The ACT Government allocated $711,000 to a new Creative Recovery and Resilience Program (CRRP); designed to focus on employment and economic stimulus for the creative sector in the ACT. Six new projects were delivered in partnership with local organisations to enable recovery and building resilience for artists and arts workers.
Projects
Creative Recovery and Resilience Forum*
The University of Canberra
A series of nine events commencing December 2021 will connect across disciplines, career stages and contexts to contribute to the ongoing growth of a well networked, more resilient sector. The first Creative Recovery and Resilience Forum with University of Canberra and Belconnen Arts Centre took place on Thursday 2 December, and was led by Ellis Hutch, Home Economix and Vessel Collective, and Juliette Dudley.
Forum Producer: Kiri Morcombe
Forum Writer-In-Residence: Simone Penkethman
Creative Recovery and Resilience Residences in Digital Innovation and Cross-Sector Engagement
The University of Canberra (UC) and Belconnen Arts Centre (Belco Arts)
Two residencies for artists exploring digital innovation in their practice and two residencies for artists to explore working across sectors such as health and governance. Each residency will be eight weeks full time or equivalent and supported by a producer and mentor. The residencies will offer artists the opportunity to spend focused time developing their practice, offering valuable space and time to develop new ideas and directions.
Artist in Residence: Cross-Sector Engagement (Mid-Career/Established): Kirsten Wehner
Artist in Residence: Cross-Sector Engagement (Emerging): Miriam Slater
Artist in Residence: Digital Innovation (Mid-Career/Established): Melanie Lane
Artist in Residence: Digital Innovation (Emerging): Zhi Yi Cham
Emerging Creative Producer: Zora Pang
Residencies in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts and Cultural Practice, and Community Arts and Cultural Development
Ainslie + Gorman Arts Centres
Three residencies for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander artists and two residencies for artists working in community arts and cultural development practice. Each residency will be 8 weeks full time or equivalent and supported by a producer and mentor. The residencies will offer artists the opportunity to spend focused time developing their practice, offering valuable space and time to develop new ideas and directions.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts and Cultural Practice (Emerging): Sarah Loynes
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts and Cultural Practice (Emerging): Jackson Taylor-Grant
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts and Cultural Practice (Established): Samia Goudie
Community Arts and Cultural Development (Emerging): Yamile Tafur
Community Arts and Cultural Development (Established): Jacqui Malins
Emerging Producer: Nyssa Miller
City Commissions*
Contour 556
Three new works will be commissioned from local artists to explore the identity and diversity of the city and how we have responded to recent emergencies. Artists will identify a community group or organisation they wish to work with to create a new work.
City Commissions Artists: Alison Alder, Michael Sollis, and Sammy Hawker.
Arts Infinity Lab*
Paper Giant
A ten-week program that will connect up to ten artists and arts workers with marketing and communications professionals to share knowledge and skills. Participating artists and arts workers will be paid for their time and have the opportunity to develop a small trial project. (This project was previously titled: Communicating the Arts Project).
Arts Infinity Lab Artists: Linda Chen, Jake Silvestro, Emma Rani-Hodges, Dan Power, Kate Vassallo, Julia Boyd, AJ America, Delali Zevon-Aniakwah, Rebecca Duke, Cathy Petőcz.
Good Company
You Are Here
A streamlined small grants program offering grants of $5000 to local artists and creatives to support small live events to take place in venues and businesses across the ACT.
Recipients round one: Luke McGrath (Lick Nuke), Sarah O'Malley (Burntout Bookings), NYASH!.
Recipients round two: Ikenna Enyi (Ike(from)Pluto), Ben Marston.
Recipients round three: Nick Chenery and Ally Hocking (Burnish), Dianna Nixon (Music Theatre Projects Ltd), Mali Jorm (Cambridge Street Studios).
Recipients round four: Sionna Maple and Ella Kamer, Us Mob, Michele Grimston, Miriam Slater and Marlene Claudine Radice.
ACT Government Creative-in-Residence Project delivered by artsACT
A six month residency for 2 creatives in an ACT Government Directorate. Applications for this project closed on 2 June 2021 and residencies will take place between July 2021 and June 2022. The ACT Government Creatives-in-Residence are Hanna Hoyne and Ellis Hutch.
Interview with Hanna Hoyne, ACT Government Creative-in-Residence
artsACT spoke with Hanna Hoyne about the Creative Recovery and Resilience program (CRRP) and her mission as an artist.
Read the Interview - PDF (PDF 65 KB)
*The Creative Recovery and Resilience Forum, City Commissions, and Arts Infinity Lab are joint initiatives of the ACT Government and Regional Arts Australia. These projects are supported through $98,000 investment from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund.
Program outline
The program has a dual focus – recovery and resilience. Recovery is a process through which the arts sector can resume the diverse activities that were curtailed because of COVID. Resilience is a process of growing capability and taking advantage of emergent opportunities, particularly those presented by the pandemic. The CRRP responds to this by providing a range of pilot projects that will be co-designed with the sector to trial approaches to enabling recovery and building resilience. The CRRP will also complement existing local recovery initiatives, also acknowledging that the arts sector already has an extensive practice in resilience and a commitment to building capacity. The projects are also aligned with broader priorities within the ACT Government, particularly the Economic Recovery and Community Recovery Plans, as well as existing policies such as the ACT Artists-in-Residence Policy.
The CRRP has been developed utilising feedback from artists across a range of mechanisms from stakeholders including individual artists, Canberra Arts Action Group, arts organisations, and the Minister’s Creative Council. artsACT has subsequently undertaken consultation with key stakeholders in government and the sector to further inform program design. A small working group drawn from the Minister’s Creative Council has also provided further input to the program design via a facilitated workshop.
The program will be evaluated via the Measurable Outcomes Schema and a pilot of the associated Takso online platform developed by the Cultural Development Network.
Program vision
The ACT arts industry is empowered in recovery from the effects of COVID and is confidently regenerating in response to new challenges and opportunities.
Program goals
- Support the ongoing process of recovery from COVID impacts on the arts industry, particularly by creating employment opportunities for local artists and arts workers who have lost work due to COVID-19.
- Enable resilience and regeneration in the local sector through growth of industry capability that is responsive to emergent opportunities created by COVID.
- Pilot new models of delivering arts industry support in collaboration with the sector.
- Identify ongoing and emergent needs of the sector in recovery and building of resilience.
