August eNews
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On launching the Regional Arts Victoria Strategic Plan in 2017, the most common question we were asked was about one line in the introduction.
Fair enough too, when even we wanted to know: exactly what does it mean to shift focus from place to practice?
As we turn the corner for the home stretch in 2019, we’re testing out some answers, with support for the State Library of Victoria Regional Fellowship and Regional Arts Fund Fellowship two examples of new support directed at regional Victorian practitioners this year.
This question, and how we answer it, is of vital interest to us. But if our 50 year history has taught us anything, it’s that we’re only ever part of the story.
You will also have your own contribution to make. But like our own, it will be incomplete if you don’t share it - and you have an opportunity right now to do just that through the State Government’s Creative State consultations underway right now.
Use it to ask some good questions. Offer some great answers.
About your place. Your practice. And your part in the story our State tells about itself.
Joe Toohey
CEO
PARTNERSHIPS
It's all about funding
The Partnerships team have been excitedly spreading the word about the new categories of the Federal Government's Regional Arts Fund. By now you will be ready to finesse your Cultural Projects & Skills Development Grant, Small Festivals Grants or Regional Arts Fund Fellowship and submit by Monday 19 August 2019 at 5.00pm for projects starting after 1 January 2020.
Please make sure you have read the guidance materials on our funding pages and that you have contacted a member of the Partnerships team to discuss your project in detail.
Meg Viney Bell Fibre Arts Fellowship
Calling all Gippsland Fibre Artists who want to grow their practice, explore their work, and develop new skills. The Meg Viney-Bell Fellowship is now open. You can read all about what you need to do to apply here.
Image Permewan's, A Wake! project led by Trevor Flinn.
Employment opportunity
A shiny new position is available in the Partnerships department at Regional Arts Victoria for a Partnerships Communications Coordinator. We are looking for someone who is great at social media, and can manage our website and CRM system. They'll work closely with the regional team of Creative Arts Facilitators, our Membership and Partnerships Coordinators and the Director of Partnerships. More information below.
APPLICATIONS CLOSE
12pm, Monday 19 August
CONTACT US
msanders@rav.net.au
Look after yourself
As part of the Arts Wellbeing Collective suite of programs, Arts Centre Melbourne has partnered with Support Act, a registered charity supporting those that work in the music industry, to pilot a sector-wide Wellbeing Helpline, staffed by clinicians with an understanding of the unique challenges of the performing arts industry.
The Support Act Wellbeing Helpline is a free, confidential service, available 24/7 to anyone who works in the performing arts.
Working in the performing arts can be tough. If you’re struggling, call the Support Act Wellbeing Helpline to speak with a qualified professional for support, counselling or coaching on any aspect of your mental health and wellbeing.
If you or someone you care about is in crisis or at immediate risk, dial 000.
For more information about the Support Arts Wellbeing Helpline, click here.
Image by Theresa Harrison. Outside Walk.
PARTNERSHIPS
Public Art Expression of Interest
Expressions of interest are open for the Lismore (VIC) Public Art project that will be a mural on the Golf Club water tower. The first stage expression of interest is for the supply of a CV and images only, with short listed artists going to stage 2.
See the full details at the Corangamite Shire website. This is an opportunity for artists skilled at large scale work in public places. Closes 15 August
Art Prize
The Loddon Mallee Renewable Energy Art Prize is open to artists and groups living in the region inclusive of the Shire areas of: Mildura, Swan Hill, Gannawarra, Loddon, Buloke, Campaspe, Bendigo, Mt Alexander, Macedon and Central Goldfields. Applications to respond to the theme ‘Our Renewable Energy Future.’ Ten artists will be chosen and awarded $1,000 each to create a work for an exhibition that will tour the regions in 2020.
SUBMISSIONS CLOSE
Sunday 25 August
CONTACT
Erin Baxter:
erin.baxter@dewlp.vic.gov.au
Kim Bennett:
kbennett@rav.net.au
PARTNERSHIPS
Blurry Borders Exhibition
Swan Hill photographer Kristan Emerson has been shooting the world on his overseas travels since 2016. On their own, the photographs are beautiful – but take into account that the photographer has 3% vision in only one eye and you won’t believe what he can capture. Kristan’s photographs are accompanied by his unique stories of the places he has visited.
