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COMMUNITY ARTS NETWORK WESTERN AUSTRALIA © 2013 Community Arts Network Western Australia Ltd ABN: 72 106 364 407 Catalyst Bulletin 2012/13

Cover Image: Young musician performing at the Evolution@JullStreet event as part of AMP IT UP! during National Youth Week 2012. Photo by Crosbie Photographics

ISSN: 1835-6257 Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the CAN WA staff, board of management or members. CAN WA reserves editorial rights on all copy for inclusion in CAN WA publications, unless otherwise agreed prior to publication. All care has been taken to advise project coordinators of protocols and responsibilities with regard to representing communities in articles and photographs. These responsibilities lie with project coordinators who have supplied CAN WA with photographs and information. This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests and enquiries concerning production and rights should be addressed to Community Arts Network WA Ltd, PO Box 7514, Cloisters Square, WA 6850 or [email protected].

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ecoStar is an environmentally responsible paper made Carbon Neutral. It is manufactured from 100% Post Consumer Recycled paper in a Process Chlorine Free environment under the ISO 14001 environmental management system. CAN WA is committed to using environmentally sustainable products.

Government of Western Australia

Perth Office King Street Arts Centre Ground Floor 357–365 Murray Street Perth WA 6000 PO Box 7514 Cloisters Square Perth WA 6850 T (08) 9226 2422 F (08) 9226 2230 E [email protected] W www.canwa.com.au

Mental Health Commission

CAN WA manages this fund on behalf of the Government of Western Australia through the Department of Culture and the Arts and is supported by the Mental Health Commission WA. 3

David Ansell, Acting Deputy Director General, Department of Culture and the Arts Artists and art workers involved in community arts and cultural development significantly contribute to enriching the lives of Western Australians. Through the process of creating art, they help communities explore ideas, beliefs, differences and attitudes, and they focus on achieving positive social and cultural change, which builds stronger communities. CAN WA plays a critically important role in supporting access to and participation in arts activities for all Western Australians. It manages the Catalyst Community Arts Fund, which distributes $200,000 per year in funding, on behalf of the Department of Culture and the Arts. From the beginning of 2012, the Catalyst Community Arts Fund has also welcomed support from the Mental Health Commission, which provides $50,000 per year in funding for the Explore category.

The Catalyst Community Arts Fund supports Western Australian community arts projects that give people the opportunity to participate, learn and express their local culture and identity. The fund also supports professional development for individual community artists and cultural development workers.

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Community Arts Network WA (CAN WA) manages this fund on behalf of the State of Western Australia through the Department of Culture and the Arts and is supported by the Mental Health Commission.

04 CATALYST AT

For information on how to apply, please see page 35 of this bulletin or visit www.canwa.com.au 4



THE CATALYST CHAIR Soula Veyradier A GLANCE

05 OVERVIEW AND ELIGIBILITY

06 SENSE OF ADVENTURE

Francis Italiano

10 EXPLORING ARTS

Eden Lennox

The Catalyst Bulletin 2012/13 celebrates the achievements of artists and communities that have been supported by the Catalyst Community Arts Fund. The projects highlighted in the bulletin show the importance of community arts activities and and how they help to create healthy vibrant communities. The Government of Western Australia, through the Department of Culture and the Arts, supported by the Mental Health Commission, is committed to ensuring that all Western Australians have access to unique and transforming arts and cultural experiences. It is through partnerships with great organisations like CAN WA that we are able to do this. I hope reading and sharing these inspiring stories encourages you to create and to participate in artistic endeavours that strengthen your community and make it unique.

12 WILD! FLOWERS

26 EVOLUTION@JULLSTREET

16 MULTIMODAL TOUCHPOINT

28 MIND THE CHANGE



Karen Keeley

Disability Services Commission Hill View Terrace

18 TRUNK ART WRAP

Gabriella Filippi

22 MIDWEST MILLEFIORE

Rachel McKenzie and Debbie Crothers



Denise Hardie

Althea Gordon

32 KOJONUP BUSH TUCKER TRAIL

Shire of Kojonup

35 THINKING ABOUT APPLYING? 36 DREAM. PLAN. DO.

Community arts resource

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SOULA VEYRADIER

Catalyst Chair

Over the last few years the Catalyst Community Arts Fund has seen a large growth in funding applications, making the assessment rounds that happen twice a year, in March and September, very competitive. This increased growth in funding requests has been met through the new Category D: Explore, which is funded by the Mental Health Commission. CAN WA appreciates the Mental Health Commission’s contribution. The Catalyst Community Arts Fund continues to support diverse projects that bring communities together to share experiences and develop skills. Our funding program encourages community artists and cultural development workers to do vital research, learn through relevant training opportunities and develop their own enterprises. Community art projects are inspiring and allow us to be creative. They encourage playing with possibilities, using intuition and imagination, and making connections.

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Left: Ourbrook hip-hop dance workshop with Ellenbrook Youth Survey. Photo by Dion Cochrane. Above: Attendees at the Evolution@JullStreet celebration. Photo by Crosbie Photographics.

They are collaborative, encouraging those who take part to share their projects, cooperate appropriately, and give and receive feedback. This creative approach has been present in recent funding applications, indicating a greater awareness of the social and artistic value that community arts programs bring to the community. The members of the assessment panel use their expertise and skills to assess applications, and they aim to support community arts projects that express local culture and identity through art. Each community art project has a unique community behind it and allows for the development of creative experiences. I am always inspired by projects brought to the Catalyst panel from across the state. Keep up the great work.

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Catalyst had another very strong period during the 18 months from 1 January 2012 until 30 July 2013, receiving 121 applications across the three rounds. The fund has become vital to communities across Western Australia, increasing their opportunities for cultural expression.

The Catalyst Community Arts Fund supports projects that: •

facilitate and support Western Australian community-determined arts and cultural activities, especially those that express local culture and identity

•

promote the values of community empowerment, social inclusion, respect for diversity and self-determination.

