RAA Newsletter - Issue 2 July 2007

welcome

At Regional Arts Australia we like to remind people that one-third of us live outside the capital centres. We also like to remind people that even the briefest of looks beyond the metropolitan outskirts will reveal a vast array of great art. Original art. Art that entertains. Art that opens eyes to a bigger world. Art that changes lives.

Tonight (2 August) at 8pm (AEST) on the Ovation Channel, you can see some of that great art in the new monthly program Heartland. It is a joint production between Ovation and Regional Arts Australia and I urge you to turn on. At this stage, there will be three episodes of Heartland each month until October. Further episodes will depend on us finding a major sponsor. If you miss the opening show on 2 August, it is repeated throughout the month on a rotating cycle, so check your guide.

In other good news, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC (Retd) the Governor General of Australia has agreed to be our patron. We look forward to a long relationship with His Excellency and hope to welcome him to one of our events soon.

Our national secretary, Ken Lloyd, has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship. This is a great honour and achievement for Ken who will visit Canada, the United States and England next year to investigate new programs that would further develop the arts in regional Australia. Ken is chief executive officer of Country Arts SA and what he gains through his fellowship will benefit not just regional South Australians but the whole country.

We were delighted recently to welcome to our headquarters at Port Adelaide, Senator George Brandis SC, Australian Government Minister for Arts and Sport. The minister announced more than half a million dollars for 73 projects through the Regional Arts Fund. His skills at juggling were tested by teenagers from the Willunga Circus who had him tossing balls into the air in no time.

Finally, everybody should be noting in their 2008 diaries the dates 3 to 5 October. That is when the largest group of artists, arts workers and arts officials ever to gather in one place will be in Alice Springs for the national conference of Regional Arts Australia Art at the Heart . At least 800 people attended our last conference in 2006 in Mackay and the pull of the Alice, the line-up of speakers and the packed list of official and social events will make this conference even bigger. Don't miss it.

Vivienne Skinner, Communications Manager, Regional Arts Australia

Vivienne Skinner
Communications manager
Regional Arts Australia
vivienne.skinner@countryarts.org.au

Catch our new show Heartland on the Ovation Channel

Ovation Channel and Regional Arts Australia have worked together to produce Heartland, a new monthly television series featuring the best of regional arts and cultural events across Australia. Showcasing performance, visual arts, music, drama, from forests transformed by sculpture to children who just might run away with the circus, Heartland tells the stories of the creative people helping to shape our national culture.

Focusing on events outside metropolitan Australia but designed for viewers everywhere, Heartland providesa platform for individuals and organisations whose work may not normally be shown on national television...Full Story

Tackling road tragedy via song

While Aboriginal people make up just over a quarter of the population of the Northern Territory, they represent half of all road deaths. This over-representation in road crashes is linked to geographical, cultural, social, educational and economic issues. Mix into the equation the fact that 70 percent of Aboriginal families in the Northern Territory speak their native language in their home and that in remote areas, this percentage exceeds 95 percent. Add problems with literacy, cultural differences and community protocols and you have one extremely complicated public health issue...Full Story

Directing the Hero within - and who says you need sea to surf?

It's short, it's sweet and it's beautifully shot. And who says you need waves to surf? From Pinnaroo in South Australia's southern Mallee district, teenagers Kade Richardson, 18, and Danah Ribbons, 17, have shown that sand-dunes made a great substitute for the surf. All you need is a surfboard, sunscreen and a steep enough dune. With dead-pan humour and a terrific backing track composed by Richardson himself, the short film titled Pinnaroo Surfer made using a mini digital video camera, was considered so good that it screened in May at the San Francisco International Digital Storytelling Conference... Full Story

Catapult into festival time in Bathurst

The power of circus to transform lives and provide skills and opportunities will be celebrated in Bathurst in September when an estimated 300 young people gather for the second biennial Catapult Festival. The festival - to run from 12 to 16 September - will see emerging performers share the trapeze and training mat with circus professionals such as performers from Circus Monoxide who are returning to Bathurst with their big top... Full Story

