Wheatbelt and Great Southern Fieldtrip
Gemma Robins
At the beginning of February, Hayley and Tegan from the Regional Arts Development team embarked on a field trip through the Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions to promote the upcoming Regional Arts Fund Project round, to talk about other opportunities through Country Arts WA and to touch base with our members in the regions. Across the five day trip, Hayley and Tegan met with over 100 people and held five information sessions full of robust discussions, sharing of information and inspirational stories from the communities.
Hayley Dart admiring the salt lakes, Lake Grace. Photo by Tegan Morey
In the Wheatbelt, they met with the Beverley Station Arts committee, followed by an overnight stay in Narrogin. Whilst in Narrogin the ladies met with ARtS Narrogin and the Town of Narrogin. They ended the evening with a sundowner event hosted by ARTS Narrogin at the Narrogin ARtS Space, where community artists and supporters came along to network and share stories.
Through the Great Southern, Hayley and Tegan travelled to Mount Barker, Albany, Denmark, Kojonup and Katanning. They were able to speak with a broad cross section of the arts community at the Creative Exchange event in Albany, hosted by Vancouver Arts Council and Creative Albany. Denmark Arts Council facilitated an early morning information session with community members in Denmark, which was well attended and full of vigorous and inspiring discussions. Coming back up through the region, Hayley and Tegan stopped in at Kojonup to meet with members from the community and the Shire of Kojonup. The last stop saw the girls in the buzzing community of Katanning, catching up with members of the Shire of Katanning.
The fieldtrip was successful and very informative for both Hayley, Tegan and those they were able to meet. A big thank you to the Country Arts WA Core Arts Funded organisations – who hosted the events and made time to meet with the team.
The next fieldtrip will likely be held in June to promote the Regional Arts Fund August closing round, with the region to be announced closer to the date. Watch this space.