Catalyst Applications and Funding, 1 January 2012 – 30 July 2013 FUNDING ROUND

METROPOLITAN APPLICATIONS

REGIONAL APPLICATIONS

SUCCESSFUL METROPOLITAN APPLICATIONS No. $

SUCCESSFUL REGIONAL APPLICATIONS No. $

TOTAL FUNDING

REGIONAL % OF FUNDING

March 2012

17

24

6

$66,714

7

$120 ,000

44%

September 2012

21

19

8

$80,482

4 $49,000 $129 ,482

38%

March 2013

25

15

5 $51,902

9

TOTALS

63

58

19 $199,908

$53,286

214

Funding Categories and Amounts

$78, 619

$130 ,521

64%

CATEGORY

FOR PROJECTS THAT

TOTAL POOL AVAILABLE

20 $180,905

$ 380,003

49%

A – Innovate

develop new and innovative community arts practices



$15,000

B – Create

express local culture and identity



$75,000

C – Develop

promote professional development for community artists and cultural development workers



$10,000

D – Explore

explore mental health issues and/or engage with groups at risk of mental health issues



$25,000

Catalyst Completed Projects, 1 January 2012 – 30 July 2013

ARTISTS EMPLOYED

This fund focuses on communities’ participating in the arts and learning new skills.

12,229

PEOPLE CREATED ART

Important Dates Round 1

Applications close 30 March for projects beginning after 1 July.

$542,556 CATALYST FUNDS ACQUITTED

23,850 PEOPLE ENJOYED COMMUNITY ART

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Round 2

$493,993 ADDITIONAL INCOME CONTRIBUTED

Applications close 30 September for projects beginning after 1 January. Note: Applications must be submitted or postmarked by 5pm on the closing date.

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FRANCIS ITALIANO Artist

The professional-development project Sense of Adventure planted the seeds for what has become Sensorium Theatre. Artists held creative workshops for audiences of profoundly disabled children to explore sensory theatre techniques and create multi-sensory performances. They developed interactive performances where touch, taste and smell were as integral to the story as sight and sound. I lie on my back, senses heightened, staring up at a dusky blue night sky as sparkling stars waft down towards me in a cascade of tinkling bells before floating away. I smile at the appreciative murmur of the participants next to me on the ground, and I catch the eyes of my colleagues who tower way above us, beyond the stars, looking down at us through the gauze cloth they have stretched over the group. It is a deceptively simple moment in a creative workshop that explores sensory theatre techniques with profoundly disabled children. It is simply a group on the floor, a star-patterned gauze cloth, some chimes and a torch. However, the participants’ wordless, childlike wonder and anticipation symbolises for me the sparks ignited by the Sense of Adventure professional-development project. In the year or so before receiving the Catalyst Community Arts Fund’s funding, I and a team of artists – Bec Bradley, Michelle Hovane, Sarah Nelson and Amber Onat Gregory – had been exploring creating sensory theatre for audiences of children with complex disabilities. By this, we mean children affected by more than one disability that profoundly affects their core functions.

CAN”T ENLARGE IMAGES ANY FURTHER DUE TO RESOLUTION Above: Artists participating in sensory theatre workshops. Opposite: Workshop participants and Francis Italiano (left) creating a slimy sensory walk. Photos by Matt Scurfield.

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These multi-sensory performances involved looking at theatre as a hands-on interactive experience for our audience and guiding them through a tactile discovery tour, where touch, taste and smell are as integral as sight and sound to the story. Our stories unfold within an immersive installation set, which small groups of children inhabit together with the artists, involving a lot of intimate, one-on-one interaction between the two groups.

FRANCIS ITALIANO CATEGORY C

METRO

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$13,800

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$27,068

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Participating in a music class with the music therapist at Carson Street School was another highlight that had a direct effect on how important live music performance and audience participation subsequently became in our shows.

Our fledgling work in this medium, before the Catalyst Community Arts Fund’s support, had been very well received by our audiences and their families, teachers and carers. Also, importantly, as artists, we loved presenting it and were very excited by the work’s creative possibilities. It was clear to us, however, that we were undertaking highly specialised work. We wanted to explore more in-depth ways of working with special-needs audiences and to unlock more sensory-theatre techniques and immersive, imaginative-play approaches. We also wanted to widen the pool of artists involved. The development period not only provided us with these outcomes but also planted the seeds of what has since become Sensorium Theatre, Australia’s first multi-sensory theatre company creating work specifically for children with special needs.

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The original idea for the development was to spend one week on exchanging and developing artists’ skills and then to focus the second week on creating a short performance

at Carson Street School, a specialist primary school. However, not long before we were due to start, we learned we had also been successful in gaining a three-month artist-inresidency grant at Carson Street School. It seemed less effective to try to do in two weeks what we would now have the opportunity to work towards over three months, so we decided to postpone the performance and make Sense of Adventure primarily an artists’ skills-exchange.

A particularly rich element of the development, one that strengthened our understanding of our target audience, was the hands-on learning gained by immersing ourselves in the environments of Carson Street School in Victoria Park and Sir David Brand School in Coolbinia. At the two schools we had dozens of opportunities to ask questions of staff, to interact with the children and to gain insights into the students and their needs.

In particular, we tried to widen the pool of Western Australian artists interested in the development of the work so far. This proved to be a very successful strategy. We were amazed at the level of interest; two artists who had been working with sensory theatre for adults travelled from Melbourne specifically to attend the professional development workshops. Having around 15 participants in each of the open workshops (many of them skilled artists in different fields) created a rich professional-learning environment.

At Carson Street School, we were introduced to a method of communication called “conductive education,” which had great potential for the study of signs and symbols in theatre performances. An amazing and inspiring session at Sir David Brand School – where a deaf and blind specialist and a key sign expert explained the key signs used in Auslan – opened our eyes to the inherent performance qualities of Auslan and its suitability as a perfect language to include in visual theatre. We were also given the opportunity to explore “sensory rooms”, which use electronic equipment to stimulate sensory responses in students.

As a team we also used studio time for experiential play, creating short performances using the techniques of sensory storytelling – rhyme, repetition, rhythm, song and key signs. We explored a range of materials to create sensory objects and experiences to heighten the story, and we reinterpreted the basics of puppetry and object theatre through the lens of our intended audience.

The second week ended with an open-invitation forum in which attendees from a wide range of disciplines and points of view participated. A highlight of the forum was one of the first outings of what would grow to become Sensorium Theatre’s infamous blindfolded “sensory walks”. Our development of these walks received an enormous boost from all the interest shown by arts practitioners, educators, disability service providers and funders. The interest highlighted how our profoundly disabled target audience is an under-represented group within arts audiences and participation.

