Quick Response Grant supports last-minute arts opportunities for regional WA people
Regional Arts WA
Quick Response Grants, part of the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund and managed in Western Australia by Country Arts WA, supported 24 artists and community groups in 2018.
Derby District Senior High School student Koreta Teoro at the Light on Country camp. Photo by Katie Breckon, Nerelle Umbagai, Tegan Riley & Antazrah Marshall.
This program provides funding for individuals and organisations to take advantage of arts opportunities that present themselves with short lead times and tight timeframes at home, interstate and overseas.
In 2018, a Quick Response Grant supported Derby District High School in the Kimberley to hold Light on Country, a specialised art and photography camp at the Windjana Gorge for young Indigenous women.
After the student cohort expressed their desire to apply their art skills on country, the High School sought funding to contract non-profit photography educators Camera Story to run the camp for the local students.
The students and Camera Story worked alongside local Kimberley artists Cecilia Umbagai, Bekah O’Meara and Katie Breckon to develop their night photography skills using light painting and projections. The resulting work will be displayed at an exhibition at the Derby District High School this year.
Country Arts WA’s Executive Director, Paul MacPhail, says that funding for regional artists and organisations is vital to sustain their practice and build creative and connected communities.
“Funding programs like the Regional Arts Fund Quick Response Grant are fundamental to strengthening the rich tapestry of regional arts in Western Australia.
“Opportunities for professional development, performance and collaboration often arise at unexpected times. The Quick Response Grant enables regional artists and organisations to take advantage of those last-minute opportunities in order to share their work with a broader audience, advance their creative practice and work towards their community’s cultural development.”
Funding for the Quick Response Grants will reopen in July later this year.
The Regional Arts Fund is one way the Australian Government supports regional artists and arts organisations to develop their artistic practice and produce works and experiences to benefit their
local communities. The Regional Arts Fund is administered on behalf of the Australian Government by Regional Arts Australia and its member organisations which include Country Arts WA.
Country Arts WA also offers a variety of other funding programs to support regional arts projects across Western Australia. For more information, visit www.countryartswa.asn.au/funding or call regional freecall 1800 811 883.
Media Contact
Weng-Si Cheang – Communications Director, Country Arts WA
P: 08 9200 6202 | Regional Freecall: 1800 811 883 | E: wcheang@countryartswa.asn.au
