Regional Arts Fund Recovery Boost Recipients

Relief grants were designed to assist regional artists, arts organisations and communities to meet their immediate needs. This could include asset replacement or purchase, support for arts practice (including self-directed residency/research and development), small projects and professional development opportunities.

Recipients

Bunbury Bel Canto Singers Inc | $4,000 | South West
The Bunbury Bel Canto Singers were supported in purchasing live streaming equipment to enable their choir to safely continue with remote rehearsals during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.

Enya Aurora Lippert | $1,500 | Kimberley
Young emerging Broome performer, Enya Lippert, took advantage of an opportunity to travel to Perth to attend an Audition Masterclass at WAAPA. With her goal to study acting after graduating from high school, this opportunity greatly assisted her preparations for the WAAPA auditions in November.

Fiona Sinclair | $2,576 | South West
Fiona Sinclair, an artist and arts worker based in Northcliffe, has been supported in purchasing equipment to facilitate the initial scoping and trial phase of a new podcast series to help interconnect WA’s regional arts sector as an antidote to the fragmentary experience of the COVID-19 crisis.

Georgia Deguara | $3,922 | Kimberley
Producer and Director of emerging company YUCK Circus, Georgia Deguara, has been supported to replace her outdated IT hardware. Due to COVID-19 global restrictions, Georgia had to transition from a performing role to one more admin-based. An updated laptop with more memory and accessible features allows her to complete work and attend remote meetings more efficiently.

Jose Will Caceres | $4,000 | Kimberley
Broome based musician and performer, Jose Will Caceres, currently plays for Indigenous band Footprince, directed by Mark Bin Bakar (otherwise known as Mary G). Will has received support to purchase a professional digital piano and PA system so that he is able to perform with the band at local events as well as teach and perform at remote communities around Broome.

Artzability Inc | $3,960 | South West
Artzability, based in Margaret River, was supported to run the Puppetry Project, a creative program for adults living with disabilities in the South West region. Employing three local artists to work alongside coordinator Sky River, the project involved facilitating workshops in script and character development, soundtrack making, puppet making, costume design, performance, and digital media.

Tjupan Ngalia Tribal Land Council (Aboriginal Corporation) | $3,994 | Goldfields-Esperance
Tjupan Ngalia Tribal Land Council (Aboriginal Corporation), based in Leonora, sent two artists to attend six weeks of training in Linocut Printmaking and Book Illustration and Design at Fremantle Arts Centre. These skills will be used in the creation of artworks illustrating Ngalia Language Priority Support Project stories, a project involving the documentation of critically endangered languages.

Tiffany Clitheroe | $3,447 | Gascoyne
Established Exmouth artist, Tiffany Clitheroe was supported to paint a mural on a wall in the centre of town during the busiest time of year. Making the town centre a visual attraction will help provide a more stable way to enhance tourism all year round in Exmouth beyond eco tours and nature-based attractions.

Sadie James | $3,887 | Gascoyne
An artist and published author based in Coral Bay, Sadie James has been supported to employ a regional designer to build a website and online shop, broadening her customer base, which is currently limited to visitors to the Ningaloo region. Marketing materials will be produced as part of a strategy to promote her artwork, mural projects, films and published children’s books.

Southern Forest Arts | $4,000 | Pilbara
Southern Forest Arts (SFA) in Northcliffe has been supported to employ a locally based web designer to train a SFA arts worker and board members in the design, implementation and maintenance of a new website. The site will feature new digital publications such as online trail guides, videos and e-commerce capability to support local artists, drive visitors to cultural attractions and enable SFA to connect meaningfully, safely and sustainably with residents and visitors.

The Junction Co. | $3,000 | Pilbara
Based in Port Hedland, The Junction Co. have been supported in the development and implementation of a membership portal on their website along with a series of visual identity wares for members to provide an avenue of visual connection with other members. After consultation with the community, two memberships were designed in order to create more opportunities for connection and communication between the organisation and the arts community.

Vahri McKenzie | $2,200 | South West
Bunbury artist, Vahri McKenzie, was supported to work with a local marketing and design company to develop visual communication and networking strategies for her professional arts practice. With COVID-19 revealing the flaws in her current marketing strategies, she focused on developing her brand and logo, migrating her website a new host, and training in SEO assessment to better manage her digital profile.