Lucky to be a Queenslander

It's a remarkable achievement and it would be interesting to know if there is anywhere else on earth where as many shows cover as much distance to reach as many communities. Queensland Arts Council (QAC), now in its 46th year, expects in 2007 to reach some 600,000 Queenslanders according to its CEO Arthur Frame... Full Story

A burial ground becomes creative work of beauty at Echuca in Victoria's Murray region

The Echuca Cemetery now has its own Indigenous burial space, framed by gum trees and native plants and with four ceremonial entrance poles lining the central pathway... Full Story

Portable parades from Pompidou to Port Lincoln

It is the newest technological blank canvas - the screen of your mobile phone. And it's also becoming one of the hippest forms of art around. The Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) is teaching mobile phone art to 13 to 19 year olds in a series of workshops across regional South Australia as part of the Portable Worlds exhibition and with the assistance of the Country Arts SA touring program... Full Story

The art of the ancient is alive in Moree

Moree is one of the few big towns in New South Wales to have no public art. Located in the heart of the north west's agriculturally-rich cotton district, Moree somehow escaped the onslaught of late 20th century public art programs funded by federal, State and local governments. However, the absence of public art at Moree is about to change with local Kamilaroi artist Lawrence Leslie at work in the gallery garden carving giant red gum tree trunks which will be erected at the entrances to the town. Leslie is the only initiated Kamilaroi tree carver still working... Full Story

$14 million Albury Library Museum a leader of its kind

One of the most significant arts complexes in the country has opened in Albury in southern NSW. The $14 million Albury City Library Museum is the first in Australia to converge the functions of a library and a museum into one single facility... Full Story

Talent, skills and bacon and eggs at Tennant Creek

The booming national and international interest in music created by Indigenous performers is being given a further lift by the success of the Winanjjikari Music Centre in Tennant Creek. The centre was only opened last year but has become a busy hub for the teaching, recording and marketing of music... Full Story

Port Augusta wears the cultural crown

It's a bit like the Olympics coming to town. A way of vastly speeding up the growth of your arts infrastructure and arts development. In this case, the lucky city is Port Augusta, named by the Government of South Australia as the state's first ever Regional Centre for Culture. Along with the title comes $1.3 million in State support to help build a new cultural precinct and fund shows and activities throughout 2008. The Port Augusta City Council is contributing $250,000 towards the program... Full Story

Tasmania - the artists' island

In a powerful artistic blitzkrieg, 400 hundred Tasmanian artists will - in the space of one week and in 22 different towns - be part of the State-wide exhibition Local Connections... Full Story

It's not graffiti, it's art in Alice Springs

Seeing the contents of an aerosol paint can as a creative medium rather than a tool of vandalism or a substance to sniff is one of the reasons behind a series of classes being run in Alice Springs by Brisbane-based graffiti artist, Kieron Wilson... Full Story

Manic Running Madness

Young people inspiring other young people to have a go and create is at the heart of the latest touring show Running Madness by Manic Productions, the youth artist-run initiative based in Launceston. The not-for-profit group which has around 30 active members works in all kinds of media creating animations, digital art and 2D works such as painting and photography. An exhibition is currently touring Tasmania, taking in towns such as Swansea and Scottsdale and concluding in Smithton in November... Full Story

Revealing the soul within - Victoria's Koorie community turns lens on itself

Members of Victoria's Koorie community are turning the camera lens on themselves in a photographic documentary project entitled 'Come and Have a Look at Yourself'. It runs throughout 2007 and is the brainchild of the Koorie Unit at Swan Hill's Sunraysia Institute of TAFE. Indigenous photography students are snapping local Koories in their choice of setting - at home, work and at play - and in doing so are communicating something about the way they live... Full Story

Wildflower rocks Melbourne

Mark Grose from Skinnyfish, the Independent Indigenous Australian Music label from Winellie in the Northern Territory, writes of a visit from the very north to the very south of Australia by a group of young musos…

