Category Archives: News

Congratulations to Caroline Stacey, ACT Artist of the Year

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The Childers Group congratulates Caroline Stacey being named as the ACT ‘City News’  Artist of the Year for 2012, which is awarded by the Canberra Critics Circle.

Caroline  is a very fine example of someone who is making a significant contribution to the creative life of the ACT Region.  She is known for her artistic daring and her tenacity, and she’s been an influential advocate for the arts, particularly in terms of theatre.

It is most fitting for Caroline to be recognised in this way, and it is encouraging for all of us who are working to see the arts being placed at the very centre of Australian life.

Caroline Stacey is the Artistic Director/CEO of the Street Theatre, and is a foundation member of the Childers Group.

The Childers Group congratulates all the artists who received awards and the Canberra Critics Circle for its work in honouring creative excellence in the ACT region over the last twenty-two years. This, too, is an extraordinary achievement.

THANK YOU!

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Poet Andrew Galan

Here’s a huge THANK YOU to everyone who made our second forum for the year – held on Wednesday 19 September at the Canberra Museum and Gallery – such a success.  Thank you to Andrew Galan and Miranda Lello who kicked off proceedings by giving us a taste of poetry slam.  Thanks to the three Members of the ACT Legislative Assembly: Joy Burch (Labor), Vicki Dunne (Liberals) and Caroline Le Couteur (Greens) – we appreciate you giving so much of your time in preparing for the forum, presenting your arts policies, and answering questions.  Thanks to those who represented their sectors: Peter Bayliss (contemporary music), Alexander Boynes (visual arts), Raoul Cramer (theatre), Monica Penders (film), Philip Piggin (community cultural development), Neil Roach (dance), Michael Sollis (fine music), and Rosy Stevens (literature).  Thanks to those who asked questions and participated in the democratic process.

A forum of this sort needs expert facilitation, and that’s what we had in Andrea Close – we appreciated how you kept everything rolling along like clockwork.  Thank you to the Cultural Facilities Corporation, especially the members of the front-of-house staff who were instrumental in making the forum happen.  Thanks to New Best Friend who always make us look fabulous.  And lastly, but most importantly, thanks to the 70 or so who came along and packed out the venue to show that people are willing and wanting to have a robust discussion about the importance of the arts and community creativity in the ACT region.

What happens now?  We’ll get a summary of the discussion up here shortly.   And then, of course, there’s the ACT election on Saturday 20 October.

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.

BOOKING THE DATE: our next forum will be on 19 September 2012. Woohoo!

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Just a heads-up that the next Childers Group forum will be held on Wednesday 19 September 2012.  It will be 5pm for a 5.30 start, 7.30pm finish.  The venue will be the Canberra Museum and Gallery Theatrette, Canberra City. The format of the discussion is still being finalised, but we can tell you that the three ACT Legislative Assembly members relating to the arts will be presenting their arts policies.  Discussion will undoubtedly ensue.  Formal marketing of the forum will commence shortly.

Is this the end of local arts content in The Canberra Times?

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Reports are coming in that there have been significant changes to arts journalism at The Canberra Times.  Two sources are the ABC and City News.  Arts reporter Diana Streak has either been demoted or offered a redundancy, and literary editor Gia Metherall has been told her position is surplus to requirements.  Some questions.  What does this mean for the coverage of local arts coverage in the ACT region?  How will the region know what’s happening in their communities?  How will there be an intelligent and articulate discussion about what it means to be a creative part of Australia?  More specifically, what does it mean for book reviews?  No doubt reviews will still happen, but how will regional writers and publishers get their work into the broader public?  Will these changes result in the urbanisation of Australian literature?

The Childers Group understands that newspapers are businesses and that the print-based newspaper business model is collapsing rapidly.  However, we also believe that newspapers have a role to play in terms of making an active contribition to the local communities in which they are situated, regardless of the mechanism – print or on-line or a combination of both.  The arts and all arts communities deserve professional arts journalism.

The Childers Group is seeking your views on the best way to respond to this situtation.  Email us at childersgroup@gmail.com.  In the meantime, we’ll find out as much as we can.