Recovery grants are a stream of the RAF Recovery Boost designed to meet the medium-term recovery needs of artists, organisations and communities, focusing on activities that assist in recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.

Project activities could include creative recovery projects, training programs, operational recovery plans, asset purchase or replacement and the development of risk plans and emergency operating procedures and responses.

Recipients

Bunbury Fringe | South West | $30,000
Bunbury Fringe is a curated, nine-day festival in the heart of Bunbury’s CBD. Due to the curated model, the team strategically balances the presented works to ensure a mix of multiple genres and ensure strong and ongoing support to present regional, experimental works that rarely have a platform. Consequently the 2021 festival will present 30 performances and projects in the Fringe Hub, which is a redeveloped Arts Centre. For the first time, the Festival will present solely WA artists, and of these performances, Five works are projects specifically developed for and being launched at the Festival.

Christopher Young | South West | $29,089
In consultation with aged care facilities and mental health professionals, Christopher Young and a group of artists will develop Virtual Reality
experiences for aged care residents. The content will be made available free of charge to aged care residents, to assist in quality mental wellbeing outcomes.
The content will also be released online for the broader community.

The Junction Co. | Pilbara | $30,000
Designed in collaboration with Town of Port Hedland and City of Karratha, Pilbara Public Arts Development Program is a capacity-building program to empower artists and upskill them to further their practice into public art through a series of presentations, workshops, and skills development sessions. The program will see give participants the tools to successfully respond to public art EOIs and deliver large scale, complex projects, that reflect local community, culture and landscape.

Mara Arts Aboriginal Corporation | Mid West | $29,000
Mara Arts seeks to develop resources for community engagement and empowerment of the wider Yamaji communities, to assist in the revival and maintenance of Yamaji languages through the delivery of collaborative art and cultural activities. These activities are designed to build resilience in Yamaji children, Elders and community members in Greater Geraldton. By bringing together Yamaji and Italian artists in this unique cross-cultural collaboration, these respective cultural identities will be strengthened through two-way cultural exchange and engagement. This project titled Ngatha Wangga is led by Yamaji Art and FROLIC Inc, with Yamaji community partners including Bundiyarra Irra Wangga Language Centre.

Margaret River Reader and Writers Festival 2021 | South West | $30,000
Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival features more than 50 of Australia’s best writers, speakers, thinkers, journalists and novelists. The 2020 Festival was cancelled due to COVID-19 and seeing a need for social connection in the community, Arts Margaret River will enable writers and audiences to reconnect, challenge and inspire ideas and shared conversations in real time in 2021.

Nannup Music Club | South West | $25,000
The Nannup Music Festival is the largest event of the year in the town of Nannup and contributes significantly to the cultural and socioeconomic viability of the town and surrounding regions, helping create a stronger, healthier and more cohesive community. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 2021 event will operate at reduced capacity. This will see a significant reduction in festival income which will directly impact on the current annual budget and the ones to follow. Funding will assist with operational costs, such as wages, insurance and assets.

North Midlands Project | Mid West | $29,595
This funding will support a series of 24 community days to reconnect people with creativity and each other. The events will be held across Carnamah, Coorow, Mingenew, Morawa, Perenjori and Three Springs throughout 2021 and will feature professionally delivered arts workshops, live music and performances, giant games, health/support services and a showcase of local and creative organisations in the community.

Southern Forest Arts | Great Southern | $30,000
Co-designed to respond to the challenges and opportunities of COVID-19, Mycelium will nurture sector-wide resilience, sustainability and vibrancy through networks of exchange and support between regional arts groups and independent practitioners within the diverse communities and contexts in which they operate. This will be achieved through Zoom forums, podcasts, videos, network gatherings, intensive learning conversations and Creative Co-Labs.

Stage Left Theatre Troupe | Goldfields-Esperance | $7,620
Stage Left Theatre Troupe will facilitate a series of professional quality theatre arts workshops with Black Swan State Theatre Company in Kalgoorlie in 2021. The workshops will be open to all residents in the region with students, teachers and local artists strongly encouraged to participate. The short-term aim of the workshops is to elevate local skill levels and enhance performances whilst the long-term aim is to create a more sustainable theatre community.

