- New pilot program sees eight organisations share in funding
to run arts, culture and creative projects for children and young people across
Western Australia
- Titled 'Creativity
and Wellbeing for Young People', the trial will be jointly delivered by the
Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Healthway
- Projects to prioritise those from First Nations or
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and facing physical, mental,
social or educational disadvantage
A new program to improve
creativity and wellbeing for young people across Western Australia will be
trialled after the State Government approved $600,000 in funding for eight
organisations to deliver culture and the arts projects with health benefits.
The Creativity and Wellbeing for Young People Pilot Program
is a partnership between the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural
Industries (DLGSC) and Healthway, with each agency contributing $300,000 for
the one-year trial. The pilot program aims to:
- provide opportunities for
participation and engagement in arts and creative activities for young people
in Western Australia;
- organically build health outcomes
for young people participating in arts and creative activities;
- increase the long-term
sustainability of employment opportunities for artists delivering and creating
work with young people; and
- increase accessibility and
engagement of creative experiences for young people with a particular focus on
those that identify as: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse (CaLD), LGBTQIA+, or are impacted by a level of
socio-economic disadvantage.
Eight organisations with a demonstrated commitment to, and
strong track record in, working with young people will each receive up to
$75,000 to deliver a project over 12 to 18 months.
- Community Arts Network - $75,000
for Strange Times (filmmaking) in Midland
- Black Swan State Theatre Company -
$75,000 funding for Creative Ground
Holiday Workshop Program in the Great Southern, Pilbara and Mid West
- Breaksea - $75,000 funding for youth choirs in Great
Southern and East Kimberley
- Centre for Stories - $74,619 for The Spark (writing) in outer
Perth
- Boss Arts Creative - $75,000 for Aboriginal Arts and Culture
Program in Narrogin
- City of Melville -$75,000forART CLUB in
Willagee
- Ravensthorpe Arts Council - $75,000 for ARTitude Adventures: Creative
Play for Social Wellness in the Goldfields and Esperance region
- Ellenbrook Arts - $75,000 for Arts Creativity and Wellbeing
for Young People
For the list of projects and what they mean for the
community, see the DLGSC website https://www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/creativity-and-wellbeing-for-young-people
Comments attributed to Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman:
"The Cook Government
is committed to providing opportunities for children and young people across
Western Australia to engage in authentic creative and artistic experiences.
"This pilot program strongly aligns with
feedback gathered through consultations for the development of the 10 Year Vision
for Culture and the Arts in WA, where a key priority area of children and young
people was identified.
"Four projects approved
and being overseen by my department include developing filmmaking skills among
young people in Perth's eastern suburbs, engaging young storytellers in outer
Perth to develop writing skills, establishing choirs in the Great Southern and
East Kimberley, and theatre making workshops in the Great Southern, Pilbara and Mid West."
Comments attributed to Mental Health Minister Amber Jade Sanderson:
"Supporting these projects provides a valuable opportunity
to improve the mental, social and emotional wellbeing of young people in
Western Australia.
"We are using the arts as a way to reach priority
communities and provide opportunities to participate in creative activities, no
matter what your background.
"The four projects funded and managed by Healthway are arts workshops for
youth in Ellenbrook, an arts and culture program for young Aboriginal people in
the Wheatbelt, creative play in
Goldfields-Esperance and an after-school artist in residence program for First
Nations young people in the City of Melville."
Background:
CREATIVITY AND
WELLBEING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE PILOT PROGRAM
Projects funded
by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
- Community
Arts Network - $75,000 funding for Strange Times in Midland, Perth
Summary: Strange Times will work with young people
from the outer eastern suburbs of Perth on a creative engagement program
focusing on developing skills in filmmaking, editing and design, leading to
small production outcomes. Professional teaching artists will be based at the
Swan City Youth Service where the program will be targeted to young people
facing a number of barriers to participation in arts and cultural activities.
