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Special
Shoalhaven Arts Board – Wednesday 05 April 2023
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AB23.8 Shoalhaven
Arts Board 2022/2023 Grants program - Awarding of Grants
HPERM Ref: D23/114383
Department: Shoalhaven
Entertainment Centre
Approver: Sarah
Taylor, Manager - Library Services
Reason for Report
To inform the Shoalhaven Arts
Board of the recommendations by the Arts Board Grants working party for
awarding the 2022/2023 Shoalhaven Arts Board Grants.
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Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)
That
the Shoalhaven Arts Board grants be allocated as follows:
1. Professional Development Grants
a. Peter Zanetti - Professional
development at Megalo Printmaking Studios in Canberra - $3,000.
b. Alison Mackay - Unfolding Interiors
Residency - $3,000.
c. Carla Jackett - Wings - Exhibition
Development - $1,250.
2. Sense of Place Grants
a. Active and Effective - Climate
Changed Women of the Shoalhaven – podcast series and printed calendar -
$7,880.
b. Blue Prints – resilience
project including storytelling, installations and workshops - $10,000.
c. Shoalhaven Songwriters Collective
– song writing, recording and album release - $10,000.
d. Connecting Community Through Art -
100 Years of Service - public art mural -$6,917.
3. The
above recommendations will see the 2022/2023 Shoalhaven Arts Board Grants
fund of $42,997 fully dispersed. A sum of $950 from the grant funds was
expended on publicising and promoting the grants. This left $42,047 available
to the evaluation panel when considering the 34 applications.
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Options
1. Accept
the Recommendation as printed.
Implications: The grant monies will be disbursed in
line with the grant programs and the recommendations of the working group.
2. Amend
the Recommendation
Implications: The monies may not be disbursed in a
timely manner and may not be allocated to the projects that best fit the
advertised grant program.
3. Reject
the Recommendation
Implications: The monies may not be disbursed in a
timely manner and may not be allocated within the current financial year.
Background
The Shoalhaven Arts Board Grants
closed on 5 February 2023, having been open since 20 December 2022. They were
advertised via social media platforms, print media, digital newsletters, and
Shoalhaven City Council’s Get Involved page.
There were two streams open for
application:
Arts Practitioners Professional Development, for amounts up
to $3,000; and A Sense of Place – for a project with a public outcome and
amounts up to $10,000.
A total of 34 applications were received across the two
programs, which is a significant increase on 13 applications in 2021/2022.
The Arts Grants working party, consisting of Christine
Dunstan, Kate Dezarnaulds, Bonnie Porter-Greene, and Shoalhaven Entertainment
Centre manager Karen Patterson, met on Tuesday, 21 March, to review the
applications.
Professional Development Grant Recommendations
These recommendations and the reasonings are as follows:
1. Peter
Zanetti - Megalo Printmaking Studios residency - requested $3,000 - to be fully
funded.
This funding will support Peter Zanetti
further develop his practice during a six-week residency to produce
multi-colour and monochrome prints.
2. Alison
Mackay - Unfolding Interiors - requested $3,000 - to be fully funded.
This funding will assist Alison
Mackay to undertake a residency at the Artists’ Houses in North
Queensland to continue preparing a body of work for exhibition on the theme of
documenting regional property interiors.
3. Carla
Jackett - Wings - requested $1,250 - to be fully funded.
This funding will support Carla
Jackett, a ceramicist who works in sculptural forms using earthenware and
stoneware clays, to create a body of work for an exhibition on the theme of
Wings.
A Sense of Place Grants
There were 19 applications for the Sense of Place stream.
Successful applicants demonstrated a thorough understanding of the intention of
the grant program including the need to actively connect and engage with
artists and audiences via a project that includes collaboration between
different artists/organisations and the community.
1. Active
and Effective - Climate Changed Women of the Shoalhaven - podcast series and
printed calendar - $7,880 - to be fully funded.
This project will be led by Sheree
Cole an illustrator, designer and activist who will work with community leaders
and not-for-profits to tell the stories of Shoalhaven women who have found
unique and creative ways to be active and effective in ongoing climate
disasters including fire and floods.
The project will culminate in a
podcast series of twelve episodes focusing on Aboriginal activists, authors,
visual artists, music festival organisers and wildlife carers. The series will
explore how creative work connects people to place, community and hope, while
aiding resilience.
The podcast will inform watercolour
illustrations of the women and their work, including quotes, plus a short story
to be combined in a calendar. The creatives behind this project consider art to
be the bridge between action and inaction when dealing with climate change and
associated grief and trauma.