We hope this development encouraged artists to consider working more with the profoundly disabled in the future. As for us, the Sense of Adventure has continued through an ongoing voyage of discovery that has since spawned a new company: Sensorium Theatre. It has grown into a successful show booked for many school tours and residencies, and it has led to presentations at national conferences, training sessions across the disability sector and further overseas development for the principal artists. I and the artist team have an ongoing commitment to this work. They do not call it a “Catalyst” for nothing!

The experiential play flowed on to our highly entertaining and stimulating open workshop series at the Subiaco Arts Centre in our second week. During the workshops, we and participants (including performers, puppeteers, musicians, educators and disability specialists) investigated: •

creating and designing for sensory theatre (mountains of props!)

•

sensory theatre performance techniques (a fantastic exchange of ideas and short performance pieces, including the aforementioned star-gazing story)

•

using music and sound in sensory theatre (improvising sound scapes and scores to dramatic effect). 09 Above and opposite: Artists participating in sensory theatre artist workshops. Photos by Matt Scurfield.

ELLENBROOK ARTS CATEGORY B

METRO

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$10,000

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$41,105

EDEN LENNOX Director, Ellenbrook Arts

The Ellenbrook Youth Survey was conducted to reach out to local youth and interest them in the arts. The survey findings revealed a strong desire among young members of the community for art programs. Young artists were sourced to lead workshops in stop animation, graffiti and stencilling. The workshops were run in conjunction with hip-hop dance sessions and culminated in an exhibition at Ellenbrook Arts’ The Gallery, an exhibition that has now become an annual event. Appointed as the executive director at Ellenbrook Arts at the start of 2010, I looked into the history of the development of the Ellenbrook Cultural Foundation and Ellenbrook Arts, taking into consideration the local population. A pleasant surprise was that Ellenbrook has a very large youth population. The youth demographic of Ellenbrook was, and still is, approximately 30%, which is significantly higher than the rest of the metropolitan area. As a result, I asked that the Ellenbrook Arts board endorse a focus on youth within the arts program.

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Ellenbrook Arts partnered with the existing Swan City Youth Services to reach out into the youth community. Ellenbrook Arts, largely unknown by local youth at the time, hosted a movie night for the launch of

Ellenbrook, Ourbrook. This movie was a documentary about Ellenbrook, filmed, narrated and edited by many local teenagers under the guidance of Dion Cochrane, a young, local filmmaker and video artist. We managed to squeeze over 150 teenagers into the gallery for this premiere viewing. On the back of Ellenbrook, Ourbrook, Ellenbrook youth showed a genuine thirst to become involved with more community arts activities. With the assistance of the Catalyst Community Arts Fund and Healthway, the Ellenbrook Youth Survey was launched. Ellenbrook Arts worked with Swan City Youth Services to survey the local youth to reveal community needs, and the survey showed a strong desire for various art forms: music (including hip-hop), animation, video art, graffiti art and street art. For the planned arts activities, both the Ellenbrook Arts and the City of Swan coordinators were mindful to source young artists who would suit the local youth community and were in the 20–30 year age bracket. Perth performance and video artist Tanya Lee presented the first workshops. Tanya facilitated stop animation workshops in the cool white vacuous gallery space, between exhibitions at Ellenbrook Arts’ The Gallery. The final cut of these works was published to YouTube.

Printmaker Emma McPike creatively partnered with leading street artist Trevor Bly to deliver a suite of graffiti and stencil workshops at The Cool Room in the City of Swan. The workshop attendees worked on largescale designs, mainly collaborative works that featured strong narratives about place and identity. These workshops ran in conjunction with the hip-hop sessions facilitated by local artist and event coordinator Brad Archibald. All of the year’s activities culminated in a showcase at The Gallery as part of the Ellenbrook Youth Survey Exhibition. The showcase featured animation, event photography, graffiti, street art and hip-hop performances, along with a hip-hop video that was part music entertainment and part documentary. Evolving from the success of the project, two participants were supported by Ellenbrook Arts to perform at The Moon café in Northbridge, which was unforeseen as no activities were scheduled to take place outside of the Ellenbrook area. Meanwhile, an amazing opportunity arose for the graffiti art workshop participants when a selection of their work was displayed at HyperFest, held in the former Midland Railway Workshops, which approximately 4000 youth attended.

The first showcase has been followed by annual youth exhibitions at Ellenbrook Arts’ The Gallery. The exhibitions have featured the works produced in the youth workshops: street art, multimedia, photographs and live performances at opening events. In our most recent youth showcase, the Smarter than Smoking Blossom Exhibition, more than 1300 youth artworks were entered and displayed. I have also had the pleasure of seeing the participants’ skills evolve. Some of the hip-hop workshop participants from the first workshop series are now booked to perform at our events and co-facilitate peer-to-peer workshops. Ellenbrook Arts is busily working with the local community to involve local youth and deliver high-quality arts experiences to the Ellenbrook community and the Western Australian arts sector.

Opposite: Brad Archibald at The Cool Room during a hip-hop workshop. Above from left: Budding hip-hop artists participating in a workshop with Ellenbrook Arts and the City of Swan; Jack at the Moon café performing some freestyle youth rap. Photos by Dion Cochrane.

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KAREN KEELEY Lecturer Visual Arts, C.Y. O’Connor Institute

Left: Community workshop participants using found materials to make a parrot. Photo by Kate Campbell-Pope. Right: Karinya craft group participating in the WILD! Flowers workshop. Photo by ARtS Narrogin.

WILD! Flowers from the Bush is a community arts project of fibre works inspired by local flora and fauna. It was coordinated by ARtS Narrogin and created by local Narrogin residents. WILD! Flowers from the Bush was conceived by Karen Keeley, a local artist and community arts worker with a passion for fibre arts and the local flora, and Mary Silverman, community cultural development officer from the Town of Narrogin, after discussions on how best to continue to build on Narrogin’s previous five years’ successful fibre workshops.

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residency by Kate Campbell-Pope, this fibre project included many different textile skills and culminated in a large group installation for the Narrogin Spring Festival. Techniques ranged from traditional – such as embroidery, sewing, knitting, crochet, basketry and appliqué – to contemporary – such as deconstruction, binding, modelling and 3D construction using found objects and materials.

With some of the most diverse varieties of flowering species and spectacular displays of wildflowers in Western Australia, the Narrogin region holds one of the best-kept secrets during wildflower season.

Organisers were particularly keen to involve young people in the disappearing traditional arts and crafts practised by local community elders, such as doll-making, weaving and lace-making. The project also aimed to introduce new materials and ideas to traditional craft makers in the hope that these would reinvigorate an interest in and respect for traditional arts.