- Centre
for Stories - $74,619 funding for The Spark in outer metro Perth
Summary: The Spark is a program that will not only
ignite development, support and community for young storytellers between the
ages of 13-18. The Spark is a program aimed at encouraging ongoing engagement
with the craft of writing. We will offer online and in-person training
opportunities, networking opportunities with published writers, publication and
story sharing opportunities.
- Breaksea
- $75,000 funding for Breaksea Regional Youth Ensemble in Lower Great Southern
and East Kimberley
Summary: Across a 12-month period, Breaksea's
experienced team of professional facilitators and community leaders will
establish, rehearse and celebrate two new youth choirs. Working with youth in
the Lower Great Southern and children in the East Kimberley region, Breaksea
will deliver weekly term-time sessions for participants. The program will
support health outcomes for diverse youth from regional and remote places and
enhance career opportunities for artists working with young people. Activity
locations: Kununurra, Wyndham, Doon Doon, Albany, Plantagenet and Denmark.
- Black
Swan State Theatre Company - $75,000 funding for Black Swan Creative Ground
Holiday Workshop Program in the Great Southern, Pilbara and Mid West
Summary: Black Swan's Creative Ground Workshops are
a series of immersive arts activities for young people, aged 10 -13yrs and 14
-17yrs, delivered across regional WA during 2024 - 2025 school holidays. The
program's primary goal is to strengthen social-emotional learning of
participants, deepen a sense of connection, belonging and agency. Activity
locations: Albany, Port Hedland and Geraldton
CREATIVITY AND
WELLBEING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE PILOT PROGRAM
Projects funded
by Healthway
- Boss
Arts Creative - $75,000 funding for Regional Aboriginal Arts and Culture
Program in Narrogin in the Wheatbelt
Summary: The Program involves delivering school
holiday workshops for young and emerging Indigenous artists in the areas of
contemporary and traditional Indigenous performance and visual arts. Delivered
by leading Indigenous artists, the project will provide vital skills training
in the areas of traditional and contemporary Indigenous dance, acting and
drama, singing and song writing in language as well as visual arts. Led by
prominent Nyoongar performer Della Rae Morrison and working with a diverse
group of Indigenous community with ages from 10 years and up, the workshop
series is designed to promote greater engagement of marginalised Indigenous
community in the arts and to empower the expression of Australian Indigenous
cultures through performance.
- Ellenbrook
Arts - $75,000 funding for The Ellenbrook Arts Creativity and Wellbeing for
Young People
Summary: The project aims to foster creativity and
provide a constructive outlet for youth by establishing a collaborative
workshop series between Ellenbrook Arts and the Ellenbrook Youth Centre. By
providing a creative outlet for expression and self-discovery, the project aims
to improve the mental health and overall wellbeing of the participants. The
culmination of the workshop series will be a public exhibition and event hosted
at the Ellenbrook Art Gallery, showcasing material created by participating
youth in a range of disciplines, including visual arts and performance. The
exhibition will provide an opportunity for participants to share their stories,
celebrate their achievements, and connect with the wider community.
- Ravensthorpe
Arts Council - $75,000 for ARTitude Adventures: Creative Play for Social
Wellness in Goldfields-Esperance
Summary: The project will further enhance the
accessibility and outreach of the Artitude program and create an inclusive
pilot Creative Play Program specifically designed for school students in Years
1, 3 and 4 at the Hopetoun Primary School. The programs have a strong emphasis
on involving parents and carers as key stakeholders, and responds to a
significant gap in children's creative and emotional development in the
Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe regions. Activity locations: Ravensthorpe and
Hopetoun.
- City of
Melville -$75,000forART CLUB in Willagee, Perth
Summary: ART CLUB is a term based, after-school
program that engages at-risk and/or First Nations children and young people in
meaningful exploration through the arts to build social and emotional
wellbeing. Each artist will facilitate a full term of weekly activities,
mentoring participants towards a creative outcome that relates to each artist's
own area of practice. Outcomes from each term will be celebrated publicly in
appropriate formats dependent on the creative outcomes such as a launch, an
exhibition and/or a performance. Participants will also be able to opt in to
integrated mentorship opportunities if they choose to extend their learning
beyond the scope of the after-school, term-based workshop format.