2. Blue
Prints – resilience project including storytelling, installations and
workshops - $10,000 – to be fully funded
The Blue Prints project invites the
bushfire impacted families of Manyana and Bendalong to participate in an art
project that includes an installation, workshops and performances in
collaboration with the community.
Up to 2,000 handmade prints will be
made at public workshops with some being used as postcards and large-scale
works.
Six weeks prior to the event
blueprinting kits, also known as cyanotype kits, will be delivered to more than
200 Manyana households.
The objective of the project is to
inspire a sense of wonder and foster community connections by encouraging
closer examination of the local environment and encouraging preservation for
future generations.
3. Shoalhaven
Songwriters Collective - song writing, recording and album release - $10,000 -
to be fully funded
The Shoalhaven Songwriters Project
aims to bring songwriters of the region together to collaborate on new
compositions inspired by shared connections to Sense of Place in the
Shoalhaven.
The compositions will be recorded by
the artists and as a digital music collection for public release. The intention
is to create a sound that is distinctly ‘Shoalhaven’.
The final recordings will be
celebrated with a live event to launch the new works.
4. Connecting
Community Through Art - 100 Years of Service - public art mural - $6,917 - to
be partially funded following the application for $10,000.
This project of the Nowra Country
Women’s Association has been designed to complement the public art murals
existing in the Nowra CBD, to beautify a public space and to celebrate the
CWA’s centenary.
The intention is to provide a better
visual experience for people who use the Berry Street car park and provide an
artistic outlook for nearby neighbours.
The mural will be painted by a
Shoalhaven artist Clayton Campion and will feature a portrait of Nowra’s
founding member Mrs Norton set against a backdrop of a handmade doily, florals,
the CWA logo, and a black cockatoo which means Nowra in the local First Nations
language.
Shoalhaven Arts Board Grant
Applications not recommended for funding:
Arts Practitioners
Professional Development Applications – not successful:
1. Amanda
Smyth – WEAVE – Your Way Home.
The funding request was to support
weaving workshops for girls aged eight to thirteen.
The working group felt the
application was designed to support the applicant to deliver workshops rather
than pursue professional development.
2. Gerald
Buckley – Working with flame – glass and steel.
In a highly competitive round the
application was ranked lower than other applications, particularly in relation to
connecting with peers and building a sustainable career.
3. Jamie
Apps – Pario Magazine – Shoalhaven Editions
The working group considered the
applicant, who was seeking support to publish an online and hardcopy
publication, was not seeking funding for the purpose of professional
development.
4. John
Passanisi – The Ancients
Working group members considered
funding a feasibility study, the artist’s wages, and consulting to be
conducted by the artist was in essence not a form of professional development.
5. Kelvin
Taylor – printmaking classes and workshops for novice and experienced
practitioners
The application related to set-up
costs for printmaking workshop equipment, a website, and a marketing campaign.
The working group felt the application related to business establishment costs
rather than professional development for the applicant.
6. Leone
Rogers – Milton Follies Turns 21
The working group considered that
this grant application was written to support sponsorship of a community
theatre celebration rather than the professional development of its performers,
and therefore didn’t meet the Grant Guidelines.
7. Marg
Sherringham – Filigree Acoustic Music Ensemble
In line with the Grant Guidelines
the working group was unable to support this request to fund pull-up banners,
venue hire for rehearsal purposes, marketing materials and catering.
8. Narelle
Harding – Artistic shed to support and develop creative health for women.
This application did not detail the
form or forms of professional development to be delivered. The proposed
programme of events was not supported by a detailed budget.
9. Narissara
Prachyakul – Embrace the Shoalhaven
Centred on creating work for a
series of exhibitions, this application didn’t not address how the artist
would enhance their skill set, connect with peers, or build a sustainable
career through professional development activities.
10. Patti
Bartlett – Five Villages Book Marketing Skills Development
This application, seeking support
for promotions and marketing of two authors’ work was beyond the remit of
the Grant Guidelines.
11. Per
Gunn – Developing pottery skills.
This application related to the
purchase of a new kiln for the purpose of teaching family members pottery. The
evaluation panel considered this application did not match the professional
development criteria.
12. Sharon
Haarsma – Research and shoemaking mentorship
This application spoke strongly to
the Sense of Place provocation, which was well articulated. Based on the eight
criteria by which each panellist scored the applications this project
didn’t rank as highly as other applications in this highly competitive
round.
A Sense of Place Grant
applications – not recommended for funding.
