ACT Election 2016: when we’re all in one room we can make things happen…for everyone.

Posted on January 29, 2016 by childers

This year the ACT community will be voting for who will form government for the next 4 years. How can we make sure that those standing for election value the arts and have meaningful arts policies? The Childers Group does this by getting the three main political parties in one room, asking for visions and policies to be put forward, and calling for questions from the floor. We did exactly that in 2012 and we were thrilled with the interest from the community and the engagement of the political parties. So we’re doing it again – this year with a special panel to lead the questions.

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL. UPDATE: the forum is SOLD OUT!

We look forward to seeing you!

…and then it was 2016 and your connections grew and your voice became even louder.

Posted on January 16, 2016 by childers

Happy New Year. This one’s going to be big.

There’s the ACT election, where the Assembly will be increasing from 17 to 25 members, and a party who’s been governing for many years will be up against one that’s chomping at the bit. Will the main political parties prepare arts policies? If so, how informed will those policies be and what impact would they have on the ACT region? And what about the minor parties and the independents? Some very interesting election commentary from Jack Waterford, former editor of the Canberra Times, can be found here.

Then there’s the federal election, which might not directly affect the arts in our region, but with the recent changes to the funding of the Australia Council and the establishment of the centralised Catalyst funding program it will still be very, very fascinating indeed.

As always, the Childers Group will be working hard to be an articulate, informed and engaged voice for the arts in our region, and one of the key ways we do that is through holding forums.

Frankly, we want – and need – your involvement.

Our first forum for the year, Aspects on Mentoring, will be held from 5:30-7:30pm on Thursday 28 January at Canberra Museum and Gallery. Learn more about mentoring and hear from mentorees and their mentors about their experiences, in an open and frank discussion around finding the right person, and working out how to work best together. Then you’ll have a rapid-fire opportunity to meet potential mentoring partners, share your stories, and maybe kick off something special. This will also be an excellent time to meet other emerging and established leaders in the arts in the ACT, and build your networks over a glass of wine.

Admission is free, bookings are essential.

Then, on Wednesday 24 February at Gorman Arts Centre, we’ll be holding Vision and Support: What’s planned and what’s needed for the arts in the ACT region? Come and participate in this forum/debate and help spark a public conversation about the arts in the lead up to the 2016 ACT election! UPDATE: this forum is now SOLD OUT!

The details are as follows:

TIME: 5:30pm-7:30pm

PRESENTERS: Dr Chris Bourke MLA (ACT Labor), Shane Rattenbury MLA (ACT Greens), Brendan Smyth MLA (ACT Liberals)

PANEL: Paul Daley, Helen Ennis, Chris Endrey, Jenni Kemarre Martiniello

MC: Genevieve Jacobs, 666 ABC Canberra

VENUE: Main Hall, Gorman Arts Centre, Braddon

COST: $10 and $5 concession to help cover costs

RSVP and payment: via EventBrite by 5pm Monday 22 February. (For those who don’t wish to make an online payment, please call 6182 0000.)

With much thanks to our venue partners, Canberra Museum and Gallery/Cultural Facilities Corporation and Ainslie + Gorman Arts Centres.

Keep in touch with these events, and other Childers Group activities, via Facebook and Twitter.

WE SHOULD TALK!

Posted on September 19, 2015 by childers

Calling all emerging arts leaders in the ACT region – this is your chance to be heard!

We Should Talk is the first in a series of informal networking and discussion opportunities for the ACT region’s arts sector, presented by the Childers Group.

Local emerging arts leaders Jack Lloyd (Belconnen Arts Centre), Rosanna Stevens (Scissors Paper Pen), Yolande Norris (BIG hART) and Michael Bailey (ACT Museums and Galleries) will facilitate discussions that allow you to raise the big issues in arts leadership in the ACT and start to identify new directions for the sector. We want to hear your thoughts on what is important to you – from skills development and career advancement, to balancing work and life and art – and to find answers to the burning questions.

When and where is this happening?

4pm-6pm on Wednesday 30 September at CMAG.

This will also be an excellent time to meet other emerging leaders and build your networks over a glass of wine. Established arts leaders are of course welcome too – come along and meet the kids who will run the joint in a few years.

