Tag Archives: arts advocacy in the ACT region

Our next forum – you’ve booked us out!

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Just a quick update to say that we’re completely thrilled with the response to our second forum – we’re booked out!  It’s great to know so many people are interested in having a discussion about arts policy in the lead-up to the ACT election next month.

A couple of things.  Firstly, if you haven’t RSVPed but would like to attend, the Canberra Museum and Gallery is formulating a waiting list – you’re welcome to put your name down on that.  Secondly, if you have RSVPed but can’t attend at the last minute, please contact the Canberra Museum and Gallery so someone on the waiting list can take your place.  Here’s looking forward to a wonderful discussion about what it means to be a creative region!  Any questions or comments, just drop us a line.

The Childers Group’s six key opportunities for the ACT region

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MARKET CANBERRA AS ‘THE CREATIVE CAPITAL’

There is a process underway to review the brand of Canberra.  A branding exercise needs to offer an insight, hopefully with a unique selling proposition.  With regard to Canberra we suggest the city should be positioned as ‘The Creative Capital’.  Why can we make such a bold claim and why is it important:

  • it is Australia’s only ‘designed’ city;
  • it has the highest per-capita representation of creative-industry business and employees in Australia;
  • through our national cultural institutions Canberra is the holder of the cultural artefacts that articulate the Australian story;
  • we have Australia’s most distinctive (ambitious) collection of public art;
  • the arts attract  visitors – statistics from recent visual arts blockbusters make this clear; and
  • we have great artists in the region – let’s value them and recognise their achievements while promoting a different face for Canberra.

THE KINGSTON ARTS PRECINCT

In terms of the Kingston Arts Precinct, what is most important is that all those committed to the arts and cultural life of our region – especially the ACT Government – have a grand vision, a strategic overview, a long-term plan for what’s needed to develop this area as a lively precinct for arts activity and cultural events.  It’s a rare opportunity for the ACT to work with the various development authorities and stakeholders to establish an exciting set of cultural facilities and creative spaces in the vicinity of the iconic Kingston Powerhouse, now the home of the Canberra Glassworks, which is already a major national attraction.  The Childers Group’s vision is a vibrant and accessible arts precinct for the visual arts in all its diversity, including film, new media and creative industries such as architecture, graphic design and digital technologies.  In the Childers Group vision, Kingston is a place for live performance to happen but music would not be the focus.

The full vision statement for the Kingston Arts Precinct is available here.

THE ANU SCHOOL OF MUSIC

The School of Music was established in 1965 as an autonomous ‘conservatorium’ model of teaching (one-to-one) and performance. This vision was part of a long-term plan to stimulate, develop and enhance professional musical life in Australia’s emerging national capital city.  Funding was available to employ outstanding, experienced professional musicians for instrumental teaching and performance. Since then, the School’s presence has been the ‘life blood’ and a major contribution to every aspect of Canberra’s musical activity and the cultural life of the city. The reputation of the School of Music and School of Art was highly regarded nationally. Since 1992 when the School of Music (and the School of Art) amalgamated with the ANU, its teaching in schools and participation in concerts, performances, youth music activity and events have been a major part of Canberra’s cultural life and the public face and community profile of the ANU.

Recent developments have seen the School of Music facing funding challenges. A revised ‘university model’-based curriculum, staff cuts and new budget arrangements have been proposed to achieve financial viability and the future of the School. The changed curriculum will inevitably see the loss of key professional instrumental teacher/performers and consequently their loss to Canberra’s musical life.

The ANU, ACT Government and community support for music education in Canberra is essential to ensure professional expertise is available for teaching, participation in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, music ensembles, choral societies, youth music, festivals and musical events. The ANU and the ACT must work together to ensure the continuation of a professional level of music performance in Canberra and the ACT region.

A radical option might be the establishment of new ‘National Academy of the Arts’ outside the university sector where the conservatorium model does not easily fit.  A National Academy of the Arts based in Canberra eventually accommodated in ‘state of art’ group of facilities could cater for music, visual arts, dance, theatre and film capitalising on the strong base of life and activity already present in these disciplines.  This visionary option is seen as a long-term possibility for Australia’s national capital city but would require dedicated funding commitments from Federal and ACT governments and the private sector, new legislation, governance and administrative arrangements.   The ACT Government could take a lead on facilitating discussions about the future.

A DANCE HUB

Ausdance ACT recently conducted a review of dance facilities in Canberra.  The organisation found that the numbers of dancers, particularly in schools and other cultural groups, is under-reported and there is a need for good facilities in the ACT.  Building on the ‘hub’ model, Canberra is in the need for a high-quality dance hub with state-of-the-art facilities.  The facilities could be shared between a number of organisations, offering space for schools, classes, and our independent dance creators and choreographers as well as performers.  Locations that are currently under-serviced and would be suitable sites include: the inner sections of central Canberra, Gungahlin , Central Belconnen, South Tuggeranong, and Weston Creek.