"Wildflower is a group of eight guys and girls aged between 16 and 22 from an outstation near the Oenpeli community in Arnhem Land which is next to Kakadu National Park. One of the unusual things about Wildflower is that four of the members are girls...which is pretty uncommon in Indigenous music... Full Story

The art of the card

Tourism and art are converging into one giant happening thing in Toowoomba as the Great Toowoomba Postcard Project enjoys its second year. Using the format of the postcard, artists of any age and level of professionalism have been encouraged to submit an entry - the only rule being that each work must reflect a landmark or the atmosphere of Toowoomba. On September 20th during the city's Flower, Food and Wine Festival the six winning entries will be announced and publicly displayed. They will be printed as a limited edition set and sold throughout the city at arts outlets, retailers and via Arts Council Toowoomba... Full Story

Repeat love match the dream for OzOpera's Carmen in Borden

A Spanish tavern, a bull-fighting ring and an Aussie hayshed are the unlikely combination that will stir the souls of the West Australian wheat-belt town of Borden - population 30 - on 22 September when OzOpera arrives in town to perform Bizet's Carmen... Full Story

Western Australia the puppet state

If you live in Western Australia, get used to hearing, seeing, making and breathing puppets because the plan is to make a million of them. The Million Puppet Project is the idea of the Fremantle-based Spare Parts Puppet Theatre which for the next eight months is turning Western Australia into the puppet capital of the world. It is all part of the decision by the French-based world puppet federation UNIMA to stage the next international congress in Perth next April... Full Story

Who are we and where do we come from?

This is the first in a series of profiles of our Regional Arts Australia directors starting with those from WA and South Australia.

Suzie Haslehurst is chair of Country Arts WA and president of Regional Arts Australia.

Ken Lloyd is chief executive officer of Country Arts SA and secretary of Regional Arts Australia.

Andy Farrant is chief executive officer of Country Arts WA and treasurer of Regional Arts Australia

Steve Grieve is a director of Regional Arts Australia and chair of Country Arts SA.

Full Story

A Churchill Fellowship for Regional Arts Australia's national secretary

Ken Lloyd, the national secretary of Regional Arts Australia is to undertake a national study tour to Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom with the help of a Churchill Fellowship. Mr Lloyd, who is also the chief executive officer of Country Arts SA, will investigate new programs that would further develop the arts in regional Australia... Full Story

Creative Volunteering to be trialled in Indigenous communities

Regional Arts Australia oversees a national program of volunteer training for workers in the arts in a large range of areas such as business training, marketing, working with collections and governance. Funding was recently awarded to Regional Arts Australia to conduct pilot workshops in two regional Indigenous communities... Full Story

Skin to Skin - to the nation's capital from the nation's centre

The famous tradition of Indonesian batik is a surprising form of artistic expression now being practised by artists in the Ernabella region of Central Australia. Several examples of this Australian batik work hang in Canberra's Tuggeranong Art Centre and the ACT Legislative Assembly. Eleven artists from six remote community arts centres including Ernabella braved the chilly world of Canberra mid-winter to take part in Skin to Skin/Miri Kutjara Tjungu an extensive exhibition and event program to celebrate NAIDOC Week... Full Story

Calling all New Media Artists - ABC needs you!

The curator of POOL, the new ABC new media site specifically for regional artists, is seeking new works from across the nation... Full Story

Regional Victoria's Common Ground project profiled in Indonesian press

Last newsletter, we brought you the story of Regional Arts Victoria's creative collaboration with Indonesian architect and artist Eko Prawato, part of the Common Ground Festival in Horsham, Shepparton, Sale and Lakes Entrance. Prawato was artist-in-residence for the festival and his work is being celebrated in Indonesia where he has been instrumental in assisting with the rebuilding of areas around his home city of Yogjakarta following their devastation by earthquake in 2005. In this article in the Jakarta Post entitled Eko Agus Prawoto: Finding common ground to start over Prawato discusses how he applied the knowledge and experience he gained during the disaster to his work on the Common Ground project in regional Victoria.

Marketing the arts in the bush. OK, but how?