Admission is free ($10 donations encouraged and gratefully appreciated, at the door), the bar is open (18+ only, sorry) and bookings are essential via Eventbrite.

We can’t wait to meet you!

We Should Talk is presented by The Childers Group and supported by the Cultural Facilities Corporation.

How important is it that there are arts ‘service’ organisations?

Posted on December 20, 2014 by childers

Joy Burch MLA
Minister for the Arts
ACT Government
via email: burch@act.gov.au

Dear Ms Burch,

The Childers Group has serious concerns about the apparent recent downgrading of arts service organisations, as illustrated in severe cuts to Ausdance ACT, which is part of a highly regarded national network that has supported and promoted dance in the ACT since 1977.

We observe that the role of service organisations in the ACT has been seriously down-played by artsACT in recent years in its endeavour to spread its ever-diminishing funds more thinly and widely. Service organisations such as Ausdance are not artists, dance companies or funding bodies, but they do have a clear role in supporting artists and advocating on their behalf, i.e. a body of work that can be quantified under the following headings prepared by ArtsPeak, the alliance of national arts service organisations:

Government liaison and advocacy
Research
Sector leadership and arts industry standards
Capacity building of the sector
Raise the profile and promote the value of the arts
Support artists’ income generation
Sector representation

As a member of ArtsPeak, the Childers Group strongly supports this statement (attached in full), and suggests that it should be included in the new artsACT strategic plan now being developed, not only to support funding guidelines, but to provide artists with a clear articulation of why service organisations are funded.

Image source: Ausdance ACT

We are also concerned about the way in which artsACT has interpreted the following principles in its published ACT Arts Policy Framework as they specifically concern the work of Ausdance ACT in education:

Championing the importance of arts education and advocating for local arts organisations to be engaged in the implementation of the National Arts Curriculum.
The Australian National University Community Outreach Program, funded by the ACT Government to support music programs for teachers and school students, visual arts community access programs, and access to the School of Art and School of Music libraries and Llewellyn Hall.
Promoting and supporting arts activity across the school curriculum, developing systemic links between ACT Government schools, local and national arts organisations and tertiary institutions.

The Childers Group considers there is a highly artificial divide in funding decisions that differentiate between what is perceived to be ‘education’ and professional practice. The successful implementation of The Australian Curriculum: The Arts is an absolute imperative for the arts profession, a principle obviously shared by the government but now being interpreted inconsistently.

We understand that, as a result of cuts to Ausdance ACT, there will be a major downturn in its ability to continue to offer its valuable services to dance in the ACT. In the not unlikely event that the organisation might eventually have to close its doors, there will be an assumption that the only professionally-supported dance company in Canberra – QL2 Dance – will be required to take on the role of a service organisation in addition to its already overstretched program. It is highly unlikely that QL2 will be able to do so in the current funding environment, nor is it an appropriate role for a dance company.

The Childers Group has used the Ausdance ACT example to illustrate its point about the current trend to under-value and under-fund arts service organisations. We are not advocating on its behalf and do not want to engage with artsACT in specific reasons for its decisions.

We look forward to your response to our concerns, and to your assurance that arts service organisations will continue to be valued for their intrinsic value and not be downgraded in the review of the strategic plan now underway.

Yours faithfully,

Professor David Williams
Spokesperson

The Childers Group –
an indepedent arts forum for the ACT region

Announcing…

Posted on July 25, 2014 by childers

We hope you can join us for a half-day forum that tackles the big issues for the future of arts leadership in our region, and the nation.

We have gathered some of the best and brightest arts leaders to help us take on the task, including cultural leadership guru, David Fishel, speakers from the Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Partnerships Australia and some of our most engaging local arts leaders.

David Fishel

A networking lunch, two plenary sessions and diverse breakout workshops will provide a unique opportunity to share ideas and join in conversation with speakers and participants who are helping shape the future of arts leadership in our region.

Save the date:
Monday 1 September 2014, 12 noon – 5pm

Where:
Canberra Theatre Centre and Canberra Museum and Gallery

Cost (including GST):
full $100
independent arts practitioners and concession card holders $75

How to Book:
Bookings can be made via Eventbrite or phone 02 6207 3968. Spaces are limited, book early to avoid disappointment. Bookings close 25 August 2014. All venues are accessible.