ARTS IN EDUCATION, INCLUDING AN ACT-WIDE POETRY SLAM PROGRAM

There has been considerable progress in establishing links between education and the arts in the ACT but more can be done to strengthen this relationship.

The Childers Group encourages the ACT Government to prioritise arts programs in schools. We would like to see an expanded commitment to include additional artists-in-residence and the establishment of a Canberra-wide Poetry Slam-in-Schools program. There is capacity within the ACT – and region – to provide an exciting and culturally rich experience for young people by encouraging participation in a very ‘cool’ art form that’s gaining world-wide recognition as an important emerging art form.  Engagement in contemporary and relevant arts programs designed for young people has been shown to enhance their enjoyment of school, build self-confidence and lead to a stronger sense of community.

There is strong evidence from research undertaken in secondary schools, both within Australia and the United Kingdom, indicating engagement in the arts results in major benefits to young people. These include enhanced knowledge of social and cultural issues, development of creativity and thinking skills, increased communication skills, advances in social development and a heightened self-esteem. These are lifelong skills and worthy of investment.

The Childers Group estimates that $100,000 per year for three years would be sufficient to establish the ACT Poetry Slam-in-Schools program.  The program should be developed with the burgeoning ACT poetry-slam community.

For more information, visit http://www.edutopia.org/arts-music-curriculum-child-development

A WORLD-CLASS ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCY PROGRAM

The ACT region has all the ingredients to offer a world-class artist-in-residency program for all art forms: a planned an accessible city, a seat of modern democracy, a suite of national cultural institutions, over twenty key arts organisations, nationally recognised tertiary education providers, a vibrant urban environment surrounded by natural beauty and pastoral landscapes, a network of country towns, and a diverse and engaged population.  Artist-in-residency programs off time and space to create, but also help to bring in national and international artists to work with local artists and the community.  The ACT Government has developed a policy statement and tool kit, along with a small amount of funding for 2012/2013.  The Childers Group strongly advocates for there to be ongoing funding within the order of $200,000 over the next five financial years in order to fully realise the potential of the program.  This would build on the impetus generated by the Centenary of Canberra celebrations.

THE ARTS IN THE ACT REGION: BURNING ISSUES AND RADICAL IDEAS’ – SUMMARY OF FORUM

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On Wednesday 18 April 2012 at The Street Theatre in Canberra, the Childers Group held its first forum, ‘The Arts in the ACT Region: Burning Issues and Radical Ideas’.  The invited special guests were: Robyn Archer, Creative Director of the Centenary of Canberra; Vicki Dunne, ACT Opposite Spokesperson for the Arts; Yolande Norris, You Are Here Festival Producer; Caroline Le Couteur, Greens Spokesperson for the Arts; and Omar Musa, poet and performer.

Each special guest was asked to present a burning issue and a radical idea.  Approximately 140 members of the ACT-region arts community attended and many took the opportunity to share their own burning issues and radical ideas.  Genevieve Jacobs from ABC Radio Canberra facilitated the two-hour discussion.

The following serves as a summary of key points; it does not purport to document every issue or idea, but the key themes.  The ordering of the key points does not necessarily reflect the priority of the arts community or the Childers Group.  The Childers Group also wrote an article about the forum, ‘ACT a crucible of the arts’, which was published in The Canberra Times on 28 May 2012.

BURNING ISSUES:

 Canberra

  • what is our identity?
  • Canberra is a small city with a large cultural structure
  • Canberra is an innovative and creative city
  • important to recognise that Canberra is a regional city, but strategically it’s very well placed
  • the Centenary is making Canberra and Australia value local work
  • value what we’ve got
  • don’t listen to negatives – stop talking about Canberra having an inferiority complex!
  • generally the ACT-region arts community is silent – stand up and be heard! (the Childers Group is an excellent evolution)
  • make a connection between the south of the lake and the north of the lake
  • Canberra has great youth circus – build on this
  • it was generally agreed that Canberra and the region is rich in creativity and the arts are valued; investment in and the promotion of this flourishing region was strongly recommended by many attending the forum

The region

  • go beyond the border – the border means nothing
  • there’s great arts activity happening in the surrounding region area
  • from a regional perspective, Canberra can be parochial

Policy

  • we don’t have clear statements of what we want, i.e. a comprehensive, meaningful cultural policy

Support for artists

  • cultivate local production
  • support the voice of individual artists
  • many artists don’t get support from local audiences
  • concern that artist salary levels are too low (it was noted that this is also a national problem)
  • how best to support artists with disabilities?