Marketing the arts in the bush requires ingenuity, determination and knowledge. New technologies, old technologies and tried-and-tested technologies are all employed to get the story out, the message heard. Under the Regional Arts Australia banner, arts marketing practitioners Lindy Allen and Merryn Spencer attended the Australian Marketing Institute's Regional Marketing Conference in Launceston in May and outlined how they do what they do... Full Story

Hip hop artist plus Kimberley Walkabout Boys equals reggae hit

Last newsletter we brought you the story of a group of young men from the Yiyili Aboriginal Community in the Kimberley and their venture into reggae with Melbourne hip-hop artist Monkey Mark. Now, writes Country Arts WA's regional youth arts development officer Rebecca Cockram, the group are formalising their recording skills with the help of some TAFE training... Full Story

Many of the projects in this newsletter have been supported by the Regional Arts Fund, an Australian Government initiative supporting the arts in regional, remote and very remote/isolated Australia.

Regional Arts Australia promotes the development of the arts for the one-in-three Australians that live in regional, rural and remote parts of the country. Our members give country Australians access to outstanding cultural experiences that are either home grown or tour from other towns and cities. In this way, Regional Arts Australia gives a voice to artists and puts culture at the heart of community life across country Australia.

issue 2 august 07

	this issue Tackling road safety in NT via song Surfing the dunes in Pinnaroo Lucky to be a Queenslander Albury's $14 million arts facility one-of-a-kind Regional Arts Australia's Ken Lloyd grabs Churchill Fellowship Position vacant: Conference Coordinator for Art at the Heart in Alice Springs 2008