Involving over 300 local artists, community members and school children, and a six-month artist-in-

So many groups wished to be involved that it was difficult to fit them all on the timetable. With much juggling

and negotiating, Kate was organised to conduct two-hour workshops with three primary schools, two classes at the Narrogin Senior High School, the C.Y. O’Connor Institute and various Narrogin community groups, including the local embroidery group, the art group, the CWA, the knitting group, the Noongar doll-making group and the senior citizens’ Karinya craft group. In addition, two open-community workshops were held at the Narrogin art group’s premises. As Kate was running 13 workshops each week in 12 different locations, her little car was driving from one group to the next, packed to the roof with materials. No one quite knows how Kate managed this feat and remained in her usual graceful state of calm, but she did. All groups began by doing some research into the local flora and fauna, and their research was the basis of the inspiration for their textile works. Their research also turned up

photographs and botanical information that enhanced the final installation at the Narrogin Spring Festival. The Department of Agriculture and Food and the Department of Environment and Conservation provided some amazing resources for the groups’ research, and these resources inspired some people to produce animalinspired as well as floral pieces. Once the word was out in Narrogin, others wanted to assist. The Friends of Foxes Lair, Narrogin Naturalist Club, Lions Dryandra Woodland Village and many individual photographers all provided valuable photographs and resources for research, for inspiration and for use in the installation. Many individuals from these groups subsequently joined the community workshops; for some it was their first involvement in an arts project. During her residency, from May to October, Kate conducted two-hour workshops in the first week of each

month with each group or class. The groups continued to meet and kept working on their pieces until Kate’s next visit. At the schools, the teachers’ amazing contributions in continuing the students’ skills development resulted in some of the most outstanding pieces. Many of the teachers worked lunchtimes, stayed after school and came in on weekends so students could complete their large and intricate fibre works. One school student remembered his grandmother teaching him French knitting in his childhood and decided to produce kilometres of French knitting using torn strips of rags and oddments of wool. He turned these into stunning banksias mounted on found sticks. Nalda Searles commented on these pieces in her opening speech, “Look at these lovely banksias. They are one of the most inspiring pieces of textile art I have seen. They are so beautiful; it really touches my heart!”

Above: A group of banksias at the WILD! Flowers from the Bush exhibition. Right: Dryandra animals on exhibit. Photos by Kate Campbell–Pope.

This is by far the best project I have ever been involved in. It was wonderful to work with so many talented and generous people. Kate Campbell-Pope

ARtS NARROGIN CATEGORY B

REGIONAL

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$12,000

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$19,238

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Left: Crocheted banksias by Michelle Siciliano and Issaiah Longford. Photo by Kate Campbell-Pope. Opposite: Narrogin Senior High School teacher Michelle Siciliano and student Issaiah Longford crocheted 100s of metres of wool for these banksias, exhibited as part of the WILD! Flowers from the Bush exhibition. Photo by Deborah Hughes-Owen.

During the Narrogin Spring Festival Kate, Karen and Michelle Siciliano – a high school teacher and visual artist – conducted community workshops to enable festival-goers to continue to contribute by making pieces that were added to the installation. Local heARTwork participants also exhibited their wildflower paintings. The heARTwork project was an arts-based program for people with disabilities or mental health issues, and several of the participants joined in Kate’s community workshops.

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There was so much enthusiasm created in the community that several other initiatives were inspired by the WILD! Flowers from the Bush project, including the heARTwork group’s decision to enter their local wildflower-inspired art in the Banners in the Terrace Competition. Their entry was commissioned by the Town of Narrogin, and it was displayed in St Georges Terrace during Local Government Week and in the leadup to and during the Narrogin Spring Festival. Local library staff also conducted school holiday workshops

in which several of the local artists involved in the project passed their skills to children who might not have attended the school workshops with Kate. All of these extra initiatives helped to build greater public awareness, involvement and excited anticipation. WILD! Flowers from the Bush has been a great opportunity to bring together different groups and create strong, ongoing relationships. The local government authorities have seen how this project has created a sense of place and community, provided opportunities to celebrate the community’s creative talent, and attracted local, interstate and international visitors. More than 700 visitors came to the exhibition during the three-day Narrogin Spring Festival, and more than 400 of the WILD! Cards, produced to sell during the exhibition, were bought and posted nationally and overseas. The cross-generational skill-sharing was a phenomenal process to witness. Younger artists shared their courage and inspirational use of new

and found materials, and older artists shared their beautiful, traditional craft techniques. One example of this skillsharing was the embroidery group members use of recycled blankets and found objects to produce innovative works of art. Kate also picked up some new skills from the talented seniors and was able to pass these, and her massive repertoire of skills, on to all involved. Some of the participating artists went on to exhibit in Nalda Searles and Judy Mary Seward’s Fingers and Petals exhibition held in May 2013. ARtS Narrogin have had requests from several nearby smaller communities to provide workshops with Kate and to exhibit the WILD! Flowers from the Bush installation in their towns. ARtS Narrogin are hoping to take WILD! Flowers from the Bush to Kalgoorlie–Boulder in 2014 for Regional Arts Australia’s national conference to showcase the artists’ work and the region’s unique beauty.

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(Unfortunately, before this stage, five applicants had to step back from the project due to health and other issues.) David Brandstater, one of the artists, converted Rock, his watercolour painting on paper, into a digital masterpiece using the kaleidoscope feature on the Photobooth application. Other participants created artworks from photographs by using the mirror feature on Photobooth, while the stamps in the Doodle Buddy application were also popular. BASED ON A REPORT BY DISABILITY SERVICES COMMISSION HILL VIEW TERRACE

Seventeen artists, 27 works on paper, five exhibited short films and over 100 digital works. MultiModal Touchpoint was an innovative project developed to create iPad applications to assist people who need high levels of support to contribute to their communities’ arts and cultural life. Participants worked and experimented artistically with music, dance and visual arts facilitators. All 17 artists were residents of Hill View Terrace, a Victoria Park residence that accommodates adults with an intellectual disability. The MultiModal Touchpoint project was an initiative aimed at strengthening the use of information technology by Western Australians living in supported accommodation.