The economy

  • the economics will defeat us if we are not creative in delivery
  • there’s a schism between professional and community arts – there needs to be an investment in both
  • housing affordability is a major challenge – what will this mean to the future of a creative capital?
  • investigate and build alternative revenue streams
  • how to build a culture of philanthropy?
  • collecting and applying data is important

Arts in the public realm

  • Canberra has a good compilation of facilities – bring it all together
  • Canberra is too fond of the wrecking-ball i.e. it demolishes buildings too soon
  • how to make the Kingston Arts Precinct and the Fitters Workshop truly come alive?  New Acton is a great example of an arts precinct that brings everything together beautifully
  • public art: how to get the balance right in terms of the expenditure and how to get the process right in terms of outcomes?
  • art is an everyday part of life: how can we better integrate it?
  • the ACT planning system doesn’t actively enable the arts
  • spaces  are needed for contemporary music gigs
  • The Canberra Times could make a more positive contribution to how complex arts issues are resolved

Engagement, marketing and tourism

  • the main problem lies with Canberra not telling its own story – there’s a lot happening and people don’t know about it
  • how to bring the arts community and the broader community together?
  • value and recognise local arts activity, not just ‘the blockbusters’
  • the national cultural institutions tend to get all the limelight
  • ACT tourism bodies need to take local arts activity seriously beyond the work of the national cultural institutions – there’s little interconnection with tourism and local arts events and activities
  • cross-sector, cross-jurisdiction, cross-organisation collaboration is paramount
    how to engage the transient members of the ACT community?

Arts in education

  • we need to expand participation
  • we need to hear from new strong voices
  • more funding and support for facilitating engagement in the arts by young people
  • how to get more people involved in poetry?

RADICAL IDEAS:

Engagement, marketing and tourism

  • an ACT-region arts calendar
  • an arts web-site based on the ‘AllHomes’ model e.g. ‘AllArts’
  • make the most of www.creativespaces.net.au
  • use the internet to sell Canberra content nationally and internationally
  • tour and/or broadcast Canberra content to regional areas (and vice verse)
  • find ways to bring back artists who have left the ACT region
  • import the inspirational
  • take up the opportunities presented by the National Broadband Network
  • keep the You Are Here Festival going
  • expand the Multicultural Festival to include more arts
  • make the most of the Centenary of Canberra
  • be outrageous, provoke comment

The economy

  • double the ACT Government’s arts budget by 2020

Arts in the public realm

  • a future-proof showcase venue to market ACT-region arts product nationally and internationally
  • more adaptive re-use of old buildings
  • let arts precincts grow on their own, flourish in an organic fashion, rather than rush or force them
  • more local arts commissions in public art
  • more art in architecture
  • more functional art, e.g. bike stands designed by artists
  • sound barriers so people can sleep and people can listen to music and bands can perform
  • make Canberra a centre for guerilla art

Arts in education

  • an ACT-wide poetry slam program in schools (hip hop and slam poetry is a great opportunity to engage young people in arts activity)
  • we have an amazing and vibrant youth culture – let’s build on this
  • nurture the instinct in our children to go out and develop art

THE NEXT GENERATION DEPENDS ON IT: 2012-2013 ACT budget submission

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SUPPORT FOR THE ARTS IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF ANY GOVERNMENT BUDGET

Introduction:

Formed in November 2011, the Childers Group welcomes the opportunity for community input into the 2012-2013 ACT Budget development process.

Comprising a group of ACT and region experienced arts leaders, the Childers Group is a new voice for the arts.  It is an independent forum committed to the long-term viability and vitality of the arts in the ACT and surrounding areas.  It involves recognised individuals from diverse backgrounds including the visual arts, music, dance, film, theatre and performing arts, youth arts, community arts and literature.

The Childers Group interests and activities are based on the principles of:

  • objectivity;
  • independence; and
  • pride in Australia’s national capital city, Canberra.

General:

  • The Childers Group acknowledges that since self-government the ACT Government has been the main financial supporter of the arts in the Territory.
  • The ACT Government’s Arts Fund is the major ongoing support mechanism for the arts in this region.
  • The Arts Fund supports 22 Key Arts Organisations that form the backbone for the employment of arts workers and much of the arts activity in the ACT and region.
  • Key Arts Organisations are the basis for the development of professional arts practice and the presentation, production, performance and exhibition of this work.
  • Key Arts Organisations provide the main ways ACT and residents in the region access the arts. This involves attendance at exhibitions and performances and participation in a variety of classes and workshops. It also includes programs for people with special needs such as youth at risk, the indigenous, multicultural groups and people with disability.
  • The Arts Fund is also under pressure as a result of the increased number of arts facilities, and costs associated with the overall sound management and operational overheads increase each year.
  • The level of funding available through the Arts Fund must be sustained and allowed to grow, at the very least to match CPI.