welcome At Regional Arts Australia we like to remind people that one-third of us live outside the capital centres. We also like to remind people that even the briefest of looks beyond the metropolitan outskirts will reveal a vast array of great art. Original art. Art that entertains. Art that opens eyes to a bigger world. Art that changes lives. Tonight (2 August) at 8pm (AEST) on the Ovation Channel, you can see some of that great art in the new monthly program Heartland. It is a joint production between Ovation and Regional Arts Australia and I urge you to turn on. At this stage, there will be three episodes of Heartland each month until October. Further episodes will depend on us finding a major sponsor. If you miss the opening show on 2 August, it is repeated throughout the month on a rotating cycle, so check your guide. In other good news, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC (Retd) the Governor General of Australia has agreed to be our patron. We look forward to a long relationship with His Excellency and hope to welcome him to one of our events soon. Our national secretary, Ken Lloyd, has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship. This is a great honour and achievement for Ken who will visit Canada, the United States and England next year to investigate new programs that would further develop the arts in regional Australia. Ken is chief executive officer of Country Arts SA and what he gains through his fellowship will benefit not just regional South Australians but the whole country. We were delighted recently to welcome to our headquarters at Port Adelaide, Senator George Brandis SC, Australian Government Minister for Arts and Sport. The minister announced more than half a million dollars for 73 projects through the Regional Arts Fund. His skills at juggling were tested by teenagers from the Willunga Circus who had him tossing balls into the air in no time. Finally, everybody should be noting in their 2008 diaries the dates 3 to 5 October. That is when the largest group of artists, arts workers and arts officials ever to gather in one place will be in Alice Springs for the national conference of Regional Arts Australia *Art at the Heart* . At least 800 people attended our last conference in 2006 in Mackay and the pull of the Alice, the line-up of speakers and the packed list of official and social events will make this conference even bigger. Don't miss it. Vivienne Skinner Communications manager Regional Arts Australia vivienne.skinner@countryarts.org.au Catch our new show Heartland on the Ovation Channel Ovation Channel and Regional Arts Australia have worked together to produce Heartland, a new monthly television series featuring the best of regional arts and cultural events across Australia. Showcasing performance, visual arts, music, drama, from forests transformed by sculpture to children who just might run away with the circus, Heartland tells the stories of the creative people helping to shape our national culture. Focusing on events outside metropolitan Australia but designed for viewers everywhere, Heartland providesa platform for individuals and organisations whose work may not normally be shown on national television...Full Story Tackling road tragedy via song While Aboriginal people make up just over a quarter of the population of the Northern Territory, they represent half of all road deaths. This over-representation in road crashes is linked to geographical, cultural, social, educational and economic issues. Mix into the equation the fact that 70 percent of Aboriginal families in the Northern Territory speak their native language in their home and that in remote areas, this percentage exceeds 95 percent. Add problems with literacy, cultural differences and community protocols and you have one extremely complicated public health issue...Full Story Directing the Hero within - and who says you need sea to surf? It's short, it's sweet and it's beautifully shot. And who says you need waves to surf? From Pinnaroo in South Australia's southern Mallee district, teenagers Kade Richardson, 18, and Danah Ribbons, 17, have shown that sand-dunes made a great substitute for the surf. All you need is a surfboard, sunscreen and a steep enough dune. With dead-pan humour and a terrific backing track composed by Richardson himself, the short film titled Pinnaroo Surfer made using a mini digital video camera, was considered so good that it screened in May at the San Francisco International Digital Storytelling Conference... Full Story Catapult into festival time in Bathurst The power of circus to transform lives and provide skills and opportunities will be celebrated in Bathurst in September when an estimated 300 young people gather for the second biennial Catapult Festival. The festival - to run from 12 to 16 September - will see emerging performers share the trapeze and training mat with circus professionals such as performers from Circus Monoxide who are returning to Bathurst with their big top... Full Story Lucky to be a Queenslander It's a remarkable achievement and it would be interesting to know if there is anywhere else on earth where as many shows cover as much distance to reach as many communities. Queensland Arts Council (QAC), now in its 46th year, expects in 2007 to reach some 600,000 Queenslanders according to its CEO Arthur Frame... Full Story A burial ground becomes creative work of beauty at Echuca in Victoria's Murray region The Echuca Cemetery now has its own Indigenous burial space, framed by gum trees and native plants and with four ceremonial entrance poles lining the central pathway... Full Story Portable parades from Pompidou to Port Lincoln It is the newest technological blank canvas - the screen of