It is our great pleasure to announce the formation of a new voice for the arts, The Childers Group: an independent arts forum.
The Childers Group is an independent forum committed to the long-term viability and vitality of the arts in the ACT and surrounding areas.
The Childers Group contains representatives from diverse backgrounds, including visual art, music, dance, theatre and performing arts, youth arts, community arts, and literature, with new members to be added as appropriate. Many have regional as well as national expertise and connections. Whilst many of the members live and work in the ACT, the Group will build relationships with the surrounding regions. Details about our members can be found at the membership tab above.
The Childers Group is based on the principles of objectivity and independence.
We look forward to engaging with all those interested in moving the arts forward, including governments at all levels, the private sector, educators, the media, and the broader community. The Centenary of Canberra provides an exciting context to our work. To this end, the Childers Group will host a public forum on the arts early in 2012.
Details about the Childers Group public forum will be announced shortly.
I attended the Childers Group Forum last night. I was very disappointed and left before it ended.
The organisation was abysmal. Seating would-be attenders on the Street Theatre stage was a serious error. There was clearly not room for them there. Ane there was NO hadicapped access.
The speakers should have been on the stage facing the attenders in the auditorium. That’s what the acoustocs of a theatre are designed for.
The MC did not insist that those who spoke were required to stand, so their voices were mostly absorbed by the seated crowd. Many of the spoke with their back to the audience.
Microphones for the speaker and the makers of comments from the attenders were essential, but not provided.
In the front row of the auditorium, I could hear less than half of what was being said on the stage.
The politicians, whom one would expect to be able to project their voices, even if they are not actors, were as unintelligible as the rest.
The format of the forum was poorly planned and badly executed. This does not augur well for a successful public or artists’ attempt improve the impact and presence of the Arts in Canberra.
I was disappointed that after so much hype, the simple presentation of a forum seemed to be beyond the abilities of the organisers. Perhaps they should have consulted the theatre community for the best way to speak to an audience in a theatre.
Hi Malcolm, thank you for your comments. We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts, and we’ll consider your feedback when organising our next forum. The Childers Group is always interested in new and exciting ways to engage the arts community, including the broader community.