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It is difficult for people who need high levels of support to access technology because of their limited access to hardware and the requirement for high literacy and numeracy skills. The difficulty they experience in accessing information technology can create a divide between them and the wider and online communities. Increasing

their access to information technology can help them to overcome some of the difficulties they experience using art tools such as paintbrushes, musical instruments and heavy cameras. Giving them technological tools for artistic expression can enable them to develop their individual voices and identities. MultiModal Touchpoint took place in 2012 between July and November. In July, research was carried out to determine the methods that could be used to encourage each participant’s artistic creativity. The project was linked to local culture and identity, and looked at ways to improve community perception of and attitudes to people with high support needs. The local environment and history of Victoria Park was also incorporated into the project. When addressing the sensory needs of participants, the artistic team gathered local flora for participants to smell, feel with their hands and feet, and use to create impressions in clay. One of the artists, Russell Fewster, loved drawing trains and his artwork had a connection to local history

through its references to the Victoria Park train station. Portable tablet devices such as the iPad and iPod Touch can be used as artistic tools by participants to create and share. In September, participants were introduced to iPad applications that focused on their individual interests. Participants interested in music played instruments, vocalised and sang with musician Steve Richter. Most of these musicians transitioned to cause-and-effect applications such as Bloom, while dance and movement activities were recorded using the iPad camera. All participants experienced using the iPad and its applications to create sounds, marks, photos and films, which were all new forms of self-expression for them. In October, participants began to create artworks using iPad applications, and the artistic journey each participant took from beginning to end was documented. Twelve of the 17 participants worked intensively on paper and later moved their artworks to a digital format.

The project faced several challenges. The arts team were forced to adjust their expectations when cause-andeffect applications ended up being more popular among participants than first anticipated. It was also difficult to manage the expectations of a large project team of more than 40 people, including the participants and their families, the carers, four arts workers, the project manager and the digital content team. Some participants were passive, from a lifetime of having things done for them rather than with them, which created a barrier for their participation. In spite of the challenges, MultiModal Touchpoint successfully closed the digital and creative divide for the 17 participants. One participant purchased their own iPad and another five participants intend to do so in the future. Two of the participants are now regularly attending local arts workshops, and another participant was invited to play iPad duets with Steve Richter for the DADAA board of management in August 2013. The project also fulfilled its mission to successfully shift community attitudes to the capacity of people

with high-support special needs. This was demonstrated through substantial sales of the paper-based artworks, an increase in views of the MultiModal Touchpoint website, and an increase in comments and followers on DADAA’s Facebook page. The MultiModal Touchpoint project created unforeseen opportunities in the local community that allowed all of the participants to gain social acceptance. In April 2013, the Victoria Park Centre for the Arts exhibited all participants’ artworks, assisted with the sale of artworks and provided the participants with an open invitation to exhibit again in the future. In return, the artists donated a portion of their sales revenues to the Victoria Park Centre for the Arts. Most importantly, the project has improved the quality of life for the participants. Giving participants, their families and Hill View Terrace staff confidence that the community is welcoming and their contributions to the community are valued. The shift in confidence and community inclusion is set to continue building over time, unlocking further possibilities for people with high-support special needs.

HILL VIEW TERRACE CATEGORY A

METRO

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$15,000

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$72,302 17

Opposite: Participant Clinton’s creation of a selfie word photo. Image created by Clinton Halden. Above: Lisa Williams works with a splatter app. Photo by Kate Campbell-Pope. Bottom: Val loved working with more than one iPad at a time. Photo by Simone Flavelle.

TOWN OF BASSENDEAN GABRIELLA FILIPPI Cultural Development Officer, Town of Bassendean

CATEGORY B

METRO

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$11,200

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$16,147

The verge trees in the Town of Bassendean are the feature of the Trunk Art Wrap Festival. Through a series of workshops, local artists, community groups, schools and individuals created 30 tree installations to reflect the culture, heritage and sentiment of the Town of Bassendean and its community. The Trunk Art Wrap Festival was a community-driven project initiated by two local artists to create artworks to display on the beautiful trees of Bassendean. Local artists worked independently and with community groups and local schools to create tree installations that reflected the culture, heritage and history of the Bassendean community. All artists were encouraged to incorporate found objects, textiles, ceramics and recyclable materials when creating their pieces. The trees used for the project were located in and around the local war memorial, bordering the Bassendean Shopping Village car park and at the skate park. The displays created an interesting opportunity to showcase the talents of local artists and draw attention to Bassendean’s trees.

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Left: Lisa Dymond’s artwork – a colony of fungi spread from Swan Districts footy socks. Photo by Carol Seidel. Opposite: Proud Governor Stirling Senior High School students with their artwork and community artist Joyce Tasma. Photo by Pauline White. Right: Trunk Art Wrap Festival artwork. Photo by Carol Seidel.

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GABRIELLA FILIPPI Cultural Development Officer, Town of Bassendean

The Trunk Art Wrap Festival created an awareness of the significance, value and history of the town’s trees. As a project with a high level of community participation, it offered an opportunity for all members of the community to be involved. Participants developed a sense of worth from their involvement and embraced the opportunity to express their creativity. The project gave the community the enjoyment of seeing artworks in unusual, public spaces, and it also created a sense of place and community in the Town of Bassendean; it was art done by locals, for locals, about locals. The presentation of artworks outside on the street led to a couple of pieces being stolen from the trees. Organisers consider this part of the risk of staging artworks outdoors and were quite resigned. While the thefts were disappointing, they managed to create positive PR. The negative was turned around by creating a “get nicked” award, celebrating any missing artworks. The last work

stolen, a large spider, was celebrated with missing posters and a reward was offered for its return. The spider has never been recovered. Due to the trees’ heights and unique shapes, the logistics of installing artworks on them proved to be one of the project’s biggest challenges. This led to some creative problem-solving as organisers worked out how to mount artworks and ensure durability in spite of the weather and curious hands. In 2012, the organisers worked with the Bassendean Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service, who assisted with the installation. Their assistance overcame logistical and resourcing problems and forged a new relationship with another community group. The Trunk Art Wrap Festival is a great example of an organic, communitydriven project, which should remain in the hands of the community. It is a project that has a strong community focus, is accessible, brings people together and gets other community groups involved.

However, it is labour intensive and requires a strong team of people. It is currently run by just two people, and the lack of a large team to coordinate the project has reduced its ongoing viability. If it is to continue, a grassroots community commitment and a willingness by individuals to volunteer will be essential. In its second year, participation in the project increased from when it first began in 2011. The project is highly visible when it is exhibited, and the second Trunk Art Wrap Festival motivated some local residents to create their own pieces on their front verges. The community responded to what was going on around them and showed their willingness to embrace and be a part of it. Something as quirky as hanging artwork on trees reflected the town’s unique nature. The council continued to work with the project organisers, building on its connections to the creative community in Bassendean.