UPDATE as at 16 July: We’ve been informed that a total of three positions have been axed at The Canberra Times: arts editor, literary editor, and features editor.  Apparently The Canberra Times‘ intention is to focus on digital content, but the question remains: how to provide local arts content without professional and dedicated local arts journalists?

(Image courtesy of ACT Museums and Galleries.)

Congratulations Robyn

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Congratulations to Centenary of Canberra Creative Director Robyn Archer for being appointed Deputy Chair of the Australia Council for the Arts.  Not only is Robyn highly respected as an artist and festival director, she is also a strong and consistent advocate for the arts and cultural life of the ACT region.  The next twenty-four months really are shaping up to be pretty special indeed.

Post-forum opportunities

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Two key issued that were raised at the ‘Burning Issues and Radical Ideas’ forum on 18 April were artist incomes/employment and diversifying funding opportunities through philanthropy.  All of us here at Childers Group HQ love good news, so here’s some good news on these two issues.

New artist-in-residence funding program for the ACT region:

First up, the ACT Government through artsACT has established Arts Residencies ACT, which is providing funding to help organisations establish an artist-in-residency program.  This could mean ACT-region artists get to work with a particular organisation – and it doesn’t necessarily have to be an arts organisation, which provides cross-over opportunities and career expansion for the artists involved – or it could involve bringing in national artists to work in the ACT region and engage with local communities.  Applications open today and close on Friday 8 June.  For more information, go here.

Arts philanthropy seminar to be held in Canberra:

In terms diversifying funding opportunities, at 4pm on Thursday 31 May at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, the Australia Council’s Artsupport team is holding a seminar on best-practice in private support for the arts.  According to Artsupport, the unit recently organised and led a philanthropy leadership study tour to New York for the Chairs and Chief Executive Officers of Australia’s major performing arts companies – Melbourne Theatre Company, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, Black Swan State Theatre Company, Sydney Dance Company, Queensland Ballet, Bangarra Dance Company, Tasmania Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and State Opera of South Australia. The study tour met with the CEOs, Development Directors and key Board Members of New York companies – Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Public Theatre, Signature Theatre, Orchestra of St Luke’s and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. The intention for the study tour was to witness best practice in private support for the arts, to be inspired, benchmark and refresh ideas.  Participants will share their insights.  The seminar is free.  Go here for more information and to register.

See why we love good news so much?

THANK YOU

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Here’s a huge thank you to everyone who attended the Childers Group’s inaugural forum, ‘Burning Issues and Radical Ideas’ last night.

It was completely brilliant to see so many people pack out the Street Theatre stage – there was over a 100 of you up there! – and more spilling into the auditorium. Inspired by our extraordinary special guests – Robyn Archer, Vicki Dunne, Yolande Norris, Caroline Le Couteur, and the utterly unstoppable Omar Musa – we were amazed how forum participants were brave enough to ‘move up to the table’ and share their burning issues and radical ideas.  Without the artful facilitation of ABC Radio’s Genevieve Jacobs, well, we couldn’t have done it.

What happens now?  We’ll be distilling the notes that were taken – one of the Childers Group members ended up with 10,000 words in his laptop! – and posting them here, as well as forwarding them to all those who are in the position to make the arts in the ACT region really come alive, including the ACT Government, the NSW Government, key arts organisations, just to name a few.  Perhaps most importantly, we hope that you’ve taken away some great ideas yourself, and that you might even run with them and make them happen.  If so, do let us know how you’re going and if there’s anything we can do to help.

Please note: we’re committed to hearing feedback on all our activities, including the ‘Burning Issues and Radical Ideas’ forum – you can post comments to us below, or chat to us via our Facebook page, or email us direct if you’d like to be a little more private about it.  We might even sit down and have a coffee with you.  Whilst we’re a volunteer-run group without funding and limited resources, we’re always interested in new and exciting ways to engage the ACT-region arts community.  And we want your thoughts.  Yes, we’re serious.

Much gratitude to our supporters: The Street Theatre, BMA Magazine, and the wonderful folk at New Best Friend for their ongoing graphic design and web-site design and management.

And yes, we’ll be doing it all again.  Stay tuned.