Ten Regional Western Australian Artists and Organisations Recover from COVID-19 with Federal Funding
Regional Arts WA
Ten regional Western Australian creative projects will receive an investment of $247,387 through the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund (RAF) Recovery Boost; a funding initiative managed in Western Australia by Regional Arts WA.
The RAF Recovery grant round will support the delivery of creative projects that will assist regional WA communities in their recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. The funding will provide local artists and organisations with positive medium-term recovery opportunities to develop inter-regional collaborations, build community skills and provide valuable spaces for the community to engage with the arts.
Colourful totems, Young and Old presented by the Mowanjum Dancers at Nannup Music Festival. Photo by Elliot Welsford.
The recipients are:
Arts Margaret River | $30,000 | Margaret River – South West
Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival 2021: The Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival will feature more than 50 of Australia’s best writers, speakers, thinkers, journalists and novelists. The festival is set to take place at the Margaret River HEART in May 2021. Recovery funding will be used to enhance the capacity for social connection at the event, in an effort to aid social connection post-COVID.
Bunbury Fringe | $30,000 | Bunbury – South West
Bunbury Fringe 2021: The 2021 Bunbury Fringe will present exclusively West Australian artists, creating a program of 30 performances and projects in the Fringe Hub. In both the medium and long term, driven by the changes brought about by COVID-19, Bunbury Fringe will be instrumental in developing works that can be presented beyond this festival in regional and national spaces.
Christopher Young | $29,089 | Margaret River – South West
Careful: Christopher Young will collaborate with musicians and actors to develop a highly engaging virtual reality experience for aged care residents in the South West, assisting them to reconnect with their communities after the isolation created by COVID-19.
Mara Arts Aboriginal Corporation | $29,000 | Geraldton – Mid West
Ngatha Wangga: The Yamaji Language, Dance and Song Project: Mara Arts Aboriginal Corporation will 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. The events of 2020 highlighted the need for the preservation and development of Yamaji languages, which saw community members return home to their communities during the COVID-19 lockdown amid concerns over Elders and their particular vulnerability with this pandemic.
Nannup Music Club | $25,000 | Nannup – South West
Nannup Music Festival: Nannup Music Club will present an eclectic mix of acts over the March long weekend, highlighting the best in new, emerging, and Indigenous original music. Nannup Music Festival has identified the need to modify the Club’s operations, strategic planning and program in order to survive its current situation and recover from COVID-19.
North Midlands Project Inc | $29,259 | Carnamah – Mid West
North Midlands Creative Community Days: The North Midlands Project will deliver a series of 24 Community Days to reconnect people with creativity, encompassing professionally delivered arts workshops, live music and performances in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions being lifted.
Southern Forest Arts | $30,000 | Northcliffe – South West
Mycelium: Co-designed to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by COVID-19, Mycelium will nurture sector-wide resilience, sustainability and vibrancy through networks of exchange and support between regional arts groups and independent practitioners.
Stage Left Theatre Troupe | $7,419 | Boulder – Goldfields-Esperance
Delivery of Professional Theatre Arts Workshops in Kalgoorlie: Stage Left Theatre Troupe will partner with Black Swan Theatre to deliver a series of professional quality theatre arts workshops in Kalgoorlie in 2021.
The Junction Co | $30,000 | Port Hedland – Pilbara
Pilbara Public Artists Development Program: The Pilbara Public Artists Development Program will be a capacity-building program for Pilbara artists to further develop their practice into public art through a series of presentations, workshops, and skills development sessions.
York Arts & Events | $7,620 | York – Wheatbelt
Community arts program: York Arts & Events will diversify their programming to deliver a pilot program of arts experiences for young people and workshops for adults, stimulating the community’s creativity as it recovers.
Regional Arts WA CEO Paul MacPhail says the response from the Federal Government by developing the Regional Arts Fund Boost is critical to regional communities in their recovery from COVID-19.
“The Regional Arts Fund is the perfect delivery model for ensuring a quick response to COVID-19 and an efficient and effective distribution of funding. Artists and creative communities are able to recover from the impact of the downturn much faster and as an outcome, boost the Australian economy with the Federal Government’s direct investment into regional, remote and rural communities.”
Regional artists, arts workers, groups and organisations will also have the opportunity to apply to the Regional Arts Fund through the RAF Project Grant, RAF Annual Event and RAF Quick Response programs when they open on 11 January 2021.
For more regional funding opportunities, visit our Funding page.
The Recovery Boost funds are delivered through the mechanisms of the Regional Arts Fund in recognition that arts and culture activities are vital in the recovery and renewal process. 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 organisations in each state and territory which includes Regional Arts WA.