Left: Trunk Art Wrap Festival artwork. Photo by Carol Seidel.

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BASED ON A REPORT BY RACHEL MCKENZIE AND DEBBIE CROTHERS

Opposite: Artist Kate McKinnon hand-forging a silver clay ring during a workshop. Below: Rachel McKenzie’s hand-sculpted silver clay ring made with artist Kate McKinnon. Photos by Debbie Crothers.

Midwest Millefiore was a professional development project, providing Western Australian artists Debbie Crothers and Rachel McKenzie with the opportunity to research jewellery-making techniques and to learn a range of polymer clay, metal clay and workshop facilitation skills not taught in Australia. They then held a number of community workshops in Geraldton and Mullewa to share the skills they learned. Midwest Millefiore, which translates as “a thousand Midwest flowers”, was inspired by the success of Made by Hand, a nature jewellerymaking project in Mullewa, Western Australia. Artists Debbie Crothers and Rachel McKenzie set out to bring the Midwest community together through the art of polymer and metal clays. They also hoped to make international connections to overseas clay instructors with the hope of bringing them to Australia to run workshops. Debbie and Rachel began their research and training with three days in Tucson, Arizona, with world-renowned metal clay artist Kate McKinnon. Kate covered a range of basic metal clay techniques that are used to produce strong, functional and structural jewellery components. Her lessons included the correct use of tools and kilns, basic metal-smithing techniques, finishing techniques and safety procedures. Advanced techniques were also covered, such as creating silver clay chain links and hand-forming 3D sculptural pieces. Debbie and Rachel’s journey continued with two days in Salt Lake City in the studio of Jana Roberts Benzon, who is well known for her kaleidoscope canes, laser-cut techniques and organic pieces. In Salt Lake City, they were taught a range of polymer clay techniques, including liquid treatments, embossing and colour mixing.

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I had the best time playing with clay with Christi. I learned a lot of different bits and pieces that I hadn’t learned in my travels so far, so I’m getting such a wide variety of different techniques. It’s fantastic. Debbie Crothers

Their international research also incorporated making connections with other artists from around the world and participating in a four-day carnival involving eight polymer artists. Each artist tutored for half a day, teaching a range of techniques. In Tehachapi, California, two days were spent with Christi Friesen, who taught techniques in creating 3D pieces. Flowers, leaves, critters, hearts and miniatures were just some of the many projects.

RACHEL MCKENZIE AND DEBBIE CROTHERS CATEGORY C

REGIONAL

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$15,000

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$32,088

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The change in Debbie and her work since returning from America has been significant. She seems to have a clearer direction of what it is she wants to bring to the polymer clay community here in Australia and a better understanding of how she is going to achieve this. Dani Rapinett, The Whimsical Bead

The journey ended in Florissant, Colorado, with two days of learning from Donna Kato, a polymer clay pioneer who has worked with the medium for more than 20 years. Donna taught techniques including painting with clay, inlay clay veneers and screen-printing on clay. On return to Australia, Debbie and Rachel further explored and shared the skills they had learned during their travels. They spent time in the studio putting the techniques they learned into practice before they used their skills to create a series of lesson plans. In the build-up to the Midwest Millefiore community project, they shared their skills with residents of Mullewa and Geraldton, and with the broader community, in a series of workshops. In these workshops they shared some of their latest skills, but they held back most of the newly developed skills and lesson plans to be used in the Midwest Millefiore community project. The silver clay workshops included earrings for beginners, advanced silver clay rings, charms and trinkets, and silver clay for beaders. The workshops using polymer clay included: 24

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rocks for rockstars, youth workshops

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sticks and stones, adult workshops

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Mullewa Women’s Indigenous Group community workshops

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peek-a-boo brooches and pendants

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community workshops in sculptured flowers

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Christi Friesen’s gremlins, taught to children in Mullewa, Geraldton and Chapman Valley.

The project was successful in making connections between Debbie and Rachel and international artists. Donna Kato and Christi Friesen both visited Australia in 2013 for the Midwest Millefiore event. Sage Bray, the editor and creator of American-based The Polymer Arts magazine, asked to do a showcase of the Midwest Millefiore community project, taking the project to an international audience. Debbie has become involved with the International Polymer Clay Association, setting up an international database of polymer clay events. In addition, articles about

the project have been published in Australian Beading magazine, and made available online on sites such as the Australian Beading forum and the Midwest Millefiore blog. Regional Midwest communities are expected to benefit significantly. The workshops and exhibitions have provided the people of the greater Geraldton region with inspiration and a sense of accomplishment. They have already strengthened community relationships, as demonstrated by the women and young people coming from surrounding towns to participate. Future exhibitions to be held in Geraldton and Mullewa will showcase locally produced pieces and will further develop local and regional pride, build a stronger regional identity and give locals the opportunity to celebrate their achievements. Midwest Millefiore will also provide new economic growth and enterprise opportunities through potential sales of jewellery. Workshop participants, who now possess excellent skills working with polymer clay, a medium that has a limited exposure in Australia, may also find employment opportunities as tutors.

The project has given Debbie and Rachel many opportunities to develop their abilities as community cultural development workers; it has taken their knowledge and skills in jewellery - clay mediums to a world-class level. Since returning from overseas, they have incorporated their new skills and knowledge in their own work and produced work of a higher standard. They have both received requests from interstate communities and jewellery groups for workshops, lesson plans and skills exchanges.

Debbie has developed new skills in community engagement, grant writing and reporting processes. Seeing how others organised their workshops has helped her look at new ways to plan and implement her own workshops. She has been asked to produce polymer clay jewellery pieces for prominent Geraldton jeweller Latitude Gallery, and she has also been asked to contribute regularly to The Polymer Arts magazine.

Her confidence was boosted further when she was invited to take part in a Perth-based exhibition, where her silver clay pieces received great interest and attention. We are excited to see the future developments with polymer clay in Australia, thanks to these newly formed connections with international polymer artists.

Rachel’s confidence and ability to teach others in the silver clay medium have improved considerably.

Opposite from left: A bangle created during the artist’s skill development in the USA; learning how to make sculptured flowers. Above: Mullewa Women’s Indigenous Group participating in a community workshop – creating with polymer clay. Photos by Debbie Crothers.