your mobile phone. And it's also becoming one of the hippest forms of art around. The Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) is teaching mobile phone art to 13 to 19 year olds in a series of workshops across regional South Australia as part of the Portable Worlds exhibition and with the assistance of the Country Arts SA touring program... Full Story The art of the ancient is alive in Moree Moree is one of the few big towns in New South Wales to have no public art. Located in the heart of the north west's agriculturally-rich cotton district, Moree somehow escaped the onslaught of late 20th century public art programs funded by federal, State and local governments. However, the absence of public art at Moree is about to change with local Kamilaroi artist Lawrence Leslie at work in the gallery garden carving giant red gum tree trunks which will be erected at the entrances to the town. Leslie is the only initiated Kamilaroi tree carver still working... Full Story $14 million Albury Library Museum a leader of its kind One of the most significant arts complexes in the country has opened in Albury in southern NSW. The $14 million Albury City Library Museum is the first in Australia to converge the functions of a library and a museum into one single facility... Full Story Talent, skills and bacon and eggs at Tennant Creek The booming national and international interest in music created by Indigenous performers is being given a further lift by the success of the Winanjjikari Music Centre in Tennant Creek. The centre was only opened last year but has become a busy hub for the teaching, recording and marketing of music... Full Story Port Augusta wears the cultural crown It's a bit like the Olympics coming to town. A way of vastly speeding up the growth of your arts infrastructure and arts development. In this case, the lucky city is Port Augusta, named by the Government of South Australia as the state's first ever Regional Centre for Culture. Along with the title comes $1.3 million in State support to help build a new cultural precinct and fund shows and activities throughout 2008. The Port Augusta City Council is contributing $250,000 towards the program... Full Story Tasmania - the artists' island In a powerful artistic blitzkrieg, 400 hundred Tasmanian artists will - in the space of one week and in 22 different towns - be part of the State-wide exhibition Local Connections... Full Story It's not graffiti, it's art in Alice Springs Seeing the contents of an aerosol paint can as a creative medium rather than a tool of vandalism or a substance to sniff is one of the reasons behind a series of classes being run in Alice Springs by Brisbane-based graffiti artist, Kieron Wilson... Full Story Manic Running Madness Young people inspiring other young people to have a go and create is at the heart of the latest touring show Running Madness by Manic Productions, the youth artist-run initiative based in Launceston. The not-for-profit group which has around 30 active members works in all kinds of media creating animations, digital art and 2D works such as painting and photography. An exhibition is currently touring Tasmania, taking in towns such as Swansea and Scottsdale and concluding in Smithton in November... Full Story Revealing the soul within - Victoria's Koorie community turns lens on itself Members of Victoria's Koorie community are turning the camera lens on themselves in a photographic documentary project entitled 'Come and Have a Look at Yourself'. It runs throughout 2007 and is the brainchild of the Koorie Unit at Swan Hill's Sunraysia Institute of TAFE. Indigenous photography students are snapping local Koories in their choice of setting - at home, work and at play - and in doing so are communicating something about the way they live... Full Story Wildflower rocks Melbourne Mark Grose from Skinnyfish, the Independent Indigenous Australian Music label from Winellie in the Northern Territory, writes of a visit from the very north to the very south of Australia by a group of young musos… "Wildflower is a group of eight guys and girls aged between 16 and 22 from an outstation near the Oenpeli community in Arnhem Land which is next to Kakadu National Park. One of the unusual things about Wildflower is that four of the members are girls...which is pretty uncommon in Indigenous music... Full Story The art of the card Tourism and art are converging into one giant happening thing in Toowoomba as the Great Toowoomba Postcard Project enjoys its second year. Using the format of the postcard, artists of any age and level of professionalism have been encouraged to submit an entry - the only rule being that each work must reflect a landmark or the atmosphere of Toowoomba. On September 20th during the city's Flower, Food and Wine Festival the six winning entries will be announced and publicly displayed. They will be printed as a limited edition set and sold throughout the city at arts outlets, retailers and via Arts Council Toowoomba... Full Story Repeat love match the dream for OzOpera's Carmen in Borden A Spanish tavern, a bull-fighting ring and an Aussie hayshed are the unlikely combination that will stir the souls of the West Australian wheat-belt town of Borden - population 30 - on 22 September when OzOpera arrives in town to perform Bizet's Carmen... Full Story Western Australia the puppet state If you live in Western Australia, get used to hearing, seeing, making and breathing puppets because the plan is to make a million of them. The Million Puppet Project is the idea of the Fremantle-based Spare Parts Puppet Theatre which for the next eight months is turning Western Australia into the puppet capital of the world. It is all part of the decision by the French-based