1. Alex
Herlihy – Cedars
This application pertained to the
creation of ‘public art sculpture’ within a private business on
private land making it ineligible.
2. Andrew
High – Shoalhaven Comedy Writing and Performance Workshops
The working group felt this
application didn’t fully address ‘Sense of Place’ or how the
workshops would result in innovative artistic expression that benefited the
community.
3. Anna
Wright-Hands – House of Wolves Short Film
The working group held concerns
about how a short film shot in a single location at Broughton Vale could
adequately fulfil the promise of A Sense of Place. Apart from a showing for
cast and crew there was no consideration in the application to guaranteeing a
public screening in the Shoalhaven.
4. Claire
Chapman – Cabaret by the Deadly South
This application was based on a
call-out to cabaret performers to respond to the themes of Yesterday, Today and
Tomorrow; Who Do You Think You Are? Dreams; and Around the World. The panel
felt these provocations didn’t respond to A Sense of Place and the
Shoalhaven.
5. Emma
Persen – the Common – South Coast Live Art Wall
The application for an urban art
style revolving mural does not meet the Guidelines as the proposed wall is
within a private business.
6. Emma-Jayde
Chapman - Unity Dreaming Exhibition and Workshops
This application relating to artist
led workshops and exhibitions lacked detail about how Unity Dreaming would
respond to A Sense of Place; whether the workshops would be paid or free of
charge; capacity of workshops; and whether the exhibitions would include the
work of the lead artists and workshop attendants.
7. Evan
Guyatt - In Another Land - Songs from the South Coast – EP
The working group considered this
application to be lacking in detail. There was no mention of artwork/design
briefs or expenses related to the planned album or releases. Videos are
mentioned in the application but not budgeted.
8. Jamie
Apps - Pario Magazine - Shoalhaven Editions
The applicant proposed to devote an
edition to showcasing Shoalhaven creatives and artists. There was no mention of
print-run, detailed distribution costs or channels, pagination, or mention of
the creatives to be profiled.
9. Jason
Norris - Mental Health - a music/visual production discussing men’s
mental health on the South Coast
This application did not address
how the project would enhance and develop the arts within the Shoalhaven. There
was no mention of how the exploration of mental health connects with the theme
of A Sense of Place. Incorporating mental health first aid and professional
support either at the interviews with people who had suffered mental health
challenges or at the planned public screening of the production was of concern
to the panel.
10. Larraine
Larri - Friending Eco-grief - Poetry and Music for Challenging Times
Proposing a unique and ambitious
project encouraging people traumatised by the 2019/20 Black Summer fires to
build resilience through eco poetry, writing and performance workshops, this
application was backed by strong letters of support. Ultimately the application
was not supported by the working group who held concerns that the project plan
and budget did not include a mental health support plan for participants.
11. Laura
Turner – Albatross Musical Theatre Company – Celebrating and
Connecting Women
This application was ineligible.
The guidelines state that the grant will not support activities that work
towards the presentation of previously performed and or publicly available
material. A major part of the proposed project was a performance of the Song
Cycle - Well Behaved Women by Broadway composer Carmel Dean – which has
been performed.
12. Nicole
Smede – Kundu Remeo
Although a strong application in
terms of its response to A Sense of Place, the guidelines preclude funding for
activities/events/project elements that have already commenced. Work had
already been started on the ‘library of trees’ interactive
community art project.
13. Peter
McCarthy – The Cumulus Project: Re-Crafting Sacred Space
This application spoke strongly to
the Sense of Place provocation. Based on the eight criteria by which each
panellist scored the applications this project didn’t rank as highly as
other applications in this highly competitive round.
14. Sandra
Gray – Building an Arts and Cultural Precinct for Sussex Inlet
In evaluating this proposal, the
working group considered the activities proposed did not support inspiring and
innovative artistic expression. Many of the proposed activities were also
planned to support existing events within the Sussex Inlet community.
15. Shaun
Wessel – Recording and Producing an Album
This application was not eligible
due to the lack of a detailed project budget and mention of a defined public outcome.
There was no information about the number of performers in the band Tall Shaun
and the Resolution Blues or confirmation that all members were resident in the
Shoalhaven.
Community Engagement:
The Shoalhaven Arts Board Grants
program was promoted via a Get Involved page on Council’s website, social
media and print campaigns. This resulted in a record response of 34
applications across the combined Grants stream of Arts Practitioners
Professional Development and A Sense of Place.
Financial Implications:
Funding of the recommended
projects, plus the expenditure on marketing and promotion, will see the budget
allocation of $42,047 fully expended.