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DENISE HARDIE Metropolitan Manager, Armadale Youth Resources

In 2012, more than 120 young people participated in Evolution@JullStreet’s range of weekly arts, mural-painting and music workshops, developed by Armadale Youth Resources. This youth arts program had as its focal point the creation of a mural, which was unveiled as part of National Youth Week. Evolution@JullStreet was a youth arts program designed to build skills and capacity in young people to reduce antisocial behaviour and kick start a youth arts culture in Armadale. More than 120 young people participated in signwriting, felting, repurposing jewellery and fashion workshops. They also created a mural on the Telstra exchange building that celebrated the community’s diversity and community spirit. The workshops were based on themes, such as local history and the environment, and often featured art from local Indigenous youth. The program culminated in National Youth Week and incorporated the AMP IT UP! music festival, street theatre, a youth beanbag cinema, youth arts markets, a recycled and vintage clothes market, and the unveiling of the Telstra exchange community mural.

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continuous project was a big ask. The artists leading the workshops needed to be very flexible, develop instantgratification projects and be thick skinned when the kids were being particularly challenging. We overcame a lot of the problems by having three or four different artists working together in one big room so the kids could move between projects as they liked. The ability to work together in supportive teams was also great for the artists, some of who were a bit challenged by the nature of our young participants. Having experienced youth workers on hand was also necessary to ensure harmonious and productive workshops.

did not realise it was there until we painted it! Telstra was so impressed that we have been asked to take on another couple of Telstra exchange building art projects.

One of the biggest challenges for us, as a small not-for-profit, was coping with the scale of the project. We had underestimated how much labour, time and logistics the project would consume. Our youth committee needed skills neither we nor our agency had. We had a few lastminute let-downs and budget worries, and working with the community, local businesses, the Armadale Redevelopment Authority and the local government required a massive organisational and PR effort.

Overall, the project helped to build stronger relationships with the local businesses and others in the community who questioned the value and community-participation of young people.

The community’s response to the mural has been overwhelmingly positive. Everyone agrees it really brightens up what was a very rundown part of town. The most common comment is that it makes the area feel safer. One community member remarked that she walked past that building every day for 20 years and

Even though it is always a struggle to find the funds and resources to cover staff costs, to organise the workshops and events, and to maintain the project’s momentum, we are keen to do it again and to build on the successes we have had to date. We look forward to Evolution@JullStreet getting bigger and bigger every year.

CATEGORY B

METRO

The at-risk young people responded very well to the project’s art and music components. However, our young people are very transient and have a lot going on in their lives that they have no control over. They often have short attention spans, so expecting them to attend workshops week after week and work on one

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$8,668

Opposite: Images from the Evolution@JullStreet celebration. Photos by Crosbie Photographics.

ARMADALE YOUTH RESOURCES

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$37,798

The markets and workshops also received favourable comments from local businesses and the community. We were working in a very visible and central location for the mural and the art and music workshops, so there was lots of positive interaction between the community and the young participants. The community was consulted, and youth workers encouraged people to have input and interact with the young artists.

Our music program continues strongly. AMP IT UP! is now an annual event, as is the youth market during National Youth Week, although in a reduced capacity. We are still negotiating with the owners of empty shops to accommodate pop-up shops for young artists and designers.

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Since I was passionate about the cause, one that is close to my heart as my own mother was diagnosed at the age of 55, I set about presenting my ideas to Alzheimer’s Australia WA. After several months of workshopping the ideas and emailing the alterations back and forth to the staff at the Shenton Park Alzheimer’s office, we came up with a pilot that was suitable to be tested on a larger scale. In November 2012, I received the Catalyst Community Arts Fund grant from CAN WA and began what is now known as the Mind the Change – Theatre Development Workshops.

ALTHEA GORDON Artist

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Mind the Change incorporated theatrebased self-development workshops for people living with memory loss and their carers. The activities were designed to encourage sensory engagement and positive interaction among participants, to help them overcome their feelings of isolation and to improve their mental wellbeing by using drama, distraction and laughter-therapy techniques. Identity, culture and storytelling were also explored through the workshop activities. A performance was developed, captured in stages, edited and shown on a presentation night at the Subiaco Arts Centre.

The initial idea for Mind the Change appeared in 2009 when I was toying with the idea of how theatre arts could be used as a form of therapy for people living with memory loss and for their carers. I had extensive experience working with children living with illness and severe disabilities, and it crossed my mind to try the activities I had used in those circumstances – such as laughter and distraction therapies – with an older audience. I had seen how beneficial the results were with the children and their families, so I thought, why not try it with people living with dementia?

ALTHEA GORDON CATEGORY D

METRO

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$5,312

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$7,083

The Mind the Change – Theatre Development Workshops evolved into a six-week, theatre-based selfdevelopment workshop, involving people living with memory loss and their primary carers. During the sixweek course, they participated in and workshopped drama games and exercises, role-playing, storytelling and improvisation. All of these activities were designed to allow participants sensory engagement and positive interaction to overcome isolation. The way I constructed the six-week workshop program used a combination of drama, positive distraction and laughter-therapy techniques to support the wellbeing of those living with memory loss. The course also allowed an opportunity to explore identity, culture and storytelling. All the participants living with memory loss were thoroughly supported throughout the six weeks, both by me and by the course outline’s building blocks. I challenged the carers with extra tasks, making sure both the participants and the carers felt they were contributing to the activities and storytelling exercises.

The program provided a solid foundation, and a known point, from which to step off before starting the planned activities. Each time the participants were successful – they contributed to or participated in an activity – their confidence grew. The repeated pattern of the six-week period allowed both the participants and the carers to build strategies to tackle everyday life’s challenges with renewed confidence and enthusiasm. The strategies we practised in the “safe” workshop environment could be used in day-to-day life to overcome stressful situations and avoid unfavourable outcomes, such as feelings of defeat. The goal for each of the workshop groups was to develop a performance that reflected the things that are most important to them – things that closely reflect their local identity and culture. The performances were captured in stages and edited as the participants’ levels of confidence were not up to staging their performances live. The performance presentation night was held on 29 April 2013 at Subiaco Arts Centre. At the performance night, I was able to talk with several of the participants from the workshop over a light supper. It was only then that I realised just how much of an effect these workshops had on their everyday lives. The completion of my workshops coincided with the start of the school holidays, and as most of the participants have grandchildren, a lot of them had been spending time with their grandchildren in the week leading up to the performance night. As we were talking, they told me that they had been playing the games and activities we had done in the workshops, as a pair, with

Opposite: Artist Althea Gordon and Tony playing with facial expressions. Above: Mind the Change workshop participant Mary playing with facial expressions. Photos by Suresh Manievannan.

