Arts North West Covid-19 Update

Hello all,

I’m sure you are all being inundated with information about Covid-19 (Coronavirus) and its impact on our sector. 

It has been a particularly difficult time – from drought to bushfire and now to a global pandemic. All of these have had a huge effect on our creative industries.
 
Event Cancellation
While the current requirement is to cancel all events that have an audience of 500 and above, many of our venues and organisations may not reach that audience figure but are still understandably anxious. Resourcing and growing community anxiety will also affect ticket sales and we recognise that organisations and individuals will need to take this into consideration in their planning.
 
If you are in a position to not require a refund for an event, festival, workshop or class that may be cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19 then please consider the ticket you purchased as a donation to the artist, organisation or community. Check out this article from Cut Common Magazine

Advocacy
Regional Arts Australia has also been working with national organisations and Ministers to facilitate a coordinated impact assessment and industry response. A number of surveys have been developed so that a clear picture can be formed as to the impact of Covid-19 on our sector. Please help the advocacy work by filling these out – PAC Australia survey or the National Association of Visual Artists survey. You are also able to submit information to the #Ilostmygig database.
 
Health and Wellbeing
We are not in a position to provide health advice.  Common sense reminds us to wash our hands, cough into elbows and stay at home if we are unwell.  Please be guided by the following sites that are updated daily:

Australian Government Department of Health

NSW Department of Health

Having said that, hand washing is obviously a crucial requirement.  But… really… handwashing to “Happy Birthday” twice, seems a little prosaic.  Send in your best version of a funky tune/song/poem/ and we will put it up on our social media… let’s keep our creative juices flowing!  (Have a look at TwoSetViolin’s ideas!) Email to media@artsnw.com.au
 
We are also very aware of the wellbeing of our communities.  With events cancelled, and social distancing in place, we hope that we can still look after each other as best we can. An arts-focused wellbeing helpline is available at Support Act. 
 
Resources

Some more practical information here: 
A policy that could be implemented for your workplace from the Institute of Community Directors.
World Health Organisation - Getting your workplace ready
Further info from the World Health Organisation
COVID-19 Arts Organisations’ Plans from Theatre Network Australia
Resources from The Australia Council for the Arts

Stay safe and well, look after each other and support family, friends and our wonderful creative community.  Let’s work together.

Board and Staff of Arts North West

Art Connections - A Creative Journey Through the New England North West

Nestled in the mountains of the New England and scattered throughout the plains of the North West are numerous hidden gems waiting to be discovered. Creatives busily working away on their kitchen tables, in the garden shed, a shop in the main street, converted shipping containers or a purpose-built studio, drawing inspiration from the landscapes and environments that surround them in the beautiful New England North West to make and produce unique and diverse works.

Our latest project, Art Connections, has been developed to capture the creative venues of the New England North West, from the larger-scale venues such as commercial galleries and volunteer-run museums to the quirky artists run initiatives and studios off the beaten track, compiling a comprehensive database disguised as the North West Arts Trail Directory and Open Weekend.

Art Connections is more than one event – it is, in fact, a series of over 50 destinations across almost 100,000km2. It will bring visitors into the smaller villages and towns of the New England North West, to explore and experience regional NSW. This project connects communities and highlights the significant contribution made by artists and cultural workers to the region’s economy and community identity.

These trails will reveal what we locals have known all along, there is something special and unique about our region and the self-drive Open Weekend on the weekend of the 31 October to 4 November provides the perfect opportunity to meander through the picturesque changing landscapes of the New England North West, the environment in which creativity and inspiration is drawn from.

Arts North West covers an enormous part of the New England North West. From bustling regional centres, to rural towns and remote villages, the vast differences between these communities include the obvious; size and location but there is an overarching similarity between them all, individuals and collectives building community identity through the power of creativity.

Online and hard copy directories will be launch on the 14th of October. Visit www.artsnwconnect.com.au for further information.

Doors Opening Across the New England High Country for Arts Trail Open Weekend

In celebration of all that the New England High Country has to offer, the second North West Arts Trail Open Weekend for 2018 is shaping up to be a wonderful weekend of culture and creativity.

The Open Weekend will give visitors and locals the opportunity to explore artist studios, galleries, museums and cultural venues in the Armidale, Uralla and Walcha region on the weekend of 27th and 28th of October.

Steph McIntosh, Communications Officer with Arts North West explains that “anyone visiting the area on the Open Weekend can create a personalized route and stop off at the various venues on the map. Whether you are interested in arts, crafts or history there is huge diversity in the range of wonderful and welcoming venues including artist studios and workshop spaces where visitors can see artists in action either painting, printing or potting.”

The hardcopy map has been distributed throughout the region and an online map can be downloaded here www.artsnw.com.au/open-weekend-map

Job Opportunity Moree

Do you love children, art and have a creative approach to teaching? Are you looking for a rewarding role with flexible hours and lots of fun? Are you Moree Plains Gallery’s next Education Officer?!