Further details:
Full program and event details will be available here from Monday 4 August 2014

The Arts Leadership Forum is jointly presented by the Childers Group and the Cultural Facilities Corporation.

SUBMISSION: Framing the Future – the NSW Arts and Cultural Policy Discussion Paper

Posted on December 19, 2013 by childers

19 December 2013

NSW Arts and Cultural Policy
Arts NSW
PO A226
South Sydney NSW 1235

FRAMING THE FUTURE – THE NSW ARTS AND CULTURAL POLICY DISCUSSION PAPER

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the development of Framing the Future, the NSW Government’s Arts and Cultural Policy Discussion Paper.

One of the regular fireshows developed and performed by Goulburn’s Lieder Theatre

The Childers Group is an independent arts forum for the ACT region established in 2011, comprising expertise across all art forms as well as experience working at the regional, territory/state, and national levels. Since our establishment, the Group has delivered three annual forums attended by over 300 people including representation from the main political parties, held a variety of meetings with major stakeholders such as the Cultural Facilities Corporation and Tourism ACT, and submitted our issues and ideas to the ACT Government, the NSW Government, the Australia Council for the arts, as well as through the media. In 2012 the Group joined ArtsPeak, the national confederation of 30 key arts advocacy organisations. For more information visit www.childersgroup.com.au. Consequently, what follows is informed, considered, and situated in a national policy context.

We congratulate the NSW Government for preparing Framing the Future and for seeking community comment. The document identifies a range of issues, opportunities, and actions, many of which will have significant positive arts and cultural outcomes, particularly in challenging economic times which appear to be ongoing.

However, we wish to raise the following six key areas where we believe the document could be strengthened, and these issues and suggestions should be considered in the development of any NSW arts and cultural development strategy:

Acknowledgment that the ACT forms a part of NSW and plays a significant role in the development of regional areas – for example, data published in Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, Australia, 2009-10 (ABS) clearly indicates that people living in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory were more likely to visit an art gallery (46% and 30% respectively) or museum (46% and 45% respectively) than those living in the states. Additionally, we wonder how much discussion there was between the NSW and ACT governments in the development of Framing the Future.
Increased strategic funding relationships between NSW and the ACT, specifically in terms of the arts development of regional communities – there is a clear opportunity for the NSW and ACT governments to work together on an ongoing regional arts development fund to enable mutually beneficial partnerships. For example, enabling NSW regional artists to access ACT infrastructure, and increasing the capacity of ACT arts organisations to provide services in NSW regional areas.
Recognition of the advantages of artists basing themselves in regional areas – due to cost-of-living pressures in the major cities, particularly Sydney, many artists are choosing to move to regional areas to progress their careers. While there is limited arts infrastructure in these communities, this is somewhat offset by significantly cheaper rent/house repayments and access to digital technologies (noting, however, that access to digital technologies can also be limited). It should also be recognised that many migrant communities are moving to – or are being settled in – regional communities, with the resultant possibility of rich and diverse arts and cultural expressions and needs.
Many NSW regional towns, such as Braidwood, are significant hotbeds of arts and cultural activity, but access to arts infrastructure is limited. Image Source: Destination NSW – Braidwood.

A commitment to the development of regional arts infrastructure – we note that on page 12 the following vision is stated: Our aspiration is that the depth and diversity of culture across the whole of NSW, from metropolitan centres to regional NSW, is recognised and supported, and that regional communities have access to the state’s cultural experiences and meaningful opportunities for participation and careers in the arts. Whilst we applaud this vision, we note that many regional communities have limited or no arts/cultural infrastructure. For example, Yass has no cinema, working theatre, or gallery. Nearby, Goulburn fares better but only in modest terms. The nearest government-funded arts infrastructure to both communities is in the ACT.
Arts in education – how will regional and isolated NSW communities benefit from the roll-out of the national arts curriculum? This needs to be better articulated in any NSW arts development strategy.
Arts projects in regional communities – there is a need to significantly increase the funding available for the development of arts projects in regional areas, particularly in remote and isolated communities. Further, funding of touring productions and investing in facilitators and associated amenities could assist in rural communities accessing and participating the arts. We note that in regional communities arts activities are often initiated and delivered by an individual with entrepreneurial flair and interest in his/her local community. Few NSW-funded events/exhibitions reach smaller regional communities, of which there are many.