Elizabeth Cameron Dalman

Advocating the arts in Canberra:

  • The Childers Group advocates the importance of access and participation in the arts and the value of the arts and cultural life in our community.
  • The arts are a major part of the way we see ourselves and contribute to our sense of place and self esteem.
  • The arts inject colour into our lives and contribute positively to many facets of community life.
  • The arts and design influence the way we think about the natural and built environment, how we regard the household articles we use, and what determines the traditions we preserve.
  • The arts foster cohesion and the expression of a community identity.

Why arts services important in Canberra:

    1. Participation in the arts fosters a sense of community, promotes mental health and well being and reduces pressures of a competitive, materialistic society (Mackay: Advance Australia Where?)
    2. Canberra’s creative artists and Key Arts Organisations are central to the vibrancy and life of our city.
    3. Galleries and museums, libraries, theatres and performance spaces, artists’ studios, workshops and cinema facilities provide essential services for the ACT and exist as the ‘common good’ for the whole community.

The presence of these facilities, services, events and activities is a measure of Canberra’s life-style, confidence and sophistication.

Boho Interactive

Arts Funding Priorities for the ACT Budget recommended by the Childers Group:

  1. CPI – ensure that through the ACT Arts Fund CPI continues to be provided to Key Arts Organisations on an annual basis.
  2. Arts Worker Salaries – ensure that there are no professional arts workers employed by Key Arts Organisations earning less than the average Australian wage approximately $55,000 pa. The Childers Group advocates benchmarking professional arts worker salaries with salaries in the Community Sector and in arts personnel in other States and Territories. Payment of ACT arts workers’ salaries commensurate with their skills and experience will ensure the retention of qualified people with the expertise to manage Canberra’s arts and cultural services.
  3. Increase allocation to the ACT Arts Fund’s Project Funding category – these funds support one-off activities for individual artists and groups of artists to initiate and develop their own independent projects. This acknowledges that while Key Arts Organisations provide core infrastructure, they cannot be “all things to all people”, nor do they receive program funding to engage artists on major projects. The Project Funding category is supporting fewer projects each year due to the ever increasing costs of delivering arts projects. The Childers Group advocates for this category to receive additional funding of $250,000 per annum over the next three years.
  4. Arts in Education – create an Arts-in-Education Officer position to build relationships, partnerships and programs between the Education Directorate and the Community Services Directorate. Ideally this should be a Senior Officer Grade C, paid for by the Education Directorate, with the officer spending 50% of time in Education and 50% at artsACT. In the first instance, this should be a three-year initiative. Similar initiatives in other States e.g. WA, have proved very beneficial. Establishing and consolidating existing inks between artists, arts organisations and schools and the tertiary sector should be a key component of the work.
  5. Arts in Heritage – allocate specific funds for ACT Heritage Unit to engage professional practicing artists to creatively interpret ACT Heritage sites. The outcomes will be greater community engagement, appreciation and use of heritage assets and mean professional artists are employed in sectors outside the arts.
  6. Following on from 6 above, adopt a Whole-of-Government approach encouraging all directorates and agencies to examine ways in which they may directly or indirectly support the arts and cultural life in Canberra. Potential also exists for the development of collaborative arts arrangements with Health and Sport.
  7. Artists-in-Residence – develop the success of existing artsACT residency funding and provide a program for a Key Arts Organisation Artist–in-Residence Support Fund. This would encourage arts organisations to devise their own residency projects by developing collaborative arrangements with other Government agencies, the private sector, the Australia Council or tertiary institutions.
  8. ACT Arts Partnership Fund –create a fund where the ACT Government dollars are matched by the private sector to assist arts partnerships. Available to both individual artists and arts organisations, this initiative could commence with $300,000 per year over three years to be matched dollar-for-dollar by the private sector. A good example exists in Tasmania with assistance from ABaF. For more information see http://www.arts.tas.gov.au/funding/grants/premiers
  9. Public Art – reintroduce a percentage of capital infrastructure allocation to establish a Public Art Fund available for public art commissions and acquisition of art works.
  10. Publicity and promotion – the arts in Canberra are an important tourist attraction. To increase publicity for the arts, ensure much closer liaison between Canberra’s arts sector and the ACT Tourism and the national capital cultural institutions.
  11. Research – increase the research capacity of artsACT by establishing a Senior Officer Grade C position as a three-year initiative. Work in this position would enable increased capacity to undertake much needed research to support ACT arts policy development, communicate and explain the basis of research findings and rationale for the arts and cultural development initiatives proposed.

The ACT leads our nation in both community participation and attendance at arts and cultural events. The Childers Group recommends consideration of increased investment in the arts as outlined in our submission.

With this kind of support, Canberra will continue its development as a vibrant, engaged, confident and sophisticated National Capital and adjacent region.

The next creative generation depends on it.

QL2 Centre for Youth Dance