Create NSW has announced that eight sites across Western Sydney have been selected to share funding of over $400,000 in order to create hubs for a diverse mix of arts, screen and digital projects and organisations.
Create NSW CEO Michael Brealey said that the Western Sydney Making Spaces Initiative enables professional artists and arts organisations to create their work in new studios, artists’ residencies and rehearsal spaces across the region, from the Blue Mountains to Camden.
“Western Sydney is home to an incredible range of exciting artists, but the search for physical space remains a challenge,’’ says Mr Brealey.
“This Initiative is a response to this challenge which aims to harness and promote our talent by creating innovative partnerships with property owners that make existing spaces work harder and smarter.
“We want the region to be recognised as the true creative hub that it is.
“By maximising access to local council, community or retail spaces and even opening up unused areas, we can foster arts participation and development and increase the visibility of arts and culture across the region as a whole.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Through this funding we have been able to support a fantastic range of projects, including an Arab-Australian contemporary theatre hub in Cumberland, a literature collective in Fairfield creating jobs for artists and translators, and a new space offering mentorships for digital artists in the Penrith area,” Mr Brealey said.[/social_quote]
♦ Some of the Western Sydney Making Spaces successful applicants for our region were:
• Western Sydney Writing Rooms (WestWords Ltd) – Westwords will be coordinating three linked writers’ rooms in Campbelltown, Parramatta and Blue Mountains to provide a mix of long and short-term residential spaces for writing groups, mentoring, meetings and events for the development and presentation of new work by writers from Western Sydney;
• Creative Camden Hub – The Council of Camden will be a central place for the development of new works, projects and collaborations by professional artists and arts groups in Camden. There will be workshops and public outcomes for the local community to participate in and extend their cross cultural and artistic experiences through different art forms;
• Urban Screen Studio Residencies – Liverpool City Council – a series of artists’ residencies in the Liverpool CBD, where artists will work with local community groups to produce creative content for the urban screen in Macquarie Mall;
• Lomandra Storytime (Shopfront Arts Co-op Ltd) – in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the Shopfronts Arts Co-op will work with young people to transform schools into arts venues and welcome the local community to large-scale public arts events. Shopfront will be working with Lomandra School, located in Campbelltown and which caters for young people with behavioural needs and emotional trauma.
