUL PROJECT GRANT APPLICANTS
LanceTV Inc
City of Ballarat
$29,510.00
Festival of Australian Queer Theatre
This project will offer a short-term contract to an Artistic Director to curate the Festival of Australian Queer Theatre and casual Production staff to ensure the smooth delivery of this festival across three proposed venues. Additionally, a Project Manager will also be offered a short-term contract to ensure that this project meets its deliverables, including the collation and submission of the acquittals for this project, in a timely and thorough manner.
(it’s no) drama LTD
South Gippsland Shire
$25,742.00
MELT: the creation of a new physical theatre work for artists with disabilities and regional arts workers
MELT is the collaboration between (it’s no) drama and a locally sourced team of professional designers and artists. The work will build on the success of the company’s 2023 productions, ‘Wild Woods’ and ‘No Sudden Moves’, and supports disabled artists to continue developing high quality artistic practices. This goal will be achieved via professional collaboration and the co-authoring of a new contemporary work.
Goranwarrabul Aboriginal Community House
Mitchell Shire
$30,000.00
Goranwarrabul House visual arts workshops
The partnership of Goranwarrabul House, Seymour and District Art Society (as auspice) and Our Place Seymour (as project administrators) will address an identified need for professional development workshops in the visual arts for First Nations artists in Seymour. Participants will work with experienced artist facilitators with an exhibition in April 2025. First Nations people will be employed in the roles of Coordinator and Studio Trainee Assistant for the duration of the project. The project will explore job opportunities and the development of a more formal group of First Nations artists in the region. It will expose participants to similar successful groups such as Pitcha Makin Fellas in Ballarat and Kaiela Arts in Shepparton.
Izzy Roberts-Orr
Moorabool Shire
$7,492.00
Phone-a-Poem
Izzy Roberts-Orr will install a fleet of Phone-a-Poems programmed with contemporary Australian poetry in local libraries and bookstores across regional Victoria, developed through local workshops in person and online. Participants can pick up the landline handset and dial a number to hear a poem. Harnessing the magic of the Wonderfoon (made in Nederlands), this artwork riffs on John Giorno’s iconic 1969 artwork, ‘Dial-a-Poem’, and will feature work by local poets developed through a series of 5 free capacity-building workshops. The handset contains a pre-programmed .mp3 player, and can be installed on site for participants to engage with throughout the installation period. Additionally, the work can be accessed online by dialling 1800-POETRY to hear the options from home. The phones will be installed to celebrate key poetry moments including Poetry Month in August, Hide and Seek Festival in November and World Poetry Day in March.
Cat Leahy
Indigo Shire
$30,000.00
This Way North ‘Beats and Bowls’ Tour
This Way North will undertake a tour of Victorian Lawn Bowls clubs in their ‘Beats and Bowls’ tour. Alongside award winning artists Tuckshop Ladies and Sal Kimber, this event will take place over 6 events, 5 of these being in regional Victorian towns. Each event will involve many facets of each community with the Bowls clubs running a Barefoot Bowling afternoon, local makers having stalls to sell their handcrafted work, local food vendors and live music with local young artists as opening acts. Local youth council groups will engage young people to work with the production crew and event crew to gain valuable experience in putting on creative events.
Castlemaine Circus Inc
Mount Alexander Shire
$19,100.00
Playing on the Edge
Castlemaine Circus and Asking for Trouble will come together to share a youth led creative process with the Castlemaine Circus youth ensemble, trainers, and professional artists utilizing the collaborative expertise of Asking for Trouble. The five-month project will culminate in an innovative site-specific physical theatre performance entitled “Playing on the Edge”.
Mansfield & District Potters
Mansfield Shire
$4,862.00
Mansfield Community Pottery Studio – jump start to set up
The Mansfield Community Pottery Studio project will address the need for specific equipment to realise the vision of a community pottery studio for our community. A new arts initiative in Mansfield, the Studio needs to have a ‘de-airing pugmill’ and a ‘clay extruder’ so that people with limited strength in their hands can work with clay that has been ‘conditioned’ without the need to wedge or roll it.
Yalinguth Shepparton
City of Greater Shepparton
$30,000.00
Yalinguth Shepparton
Yalinguth is a multi-award-winning app that shares First Peoples stories, songs, poems and soundscapes about historical places through an immersive geolocated audio app. It is a resource for learning about history, culture and politics. It engages with local storytellers in a way that’s raw, honest, emotional and truthful. With the app downloaded, head to a Yalinguth location with headphones on and walk through a 3D sound world taking you on a journey through time.
About Regional Arts Victoria:
RAV is the peak body for regional creatives. We enable regional Victorians to make, participate in, and experience creative practice. Anchored by our members, we activate our networks to inform public policy, identify resources and seek ‘a seat at the table’ for creatives in the decisions that impact them.
About Regional Arts Fund:
The Regional Arts Fund is an Australian Government program that supports sustainable cultural development in regional and remote communities in Australia. The program is managed by Regional Arts Australia and administered in Victoria by Regional Arts Victoria. The Regional Arts Fund plays a key role in the Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place. Revive provides an increase to the Regional Arts Fund of $8.5 million over four years from 2023-24, recognising the importance of the arts in strengthening local communities.
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Media Contact:
Kate Gerritsen | Director, Communications and Engagement | [email protected]
Image: Successful applicant Izzy Roberts-Orr’s project Phone-a-Poem. Photograph by Izzy Roberts-Orr.
Posted: 24 June 2024