In relation to regional development, we draw Arts NSW’s attention to recent investment lifestyle attractors, for example seasonal benefits, regional produce, and ‘arts and craft’. There is significant tourism potential in regional areas and there is an opportunity for NSW and ACT government tourism agencies to broker stronger partnerships to develop the visitor economy.

Important: we note that a consultative forum in the regional areas of NSW immediately adjacent the ACT would have enabled these communities to engage with the development of Framing the Future.

The Childers Group is available to meet with Arts NSW to expand on the above points.

The Childers Group strongly recommends consideration of increased cooperation between the ACT and NSW for the benefit of both jurisdictions. As our cities, towns and regions change and grow, so too must our thinking in terms of providing opportunities and encouragement for our artists to develop and contribute, and nurturing creativity and social engagement within the wider community.

With this kind of support, the ACT/NSW region will continue its role as a vibrant, engaged, confident and sophisticated part of Australia.

Thank you again for the opportunity to comment on Framing the Future.

[signed]

Professor David Williams
Spokesperson

www.childersgroup.com.au
childersgroup@gmail.com

Note: for more information about Destination NSW, the source for our image of Braidwood, please go here.

Claiming the date: our next forum is just around the corner!

Posted on June 29, 2013 by childers

How important is it that we have a culture of robust and thoughtful arts criticism and dialogue?

The Childers Group has been busy beavering away behind the scenes, contributing a submission to the development of the ACT Government’s budget for 2013/2014, providing feedback on the resultant budget, and also attending the associated ACT Legislative Assembly hearing process (we hope to be able to link to the Hansard report shortly). However, we’re also working on our next forum, which will focus on arts review and criticism and is to occur on Friday 18 October, noon to 2pm, at the Gorman House Arts Centre in Braddon, ACT. We’ll be providing more details shortly, but ink it in – to say the least, it’s going to be an interesting discussion!

A letter to the Australia Council about Writing Australia

Posted on May 10, 2013 by childers

29 April 2013

Libbie Christie
Acting Chief Executive Officer
Australia Council for the Arts
PO Box 788
Strawberry Hills NSW 2012

cc: ACT Minister for the Arts, ACT Cultural Council, artsACT

Dear Ms Christie,

WRITING AUSTRALIA

I am writing to express the Childers Group’s concern at what we understand to be the Australia Council for the Arts ending its funding arrangements with Writing Australia and, through this decision, withdrawing its support for national writing infrastructure. This letter follows previous correspondence from the Group about Writing Australia, sent in January 2012.

The Childers Group is an arts advocacy body for the ACT region, and comprises arts leaders committed to developing and promoting the arts activity from Canberra and its environs. We situate our advocacy in a national context, as evidenced by our membership of Arts Peak.

As no doubt you and your colleagues are aware, the writing sector is currently undergoing considerable change. The nation-wide network of writers’ centres is a key component of the national writing infrastructure and is well placed to provide advocacy and increased opportunities for professional writers during these dynamic times – in this regard, the newly formed Writing Australia organisation aimed to be a coordinated and articulate voice.

The Childers Group’s previous advocacy on this matter centred on the need for Writing Australia to maintain its presence in Canberra, with its administration operating from an office provided by the National Library of Australia. The National Library, in the context of the other national cultural institutions, was the appropriate place for the operational base of Writing Australia. Furthermore, Canberra and its surrounding regional areas have a high level of engagement in professional writing activities, as evidenced by The Invisible Thread (Halstead Press, 2011; editor Irma Gold), a major anthology published as part of the current centenary of Canberra celebrations.

Through artsACT, the ACT Government’s arts funding agency, the ACT Writers Centre, the University of Canberra, the National Library of Australia, and a working group of eminent ACT-based Australian writers including Marion Halligan and Alan Gould, the ACT made a considerable contribution to the early development of the Writing Australia concept.