world puppet federation UNIMA to stage the next international congress in Perth next April... Full Story Who are we and where do we come from? This is the first in a series of profiles of our Regional Arts Australia directors starting with those from WA and South Australia. Suzie Haslehurst is chair of Country Arts WA and president of Regional Arts Australia. Ken Lloyd is chief executive officer of Country Arts SA and secretary of Regional Arts Australia. Andy Farrant is chief executive officer of Country Arts WA and treasurer of Regional Arts Australia Steve Grieve is a director of Regional Arts Australia and chair of Country Arts SA. Full Story A Churchill Fellowship for Regional Arts Australia's national secretary Ken Lloyd, the national secretary of Regional Arts Australia is to undertake a national study tour to Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom with the help of a Churchill Fellowship. Mr Lloyd, who is also the chief executive officer of Country Arts SA, will investigate new programs that would further develop the arts in regional Australia... Full Story Creative Volunteering to be trialled in Indigenous communities Regional Arts Australia oversees a national program of volunteer training for workers in the arts in a large range of areas such as business training, marketing, working with collections and governance. Funding was recently awarded to Regional Arts Australia to conduct pilot workshops in two regional Indigenous communities... Full Story Skin to Skin - to the nation's capital from the nation's centre The famous tradition of Indonesian batik is a surprising form of artistic expression now being practised by artists in the Ernabella region of Central Australia. Several examples of this Australian batik work hang in Canberra's Tuggeranong Art Centre and the ACT Legislative Assembly. Eleven artists from six remote community arts centres including Ernabella braved the chilly world of Canberra mid-winter to take part in Skin to Skin/Miri Kutjara Tjungu an extensive exhibition and event program to celebrate NAIDOC Week... Full Story Calling all New Media Artists - ABC needs you! The curator of POOL, the new ABC new media site specifically for regional artists, is seeking new works from across the nation... Full Story Regional Victoria's Common Ground project profiled in Indonesian press Last newsletter, we brought you the story of Regional Arts Victoria's creative collaboration with Indonesian architect and artist Eko Prawato, part of the Common Ground Festival in Horsham, Shepparton, Sale and Lakes Entrance. Prawato was artist-in-residence for the festival and his work is being celebrated in Indonesia where he has been instrumental in assisting with the rebuilding of areas around his home city of Yogjakarta following their devastation by earthquake in 2005. In this article in the Jakarta Post entitled Eko Agus Prawoto: Finding common ground to start over Prawato discusses how he applied the knowledge and experience he gained during the disaster to his work on the Common Ground project in regional Victoria. Marketing the arts in the bush. OK, but how? Marketing the arts in the bush requires ingenuity, determination and knowledge. New technologies, old technologies and tried-and-tested technologies are all employed to get the story out, the message heard. Under the Regional Arts Australia banner, arts marketing practitioners Lindy Allen and Merryn Spencer attended the Australian Marketing Institute's Regional Marketing Conference in Launceston in May and outlined how they do what they do... Full Story Hip hop artist plus Kimberley Walkabout Boys equals reggae hit Last newsletter we brought you the story of a group of young men from the Yiyili Aboriginal Community in the Kimberley and their venture into reggae with Melbourne hip-hop artist Monkey Mark. Now, writes Country Arts WA's regional youth arts development officer Rebecca Cockram, the group are formalising their recording skills with the help of some TAFE training... Full Story Many of the projects in this newsletter have been supported by the Regional Arts Fund, an Australian Government initiative supporting the arts in regional, remote and very remote/isolated Australia. Regional Arts Australia promotes the development of the arts for the one-in-three Australians that live in regional, rural and remote parts of the country. Our members give country Australians access to outstanding cultural experiences that are either home grown or tour from other towns and cities. In this way, Regional Arts Australia gives a voice to artists and puts culture at the heart of community life across country Australia.	In Brief: Art at the Heart - national conference - sign up to our site for regular updates Join conference mailing list The best way of keeping informed about this conference is to sign up to Regional Arts Australia's mailing list on our web-site at www.regionalarts.com.au If this newsletter was forwarded from a friend, please sign up to our web-site now. That way you'll be up to date with everything you need to know about what will be the largest gathering of arts professionals in Australian history. Don't miss out! Conference coordinator needed The conference coordinator, to be located in Alice Springs (preferably) or Darwin, is responsible for the planning and development of the 2008 RAA national conference including liaising with the local host community, and preparing funding submissions, marketing and promotional materials. The conference coordinator will also prepare progress reports and help to ensure that strong outcomes are achieved for the regional host community of Alice Springs. Applications close Friday 10th August. Download a position description PDF version (160 