“My eyes do not have lenses but my camera does.
It is my way of seeing detail in an otherwise blurry world.”
The Blurry Borders exhibition aims to promote access and inclusion for others with visual impairment and other disabilities and is supported by the Rural Access Program, Gannawarra Shire Council, Swan Hill Rural City Council and Regional Arts Victoria. Audio description by Description Victoria.
EXHIBITION DETAILS
Sir John Gorton Library, Kerang
18 July until 29 August
Image by Kristan Emerson. Queens Tattoo, Chin village, Rakhine State, Myanmar. October 2016
PROGRAMMING
2020 set to be a big year
The 2020 Connecting Places program is now available and we are booking up a storm. With a great range of tours available, ranging from a bunch of men singing in mismatched hats, to suspenseful drama, we’ve got your empty weekends covered in 2020. There are also some family fun shows with circus and puppetry to entertain the kids, big and small. See our touring and engagement prospects in 2020.
To help you to bring these works to your halls, Creative Victoria’s Small Regional Presenters Grant offers up to $15,000 per year to contribute to the production costs of your program. This grant is open to Regional Arts Victoria Members. You can find more information on their website.
Only a couple of weeks to go before we launch our 2020 Arts & Education program, and we are pretty chuffed with the line-up we have assembled for next year. It is with great pleasure that we will also be touring a show selected from Showcase Victoria, Hell’s Canyon by Emily Sheehan. For more about the program, sign up here or keep an eye on the Regional Arts Victoria social media pages for a look into the program, on Thursday 22 August.
The Touring Services team have been working away at locking in the 2020 and 2021 tours, selected from 2019 Showcase Victoria. See our Tours in Development and get in touch if you would like to bring one of these shows to your town.
Image courtesy of The Spooky Men's Chorale, touring through the Connecting Places program in 2020.
#RAVontheroad
PROGRAMMING
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf by Sentient Theatre
7-23 August
An accessible and energetic stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s classic essay on women and fiction.
Melbourne Chamber Orchestra
24-25 August
Music brimming with inspiration, magic and discovery.
Picasso and His Dog by Lemony S Puppet Theatre
19-31 August
Picasso and His Dog - for anyone who’s ever patted a dog or been moved by an artwork.
Swansong by Red Hot Productions
3 Aug – 10 August
Swansong is a mighty tour de force monodrama faultlessly executed
Stardust + The Mission by The Space Company
3 Aug – 14 September
Tales of love, music and war - and all the things that get left behind...
Three Birds One Cock by Three Birds Theatre
10- 12 August
Hitchcock's iconic blondes star in a black comedy dripping with noir, glamour, murder and suspense.
Varietyville by Varietyville Productions
30 August
Varietyville is a thrilling fusion of the most unique, ridiculous and bizarre acts you’ll ever see.
Image by Tommy Holt. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf by Sentient Theatre.
Opportunities
Meg Viney-Bell Fibre Art Fellowship opens 1 August
2019 Vic Health Awards, nominations close 9 August
Large Scale Mural EOI, Lismore closes 15 August
Regional Arts Fund Community Grants and Fellowship closes 19 August
Copywright Agency Create Grants for writers and visual artists close 19 August
VicArts Grants open 25 July, close 22 August.
FRRR grants: diverse grant programs with varying closing dates in August
2 August - Woolly West Fest presents Barry Morgan at Hamilton PAC
Until 1 Sept - Terrain by Wendy Jagger, exhibition at the Hive Gallery, Ocean Grove
17 August - The Ngardang Girri Kalat Mimini exhibition opening at Central Goldfields Gallery
Until 18 August - Volcano-Volcanic print making exhibition by south west artists, F Project Gallery, Warrnambool
18 August - Mallee Almond Blossom Festival - arts & crafts, food, wine, kids rides
23 August - Foto Voice project/exhibition opening as part of the Ballarat Foto Biennale
24 August - Sacred Masterpieces: Warrnambool Organ Festival Chorus. The Festival runs from 23 – 25 August.
29 August - REMIX Academy Perth - Culture Technology Entrepreneurship
1-30 August - Wild Dogs Down Under, Then and Now exhibition, West Gippsland Art Gallery
9 - 13 March 2020 - Athens Burns Bright Cultural Ecology tour
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