New arts and cultural experiences for Queensland

Popular festivals, engaging community workshops and inspiring public art works will share in more than $620,000 thanks to the Palaszczuk Government under the latest round of funding under the Queensland Arts Showcase Program.

Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said that funding was supporting fifteen arts projects across the state including a large-scale puppet show at the Woodford Folk Festival, a Queensland play that will be touring internationally, and a theatre work that explores life’s big questions through a panel of young people aged 9 to 13.   

“The Palaszczuk Government recognises the important role the arts and cultural sector play in our communities, and we are continuing to support Queensland artists, activities and festivals,” Minister Enoch said.

“Since 2015, our Government has invested more than $12.94 million to support more than 380 arts and cultural projects across the state through the Queensland Arts Showcase Program.

“And we are already seeing projects from this latest round of funding having a real impact in connecting our communities, creating employment, and engaging regional communities.”

Ms Enoch said Queensland artists and organisations have been given opportunity to present their incredible works on both a national and international stage, thanks to this funding program.

"The renowned Woodford Folk Festival has received nearly $100,000 to engage internationally acclaimed puppetry masters to help Queensland artists develop specialist skills to tell stories using large-scale puppets,” Ms Enoch said.

“Grin & Tonic Theatre Troupe will use their funding of $28,000 to produce and tour a new theatre production The 7 Stages of Grieving in Los Angeles this month, a piece of work that looks at the story of First Nations Peoples and their hope for reconciliation.”

Grin and Tonic General Manager Kellie Lazarus said the company recognised the commitment of the Queensland Government in supporting local artists and companies to further their artistic and cultural reach to an international audience.

“Storytelling and theatre made in Queensland is some of the best in the world,” Ms Lazarus said.

Ms Enoch said that Brisbane-based collective the Good Room have received $59,250 to create new partnerships and present I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You in Sydney, opening new development opportunities for Queensland artists.

“This work is designed to inspire thought and is full of questions that a panel of young people ask adults in a one-hour tell-all,” Ms Enoch said.

Amy Ingram, co-founder of The Good Room, said the funding would support new and existing partnerships.

“I've Been Meaning to Ask You was a huge success in Brisbane and the demand has required The Good Room to expand its capacity to present work across the county in multiple locations simultaneously,” Ms Ingram said.

Ms Enoch said the Palaszczuk Government supports Queenslanders who work in the arts and cultural sector.

“Funding through QASP not only supports the development and growth of the arts and cultural sector in Queensland, it encourages engagement in the arts through creative, diverse and original experiences in communities across the state,” Ms Enoch said.

QASP applications are accepted at any time. For more information about QASP, visit www.arts.qld.gov.au  

Media contact: 0431 427 297

Recipients for Queensland Arts Showcase Program funding

Total: $621,223:

• Cairns Art Gallery (formerly Cairns Regional Gallery) - $39,750 for Ritual: Transcultural traditional and contemporary practices to commission and exhibit new works by 12 Indigenous Queensland artists that examine customary ritual practices in relation to contemporary understandings.
• Paul Perry - $11,500 for a new public artwork created through a series of community workshops culminating in a large mosaic mural with themes of turtle conservation and connection to country, and will be an addition to the Bargara Art Trail for Bundaberg’s Milbi Festival
  (15 to 24 November).
• Playlab - $39,200 to produce and present the new play Horizon by Maxine Mellor, in partnership with Brisbane Powerhouse.
• The Good Room - $59,250 to partner with Australian Theatre for Young People, Critical Stages, Darlinghurst Theatre and Optikal Bloc to present I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You in Sydney, creating significant development opportunities for Queensland artists.
• Tia Gostelow - $33,620 for the recording and strategic commercial release of her second album entitled Sophomore.
• Topology - $30,000 to collaborate with council and stakeholders for a series of workshops, creative bootcamps and live public community performances as part of Bundaberg’s Milbi Festival (15 to 24 November).
• Woodfordia Inc - $99,978 to engage puppetry masters to impart specialist skill across Queensland’s arts sector, delivering arts activities for Queensland artists who will create spectacular large-scale puppets for Woodford Folk Festival Fire Events in 2019 and in 2020 and other arts theatre.
• Island Vibe Pty Ltd - $52,720 to present the 14th edition of the Island Vibe Festival on Stradbroke Island from 24 to 27 October. This festival celebrates music, culture, art exhibitions, interactive workshops, circus, children’s activities, food and craft markets.
• Mr Eric Bridgeman and Haus Yuriyal - $49,750 to create new work and build residential structures on Cockatoo Island for the Biennale of Sydney 2020. A project based between Australia and Jiwaka Province of Papua New Guinea, Bridgeman will follow his workshop model of collaborative making with family of the Yuri Alaiku clan.
• Ms Leanne Tennant - $17,451 for the Cairns-based musician to release a new work in
  April 2020 and to increase market reach and build audiences through strategic marketing campaigns in Australia and the United Kingdom.
• The Trustee For Drama Dragons Business Trust (trading as Grin & Tonic Theatre Troupe) - $28,000 to produce and tour theatre production The 7 Stages of Grieving in Los Angeles in November 2019 with the Los Angeles based Australian Theatre Company.
• Mr Warraba Weatherall - $20,695 to develop two separate exhibitions in 2019–2020 titled Documents and The revolution using sculptural, filmic and performative elements that consider how Archives construct cultural identities and how cultural aesthetics are disciplined through a scientific gaze.
• Ms Melanie Stevens - $19,309 for Australian electronic duo The Ironing Maidens to create an ambitious new work in the form of a serial piece called "The Soap Opera", drawing inspiration from the life of the electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram.
• Brisbane Community Arts Centre Ltd (trading as Metro Arts) - $60,000 for Metro Arts, with love, a two week festival in which community, artists, alumni and audiences can immerse themselves in the rich history and future of independent contemporary arts practice in Queensland by celebrating Metro Arts’ 40 year anniversary in February 2020, saying goodbye to 109 Edward Street and hello to their next chapter.
• Lisa Gasteen National Opera School - $60,000 to run a four week intensive coaching program culminating in a semi-staged production of Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor by Otto Niolai. The school operates to offer developing professional Australian singers, who are part of the future of classical music in Australia, the very best of what they will experience when they travel overseas.