Touring investment secures more arts experiences for Queensland communities

• Palaszczuk Government investment of $934,921 is supporting the touring of 11 diverse and enriching arts and cultural experiences including visual arts and exhibitions, street dance, theatre, and circus across the state

• Funding is also growing new employment and skills development opportunities, supporting two industry placements through this latest funding round

• Outcomes include the sharing of First Nations stories and increased access to high quality touring arts experiences for audiences in regional and remote Queensland communities.

The Palaszczuk Government has today announced a total investment of $934,921 to support the touring of visual arts, music, theatre and dance experiences, which will share stories, engage audiences across the state and grow creative employment.

Eleven tours of performances and exhibitions will activate communities with rich arts experiences from Toowoomba to Mornington Island, Coen to Quilpie and beyond with an investment of $817,052 through the Touring Queensland Fund.

Additional funding of $117,869 will also support two of the recipients to secure the employment of early career arts workers in paid Industry Placements, developing arts touring production and management skills.

These outcomes include support for an award-winning Queensland-grown musical, a hybrid street dance and spoken word performance, exhibitions that explore Queensland’s botanical and wildflower heritage and promote care for Country, three original theatre works that shine a light on regional storytelling, and live concerts presenting the latest music from a Mackay-born emerging singer-songwriter.

Flipside Circus will receive multi-year touring funding to deliver four tours, which build on the company’s successful residency programs and includes the premiere of The Cubby - a new work developed with and for young people in regional and remote communities.

Topshelf Productions will receive funding to tour Yirinda, a collaboration between Butchulla Songman, Fred Leone and contrabassist/producer Samuel Pankhurst. Yirinda combines ancient Aboriginal language with modern production to deliver a contemporary music experience that invokes the sounds of thousands of generations of stories and culture.

Quote attributed to the Minister for the Arts, Leeanne Enoch MP:

“Arts and cultural experiences are essential to local creative economies and supporting cohesive, connected communities across the state.

“Our government’s investment in touring ensures a diverse and vibrant array of stories and creative experiences are shared with Queenslanders state-wide.

“Through industry placements, the Palaszczuk Government is helping to address skill gaps, increase creative employment and grow the scale and capacity of Queensland’s creative workforce ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“These touring outcomes deliver on Grow 2022-2026, the second action plan of Creative Together: A 10-Year Roadmap for arts, culture and creativity in Queensland, which is underpinned by additional state Government investment of $50 million over four years.”

Quote attributed to Robert Kronk, Flipside Circus CEO/Artistic Director:

"Support from the Queensland Government's Touring Queensland Fund will help us reach 36 communities and over 4,000 audiences and participants across four tours spanning 2023 and 2024 and over 11,000 kilometres (from Normanton in the North to Thargomindah in the South West).

“Our touring programs are all about building long-term relationships with communities and growing the circus as an artform across the state by engaging with young people as participants and as audiences.

“It's amazing to have the opportunity to deliver programs like this, where we get far from Brisbane and the regional centres and support young people to tell their own stories through circus and make their voices heard."

The Touring Queensland Fund is vital to providing communities across Queensland with access to high-quality arts and cultural touring experiences and providing arts companies with the opportunity to grow audiences.

Applications for the next round of the Touring Queensland Fund will open on 18 March 2024 and close on 29 April 2024 for tours taking place from late July 2024. For more information, go to: https://www.arts.qld.gov.au

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: Tim Auguston 0427 090 563

Touring Queensland Fund – Round 2

• Musical Theatre Australia - $98,040 (plus $57,869 for an industry placement) to tour the award-winning Queensland musical A Girl's Guide to World War.  This project sees the Sunshine Coast-based company Musical Theatre Australia undertake its first Queensland tour.
• Flipside Circus Ltd - $134,327 to undertake four tours including remote residencies during 2023 and 2024 targeting communities in the Southwest, Central West, Central, North Queensland and the Gulf.  The tour will build on the successes of Flipside’s residency programs and expand to include the premiere of a new work developed with and for, regional/remote communities.
• Dr Keith Armstrong - $100,000 to tour the Carbon Dating Exhibition to seven galleries in 2024 and 2025. The exhibition will showcase the outcomes of a long-term, community-driven, multidisciplinary art project that explores our relationship with Australian native grasses. Through artworks, online resources and public programs the exhibition will investigate the communities' relationships with these overlooked plants, providing important ecological insights and encouraging ‘Care for Country.’
• Metro Arts - $47,047 to tour Betwixt by Pink Matter to diverse audiences across Queensland. A hybrid street dance and spoken word piece, Betwixt explores rich cultural perspectives and will provide building blocks towards developing a national tour.
• Institute of Modern Art - $8,522 to support the Queensland leg of 12-venue national tour of immersive exhibition The Interior by Natalya Hughes with Museums and Galleries Queensland.  The tour incorporates public programs including an artist talk, a tufting workshop and a mural professional development opportunity.
• HIT Productions - $100,000 to present a three-week Queensland tour of the musical play The Sunshine Club. Written & directed by Noonuccal Nuugi man, Wesley Enoch AM, the play includes three mainstage theatre performances, three free concert performances in Aboriginal Communities in outback Queensland, one outdoor concert at Camden Park Station (Longreach), and five workshops.
• Tia Gostelow - $47,550 for the Head Noise National Album Tour which will present nine shows on the east coast, six in Queensland, delivering engaging full-band performances. Digital marketing and PR will engage audiences and grow audiences across these live performance locations.
• JUTE Theatre Company - $100,000 plus $60,000 industry placement for JUTE to stretch its touring wings with three diverse projects building the company’s strategy for regional leadership; touring an exceptional new First Nations story to SEQ and regional touring venues; touring a regionally grown new work cross-regionally (Gympie, Rockhampton, Townsville, Cairns) and touring a First Nations artist-led work into five remote communities.
• Topshelf Productions - $45,530 to tour Yirinda, a collaboration between Butchulla Songman, Fred Leone and innovator Samuel Pankhurst. Yirrinda combines ancient Aboriginal language with modern production to invoke the sounds of thousands of generations of story and culture whilst emerging as something entirely new. This project sees Yirinda touring across regional Queensland with their new work.
• Shock Therapy Arts - $71,651 to tour Pat Malone’s Magic Garden, a new Queensland-made show for children and families throughout Queensland. The show is an original stage show, featuring distinctly Australian vernacular, characters, and animals.
• Dr Susan Davis - $64,385 to tour the 'Wild flowering by Design' exhibition and explore contemporary responses to our botanical and wildflower heritage, profiling works by Queensland artists working across the art and design spectrum. This project will be complemented by a local engagement model in each location, featuring capacity building and presentation opportunities.