Moree Plains Gallery is seeking a part-time Education Officer to fill a two year contract. Experience in Education and delivery of creative programs essential. For an information pack please call Vivien Clyne on (02) 6757 3320. Applications close 14 April 2017.

Click here to download Information for Applicants

SUCCESS! NORTHERN Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has today announced three arts cultural grants of over $133,000

NORTHERN Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has today announced three arts cultural grants of over $133,000 today including one which will see six high profile museums in Armidale, Glen Innes, Bingara, Uralla, Tamworth and Werris Creek become the stuff of colourful and quirky stories for publication.

Mr Marshall said the Stuff of Tales arts cultural project will take some of the ‘stuffy’ out of old some of our oldest museums across the region west, dust them off and make them the stuff of characters and cultural tourism stories.

The Stuff of Tales project has been awarded $51,147 through a state government program which will see a partnership between Arts North West and the New England Writers’ Centre to focus a literary light on the celebrated museum collection pieces and their human history stories.

Mr Marshall announced the grant funding with Arts North West executive director Caroline Downer and New England Writers’ Centre chair and author Sophie Masson at the historic Saumarez Homestead, near Armidale.

The iconic homestead museum is one of the six to be featured in the online and e-book publishing series.

The Roxy Theatre at Bingara, History House at Glen Innes, Railway Museum in Werris Creek, Powerstation Museum in Tamworth and McCrossin’s Mill in Uralla are the others to be featured.

“This is a really exciting project because it will bring to life some of our major historical buildings and museums but importantly bring those tales of history back into the spotlight,” Mr Marshall said.

“These are places of rich cultural heritage and there’s also some wonderful little gems of stories behind those times and who better to tell some of those stories and highlight some of the quirky and little known stories behind the doors.

“There’s an absolute goldmine of history here in the north and who better to open the pages of some of those tales than some of our most celebrated local authors.”

Ms Downer said the authors would be paired with museum volunteers and would produce e-book editions on each, including illustrations.

“We’re looking to get really engaging words to build the creative content and build the idea and promote how our museums are unique because too often people don’t know about them,” Ms Downer said.

She said the project timeline was two years and they were looking to hold workshops as part of the getting-to-know-you relationships between the literary partners and museum presenters.

Writers’ Centre chair Sophie Masson said the centre had been involved in selecting the celebrated regional authors for the series. These include John Heffernan, Ian Irvine, Fiona McDonald, Bronwyn Parry, Beattie Alvarez and Ms Masson, along with illustrator David Allan.

Mr Marshall said the collaborative project would not only raise awareness locally of the history of the museums and their localities and early communities but also serve to promote and publicise the diversity of heritage outside the region – and attract more tourists.

“Often we become blasé about what’s around us or we underestimate the value of what we have in our own backyards when it comes to our early stories and this is a project that will shine a light on that history and our stories,” he said.

The funding is under the Arts and Cultural Development Program and the Minister for the Arts Troy Grant said it supported artists and cultural workers which enriching the lives of people across NSW.

The Stuff of Tales is one of three grants Mr Marshall announced for the north today.

A $60,000 grant to the Armidale Cultural Centre and Keeping Place will see an extension to their programs while a separate $22,000 grant to the New England Writers’ Centre will underwrite a program for young writers to promote young adult fiction and provide outreach programs to schools and a dedicated children’s literature festival.

Mr Marshall said that grant would also offer workshops in professional development and genre writing, including young adult fiction and crime.

It will also continue its Youth Online outreach program to schools, and present two specialised festivals: ‘Sorcery and Spaceships’ focusing on speculative fiction and ‘Booked In’, the only children’s literature festival in regional NSW.

Regional Arts Fund is Open

The New England North West is a dynamic and creative place to live and work.  Do you have an exciting project that will further contribute to arts and cultural activity in our community? Arts North West is looking for innovative and great projects that will thrill our community!

The Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund supports sustainable cultural development in regional and remote Australia and meets the strategic priorities of supporting participation in, and access to, the arts and encouraging greater private sector support for the arts. The Regional Arts Fund is designed to benefit regional and remote arts practitioners, arts workers, audiences and communities.

WHAT'S NEW FOR RAF?

Opening dates and closing dates have been moved forward in the year.
 
RAF applications will only be accepted through the Regional Arts Australia secure online grants system, SmartyGrants.
 
Guidelines have been reviewed and simplified.
 
There is a NEW category Small Regional Festival Support.
 
The Residencies and Mentorships category is no longer available.
 
Multi-year funding is only available for two years and projects must be discussed with RANSW staff before applying.
 
You will need to respond to a number of Australian Government questions for statistical collection that are common to all arts grants applicants administered by the Department of Communications and the Arts.

DO NOT FORGET to read the RAF Guidelines carefully and before you submit discuss your project with Caroline Downer, Executive Director of Arts North West on 0428 042 622. Caroline will be able to explain the new process for RAF.

KEY DATES
Applications open: Monday 20 June.
Applications close: 3:00pm AEST Monday 8 August.
No extension to the closing date is possible.