However, the Childers Group is now concerned to be informed by the literary sector that Writing Australia has lost its support from the Australia Council. This concerns the Group for two reasons: (1) that the Australia Council appears to be walking away from the emerging Writing Australia organisation and all that it had achieved to date, particularly in terms of touring established professional writers to areas beyond Sydney and Melbourne; and (2) that the Australia Council’s decision appears to set the various state and territory writers centres adrift into a new period of regionalised support rather than coordinated arts development within a national framework.

It is also of concern that there has been no official announcement or correspondence from the Australia Council about this decision, leaving the message to be circulated through rumour and innuendo.

The Childers Group maintains its view that there is a need for writers to have access to national infrastructure, and that the foundation of this infrastructure is the network of writers centre, which needs reinforcing through an appropriate level of financial and organisational support. The Group also maintains its view that in order for writers to maximise the opportunities presented by this rapidly changing operating environment that there needs to be a level of coordination and singularity of purpose which had been available through Writing Australia.

Respectfully we ask two key questions:

What is the status of the Australia Council’s funding of Writing Australia?
How is the Australia Council, through its Literature Board, continuing to support the national coordination of writing infrastructure in Australia?

To correspond with the Childers Group on this matter, please email childersgroup@gmail.com.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

David Williams AM

Spokesperson

Arts advocacy in the era of the barbecue stopper

Posted on May 2, 2013 by childers

We all do it: watch the television or listen to the radio or scroll through our Facebook and Twitter feeds waiting for news of a politician who has spoken in an informed, energised and convincing manner about the value of the arts to Australian society. Of course, it does happen – for example, in April this year the Australian Government launched Creative Australia, the national cultural policy – but it’s fair to say that it happens all too infrequently.

Contemporary political discourse tends to focus on what some have deemed to be the ‘barbecue-stoppers’: immigration, taxation, interest rates, and, most recently, the National Broadband Network and the alternative proposed by the federal opposition. In this context, discussing challenges faced by artists and proposing solutions does tend to get drowned by what are considered issues that matter to ‘working Australian families’ – as if artists don’t have families and don’t have work to do!

With the federal election looming in September this year, how can all those with an interest in the arts make a difference?

Keep reading over at artsHub.

We expand our expertise

Posted on March 25, 2013 by childers

We are delighted to announced that we’ve expanded our areas of expertise, adding writer/educator Rosanna Stevens, singer-songwriter/musician James Fahy, and long-term arts worker Meredith Hinchliffe.

All of us who are involved in the arts are currently enjoying this extraordinary air of celebration in the ACT region. It’s so important as a network of creative communities that we build on this groundswell of activity and starting thinking about what happens next. To this end, the Childers Group has added three new members. There is no doubt that Rosanna, James and Meredith will make terrific contributions to our advocacy work.

As a collective of arts advocates, the Childers Group is committed to maximising our diversity of expertise and strategic thinking. Getting out of touch with the work of our artists and creative practitioners is simply not an option for us. That’s why we’ve expanded our expertise – we want to make sure that our advocacy work is informed by the best brains possible.

JAMES FAHY

James Fahy

James Fahy is a MAMA-nominated multidisciplinary artist based in Melbourne and Canberra. He has written for entertainment magazine BMA and ANU newspaper Woroni, and had fiction published in ACT literary journal Burley. Alongside Rosanna Stevens, Duncan Felton and Adelaide Rief he is a co-director of the ACT young literary organisation Scissors Paper Pen. In March 2013 James completed a research internship with independent think-tank Grattan Institute. As a musician, James has performed as a featured artist at the FUSE Music Conference in Adelaide, received national airplay for his EP The Sun Will Burn Through This Cloud, and played with high-profile acts including The Beards, the Wildes, A French Butler Called Smith, Beth and Ben, Peter Combe, and Novocastrian touring veterans Benjalu. In 2012, James was nominated for an award at the MusicACT Annual Music Awards in the category of Best Folk Artist. In 2010, James co-founded Canberra-based label Nash Cap Productions with Bec Taylor and Julia Winterflood. As an events organiser, host, musician and interviewer he has taken part in a string of festivals such You Are Here, the Canberra Multicultural Festival, the Illawarra Folk Festival, and the Woodford Folk Festival. With Joe Oppenheimer, James founded and co-produced the Pedestrian Orchestra, a year-long series of fifty concerts and arts performances aimed at encouraging Canberra’s emerging talent.

MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE

Meredith Hinchliffe

Meredith Hinchliffe has been involved with the arts since 1977 when she began work with the Crafts Council of the ACT. As part of the CCACT exhibition program she curated many exhibitions including several of individual artists and group exhibitions. These included all craft media – ceramics, wood, textiles, leather, metalwork and, to a lesser degree, glass. Craft ACT was included in some touring exhibitions and during her time at the organisation, Meredith showed an exhibition of Molas from the San Blas Islands of Panama. Meredith was a contributor to The Canberra Times from 1978 to 2009 and writes review articles of crafts and visual arts exhibitions and books. She also writes about issues of importance to the arts. She has written articles about for a number of journals, including the National Library News, Smarts, Pottery in Australia, Craft Arts International, Textile Fibre Forum, Object and Ceramic Art and Perception. Meredith worked at The Australian Bicentennial Authority, artsACT and Business Development in the ACT Government. She was responsible for grant programs in each area.

Meredith Hinchliffe was appointed the full-time Executive Director of the National Campaign for the Arts Australia Ltd in July 1996, until the organisation was wound up due to lack of funding in August 1997. During this period she built up a strong network of media contacts and assisted with the successful campaign for Artbank to be retained as a government operation. From August 1997 to December 1999 she worked as a freelance consultant. In 2000 Meredith began an appointment for two years as Project Manager, Australian Science Teachers Association. She was appointed Executive Officer of Museums Australia, the national professional association for museum workers and museums in July 2002. She worked as Public Arts Project Officer for artsACT and has managed several public art installation projects. From July 2008 to April 2009 she was the inaugural Executive Officer of the Donald Horne Institute for Cultural Heritage at the University of Canberra.

Meredith has served on the boards of a number of local arts organisations and was President of Ausdance ACT until May 2011. She is approved to value Australian ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery, leatherwork, wooden objects and furniture from 1950 for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program and has undertaken numerous valuations of works in most media, including the valuation of the Tamworth Regional Gallery’s textile collection. Meredith has been involved in a number of projects, including curating the Survey exhibition of the Tamworth Fibre Textile Collection in 2010. In 2000 she was awarded an ACT Women’s Award in recognition of her significant contribution to the ACT community in the arts. In 2011 she was awarded an Australia Day medal by the National Gallery of Australia.

ROSANNA STEVENS

Rosanna Stevens is currently the Communications Officer at the ACT Writers Centre, Senior Ambassador for the Australian National University Student Equity division, and co-producer and founder of Canberra’s young literary organisation, Scissors Paper Pen. In 2012 she was the recipient an artsACT grant to visit a variety of literary communities, initiatives and organisations in the United States of America. She also received CAL Creative Industries Career Funding while completing a three-month internship with San Francisco publishing house, McSweeney’s.

Rosanna has been a guest of the National Young Writers Festival, Adelaide Writers Week, You Are Here festival and the Emerging Writers Festival. She has also acted in a range of minor positions at literary festivals including Chairperson for the Melbourne Writers Festival, Volunteers Coordinator for the National Young Writers Festival, and Communications Officer for You Are Here festival. In 2011 she was National Young Writers Month co-Ambassador for New South Wales, and Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre Young Writer in Residence in Perth. Her short fiction, non-fiction and poetry have been published nationally, and her work has received favourable mention in The Canberra Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Australian.

Within her role at ANU Student Equity, Rosanna provides creative writing workshops to high-school students based in regional areas. Her passion for providing creative opportunities to young people and challenging popular educational paradigms has seen her work with students in Young, Bega, Goulburn, Yanderra, Canberra, Collector, the Blue Mountains, Chicago and San Francisco. Rosanna is currently completing a Master of Philosophy at the Australian National University.

The Childers Group

An Independent Arts Forum for Canberra and the Region

Tag Archives: arts advocacy