This is our last eNews for the year, with the next to follow in mid January so season’s greetings to you from all of us at Arts Victoria.

Arts Victoria stays open throughout the holiday season, closing only on public holidays.

After a big 2011, we’re looking forward to another art-filled year in 2012. To kick things off, download our instructions to create your own holiday decoration.

Enjoy!

They say things happen in threes, and that is certainly the case for the Arts Centre, which has had a very big December.

First , the iconic arts complex, which hits its third decade next year, announced a relaunch and a new name - Arts Centre Melbourne.

Then, they revealed the official reopening date for Hamer Hall  - Thursday 26 July 2012, and to cap it all off, Premier and Minister for the Arts Ted Baillieu announced $11.3m in capital funding. 

$7.3m will fund the purchase and fit-out of equipment at Hamer Hall, including audio-visual and multimedia equipment for the public and function spaces, state-of-the- art audio and lighting equipment for performances and in-house broadcasting facilities.

$4m will be dedicated to expanding the orchestra pit in the State Theatre from its current capacity of 65 musicians to 110. This will enable the presentation of performances on a scale that cannot be staged anywhere else in Australia – starting with the exclusive Melbourne staging of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle in December 2013.

» Find out what else Arts Centre Melbourne has in store for 2012

» Find out more about the Hamer Hall redevelopment

The latest announcement of funding through Arts Victoria’s Organisations program delivers more than $24 million in grants to arts organisations across the state.

The Organisations program supports Victorian not-for-profit arts organisations at an operational level through two funding categories; the long-running Multi-year Operations category, which provides recurrent support for a portfolio of more than 50 organisations, and the competitive Annual Operations category, which in 2012 will provide support to 19 organisations.

» Find out more and see a full list of Organisations grant recipients for 2012

See the item below for further information about an upcoming review of the Organisations program.

In 2012, Arts Victoria will conduct a comprehensive review and refresh of its Organisations funding program. Announced by the Premier and Minister for the Arts, Ted Baillieu, the review will consider the current constraints of the program – which was first introduced in the 1980s - and look at how to best support Victoria's small to medium arts organisations into the future.

The review process will be open and transparent, with consultation with the sector throughout. Arts Victoria will host a series of information sessions in the new year, the first of which, on Monday 6 February, will be for organisations who currently receive multi-year funding. Details of further information sessions, as well as updates on the review, will be posted on the Arts Victoria website and in future editions of eNews.

If your organisation is supported by Arts Victoria, we encourage you to contact your client officer with any questions about the review.

If you’d like to keep informed of new information about the review as it arises, please email margaret.dobson@dpc.vic.gov.au with ‘REVIEW’ in the subject line to be added to our distribution list.

» Find out more about the review

Communities across Victoria will collaborate with professional artists and arts companies in the new year under the latest round of Community Partnerships grants.

Eleven community groups will share in almost $400,000 for projects that run the spectrum of artforms, from contemporary music, to dance, theatre, sound and digital art.

The projects will provide opportunities for artists to collaborate with a range of community groups including people with a disability, multicultural and refugee communities, and children and their families.

Applications for the next round of Community Partnerships grants are now open, closing on Monday 5 March 2012.

» Find out more about the Community Partnerships program and see a full list of the latest grant recipients

Six Victorian arts organisations will swap the stage for the classroom in 2012 thanks to the latest round of grants through the Extended School Residencies program.

Schools, in both regional and metropolitan areas will share in grants totalling $213,000 to undertake arts projects in partnership with arts organisations that will extend and strengthen student learning across the curriculum.

The grants announcement also coincided with the launch of a new evaluation project that investigates the impacts of arts partnerships in schools.

Partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector: Evaluation of Impact on Student Outcomes - a joint research project between Arts Victoria and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development - found that partnerships between arts organisations and schools improved student engagement, extended student learning and led to skills development for students and teachers.

» See a full list of Extended School Residencies grant recipients

» Download the evaluation report - Partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector: Evaluation of Impact on Student Outcomes

Fourteen outstanding local artists and arts organisations are set to share their talents with the world thanks to grants worth more than $175,000 through Arts Victoria’s International program.

The grants will support both emerging and established artists to take their works to, and collaborate with peers in, key export markets across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Applications for the next round of grants through the International program are now open, closing on Thursday 15 March 2012.

» See a full list of recipients

This month the State Library of Victoria named Sue Roberts as their new CEO and Victoria’s State Librarian.

Ms Roberts, who will commence at the State Library in late March 2012, comes to the role with 15 years' experience in strategic library leadership in the UK and New Zealand.

She will relocate to Melbourne from Wellington NZ, where she has been University Librarian at Victoria University since 2007. She also currently serves as Chair of the Council of New Zealand University Librarians and Director of the Library Consortium of New Zealand.

» Find out more

This year, the State Government ceased using ‘The place to be‘ logo. This resulted in a change to the Arts Victoria logo.

If the Arts Victoria logo you are currently using on your promotional materials contains the slogan, ‘The Place to Be’, please update it to the new Arts Victoria logo as soon as practicable. The logo and guidelines for its use can be downloaded in a variety of formats from the Arts Victoria website.

It is a requirement of Arts Victoria funding that the Arts Victoria logo be displayed on all promotional materials related to the funded project.

» Download the Arts Victoria logo and guidelines for use