KB) . Futher Information Christine Silvester, Assistant Director Arts Development, Arts NT 08 8999 6053 or 1800 678 237 Christine.Silvester@nt.gov.au or www.arts.nt.gov.au Meeting with Deputy PM Regional Arts Australia representatives recently held a meeting with the Hon Mark Vaile MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, to discuss the priorities for the future of the arts in regional Australia. These included the renewal and increase to the Regional Arts Fund in 2008, a remote touring proposal and a national regional arts capital development program. Regional Arts Australia is committed to its budget proposals developed over 2006-2007 and will continue to advocate for the future of the arts in regional Australia over the coming months. New Leader for HotHouse Theatre Well-known playwright, arts bureaucrat and theatre professional, Campion Decent, is taking the helm of the widely-regarded regional company HotHouse Theatre in Albury-Wodonga. Campion was most recently the literary manager of the Sydney Theatre Company and during a 15 year career has been artistic director of the Next Wave Festival, festival director for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and chair of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre. He is HotHouse's new artistic manager, taking over from Charles Parkinson, who was recently presented with Regional Arts Victoria's Touring Award. HotHouse tours nationally and has an extensive rural touring circuit. Greater Port Macquarie Sculpture Exhibition Artists are invited to submit entries for the Greater Port Macquarie biennial outdoor sculpture exhibition along the Hastings River foreshores. There are cash prizes from $500 to $5,000 in categories including 'open', a work by a person aged between 12 and 25, and best use of recycled materials. Entries close 31 August 2006. The exhibition is part of a month- long program of events in and around Port Macquarie in October and November called Reclaim Water, Reclaim Life. Further Information www.aquasculpture.com.au Whyalla Art Prize Artists nationwide are invited to submit entries for the $25,000 City of Whyalla Art Prize. Work must be wall-based (other than photography) and have been executed within 12 months of the 30 September closing date. There is a special category for young South Australian artists worth $2,000. Winners will be announced at the official opening at 6.00pm on Wednesday 21 November in the Middleback Theatre Foyer Gallery and 60 works will be selected for final judging and public exhibition. www.countryarts.org.au Winning entry Personal Space/Safety Zone 8 by Gosia Wlodarczak Football! Love it or hate it. It doesn't matter. Red Dust Theatre's production of Barracking is so exuberant and light-hearted that it will appeal to everyone. Written by Central Australian playwrights Jane Leonard and Steve Gumerungi Hodder, Barracking will tour the Territory through August and September performing at centres including Ti Tree Community, Timber Creek Community, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Alice Springs and Darwin. Further information: (08) 8953 3305 Barracking stars Tanya Dann and Raymond Wright, Photo: David Nixon Beanies. Beanies. And more beanies. The wild and wacky Alice Springs Beanie Festival recently celebrated its eleventh year with 8,000 visitors and 4,500 beanies up for sale - the most expensive with a price tag of $2,000. www.beaniefest.org Photo courtesy Sarah Aitken Rave about the best in regional Victoria The outgoing artistic manager of HotHouse Theatre, Charles Parkinson, took out a top prize at Regional Arts Victoria's 2007 Rave Awards. "Over the 17 years Charles has been in Albury Wodonga he has not only turned HotHouse Theatre into a nationally-recognised venue, but has made it possible for a wide range of presenters to show professional theatre in small towns throughout its extensive rural touring circuit," said Regional Arts Victoria's general manager, Lindy Allen. Bairnsdale artist Elaine Terrick received the Indigenous Arts Award recognising her generosity of spirit in sustaining and passing on traditional cultural practices within her own Gunai/Krunai community and sharing her knowledge with the non-Indigenous community. Other award winners include: Carmel Wallace (Contemporary Cultural Development), Wild Dogs from Down Under (Arts and Business Partnership), Lucas Handley (Youth Leader) and Margaret Brickhill (Arts Volunteering). Regional Arts Victoria is one of the State's 12 major cultural institutions. Help to attend disability arts festival Awakenings Australia's only regional disability arts festival Awakenings is now in its 12th year. Part festival part conference it will take place in Horsham Victoria from 12 to 21 October. Organisers have received government funding to help cover the cost of travel for delegates and are seeking expressions of interest from those keen to attend. Call Denise Leembruggen, festival director (03) 5362 4006 denisel@wimmera.unitingcare. org.au Canberra's arts alive and well mid-winter The first Canberra Living Artists Week (CLAW) opens across the nation's capital on Friday 24 August and runs until 1 September. The aim of the event is to put the city's artists in touch with the Canberra public via gallery crawls, arts trails and exhibitions. Richard Scherer from Canberra Arts Marketing which is piloting CLAW says it will be a "celebration of living artists and the depth and diversity of artistic talent." Scherer says the event is based on Living Artists' Week which was pioneered in Adelaide in 2000 and has now become a popular event both in South Australia and Tasmania. info@canberraarts.com.au

issue 2 august 07

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