York Arts & Events | Wheatbelt | $7,620
After a year of cancelled events including the York Festival, York Arts & Events will recover its profile by developing an annual program of after-school art experiences for students and weekend workshops for adults. They aim to engage the local community and attract visitors, with the aim of achieving long-term sustainability. Through community consultation, this project will also ascertain the feasibility of a permanent community arts and culture centre in York.

Renewal grants will provide up to $90,000 over 2-3 years to support projects that have strong partnerships and demonstrated long term outcomes, with sustainable future-positioning focus.

These projects will be strategic in nature. Collaborations across State and Territory borders will be encouraged. The projects can be process-driven and provide an opportunity to think beyond ‘snap back’ and to consider renewed arts practice and learning processes. Project activities could include partnership projects, community events or programs, First Nations-led renewal and wages for workers (First Nations worker positions will be encouraged).

Proposals to this program will be by Expression of Interest, then full applications by invitation only.

Recipients

Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation | $90,000 over 3 years | Halls Creek – Kimberley
Strong Culture, Strong Community: Cultural Coordinator will support cultural maintenance and the revitalisation of the cultural centre in the remote community of Balgo.

Theatre Kimberley | $80,000 over 3 years | Broome – Kimberley
Creating Stronger Ways will strengthen cross cultural practices within the Broome based performing arts company Theatre Kimberley.

Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Cultural Centre | $90,000 over 3 years | Derby – Kimberley
Funding will support Growing Connections: Annual Artistic and Cultural Exchange for Kimberley Aboriginal Women on a business development and artistic skill sharing which will be presented at the 2021 Regional Cultural Festival and subsequent annual gatherings.

Annette Carmichael Projects| $90,000 over 3 years | Denmark – Great Southern
Thread 7: Distributed 15 provides a framework for the training and employment of regional producers embedded within the development of an intra-regional multi-artform performance work.

The Annual Event program is designed to assist arts groups, community organisations and Local Governments to deliver high-quality annual arts and cultural events that encourage community participation and audience engagement from people living in regional and remote communities.

Recipients

Denmark Arts | $75,000 | Great Southern
Denmark Festival of Voice
The Denmark Festival of Voice offers an original, diverse and authentic program of concerts, workshops and panel discussions in celebration of the power and beauty of the human voice. Local and international acts will present music, language and story to audiences across eight intimate venues for three days over the WA Day long weekend in early June. Between 2022 and 2024 the Denmark Festival of Voice will focus on increasing engagement with children and young people and building capacity and skills for volunteers and arts-workers.

Nannup Music Club | $75,000 | South West
Nannup Music Festival
The annual Nannup Music Festival presents an eclectic mix of acts over the March long weekend, highlighting the best in new, emerging and Indigenous original music. The awarded community-spirit event creates exposure opportunities for artists and invites everyone to share, immerse and discover a weekend of music, activities, camping, food and artisan markets. Between 2022 and 2024 Nannup Music Festival will focus on developing their new premises and broadening their artistic program through arts sector and industry partnerships.

Esperance Community Arts | $75,000 | Goldfields Esperance
The Esperance Wildflower Festival
The Esperance Wildflower Festival is an annual five-day artistic and cultural heritage festival celebrating the diversity of native flora from the region. In 2021 the festival will focus on strengthening partnerships with the First Nations community, cultural knowledge exchange and education, increasing social cohesion, environmental sustainability and increasing community participation in the arts through the development of interactive public sculptures and a range of performances and community events.

Boyup Brook Country Music Club | $75,000 | South West
Boyup Brook Country Music Festival
The Boyup Brook Country Music Festival is an iconic West Australian event supporting grassroots regional arts and culture. A significant part of the local DNA but with a national reach, the Boyup Brook Country Music festival provides opportunities for artist development, networking and performance. Between 2022 and 2024 the Festival will address diversity and provide enhanced opportunities for young people and increase engagement with First Nations artists and communities.

Wheatbelt Arts and Events | $32,838 | Wheatbelt
The York Festival
The York Festival is a multi-arts, family-friendly event that celebrates its location in the West Australian Wheatbelt through a program of music, theatre, performance, exhibitions, workshops, language and culture. 2021 will see the reprisal of the famous York Jazz Festival, the launch of a new Writer’s Festival, a celebration of continuing Balardong Noongar Culture and a feast of Rare & Endangered Crafts in and around York’s beautiful heritage buildings.