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their grandchildren. The response was very positive! Those living with memory loss were excited to tell me that they had shared a moment with their grandchildren and that the grandchildren had enjoyed playing with them. It was a pleasure to see how much the workshops had continued to affect their lives, outside of the hours we had spent together. Working artistically with people living with memory loss is an experience that I am glad to have had and one that I hope will continue for many years to come. There is a mutual exchange of trust during the workshops, and the participants’ trust has to be gained for them to want to participate in the program. It is important for people to realise that you are coming from an ethical position and you have only the participants’ best interests at heart. For me, transparency was the key. Always allowing myself to be open, honest, patient and passionate in my work meant that whenever a challenge presented itself I was able to be flexible enough to quickly diffuse and resolve the issue. The aim of the Mind the Change workshops is to continue developing the project by touring through regional Western Australia. Eventually I hope that a self-help guide can be published and used by fellow artists and those caring for people living with memory loss. In that way, anyone will be able to run these workshops without me and make a real difference to people living with memory loss.

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Above left: Participants acting out a story. Bottom left: Participants Dallas and John joining in the That’s Right activity – a one-phrase-at-a-time storytelling process. Opposite: Richard playing with facial expressions learned through the Mind the Change workshops. Photos by Suresh Manievannan.

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BASED ON A REPORT BY THE SHIRE OF KOJONUP

In the town of Kojonup, part of the Great Southern agricultural region, there was a need to preserve the local Indigenous culture and history and to educate people about it. Community workshops were held, and eleven sculptures on the theme of “bush tucker” were created. The sculptures now complement The Kodja Place interpretive centre and Kojonup’s heritage bush trail. The agricultural region of Kojonup is approximately halfway between Perth and Albany and is part of Western Australia’s Great Southern region. The community needed to preserve its rich local Indigenous culture, history and sacred places, and provide the local elders with the opportunity to educate people of all backgrounds about the Indigenous culture, language, Dreamtime stories and bush tucker. The community decide to create sculptures from recycled materials on the theme of “bush tucker”. In May 2012, a meeting was held with local Noongar elders, inviting them to give feedback on the project’s concept and to discuss which aspects of Noongar culture they wished to share with the wider community. The stories shared by the Elders were

used to inspire the creation of durable and eclectic sculptures of the plants and animals used as bush tucker in Indigenous culture. Workshops were conducted by project coordinator Anna Boschman and artists Daniel Sprigg and Matt McVeigh. The workshops, attended by students of Kojonup District High School and members of the local community, educated the community about Indigenous culture. They also provided opportunities to discuss the region’s many native flora and fauna species, and the environmental effects of local farming practices and human activity. Most encouraging was the participants’ willingness to have a go at something new; they produced artwork of a high standard despite little or no experience. Nobody was left to struggle alone, and everyone seemed keen to offer ideas and inspiration, making the workshops interactive social activities where collaboration and encouragement prevailed. In June 2012, an exhibition was held at The Kodja Place. The exhibition showcased the sculptures to visitors and members of the local community, who were encouraged

to provide feedback and vote for the sculptures they liked. The sculpture trail has become a fascinating and exciting walk, and features all 11 sculptures, positioned in locations that complement their design. Surrounded by real native flora and fauna, an owl perches high up in a tree, and beside the stream an echidna rests on a log. Many more sculptures like these can be spotted during the walk. The project encountered several challenges. Although the sculptures were created with durable, recycled materials, it is feared some of the works may not survive strong winds and storms. Some sculptures will need to be checked regularly and repaired when necessary. The project successfully provided the foundations for a more resilient community. People from various walks of life were brought together, and participants travelled from nine nearby towns to take part. Locals’ keenness to take part highlighted a need for more rural art projects. Even local teenagers, who may not normally be involved in public-art projects, got involved when a workshop was held at Kojonup District High School. The site preparation and clean-up involved

32 Opposite: Recycled - materials sculpture on display at the Kojonup bush tucker trail. Photo by Wendy Thorne.

SHIRE OF KOJONUP CATEGORY B

REGIONAL

CATALYST FUNDING AMOUNT

$12,000

TOTAL PROJECT COST

$23,019

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Thinking about Applying for a Catalyst Community Arts Fund grant? We strongly encourage you to contact CAN WA in the lead-up to each funding round to discuss your project idea with our funding manager.

low-income earners from the area who were able to take part in the project. While they worked, helpers discussed childhood memories and stories passed down the generations. The people’s stories were successfully recorded in a documentary. It is hoped that the documentary can be used to promote greater cultural awareness, respect for the environment and for the trail itself, and provide a record of the project’s development that will last beyond the life of the artworks. Unfortunately, technical issues with the equipment prevented the documentary from being installed before the project concluded; however, the feedback of those who have seen the documentary is positive.

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Kojonup’s heritage bush trail has inspired several unforseen opportunities in the community. People have been encouraged to

learn about Noongar culture and the environment. Kojonup District High School has created its own bush tucker garden using the knowledge the students have learned. The school researched how to make damper with wattle seeds and is considering including a campfire in the design of their “Noongar garden” to encourage more stories to be shared. A local Noongar Elder has worked with local volunteers to deliver bush tucker tours of a local reserve in Kojonup. Educational resources have also been developed around the project and used by Darkan Primary School on a recent excursion. The teacher gave positive feedback, and the students returned home with a large number of Noongar words added to their vocabulary. The project has also had an effect on future activities planned for Kojonup. There have already been wax and photography workshops, while a

stone carver and a mosaic artist have expressed interest in holding workshops to allow more sculptures to be added to the trail. These will be created with different materials, enabling participants to learn more skills. The community response to the exhibition and sculptures has been positive. The Kodja Place has experienced an increase in people visiting from local communities to look at the artworks. People within the Kojonup community are interested in more similar art projects taking place in the future, and most participants say they would attend again and plan to use the skills they learned. Many people have expressed the view that sculptures should be made annually so the trail can continue evolving and the project can continue to enable further education about and understanding of Indigenous culture.

Above: Community members and artists creating artworks at a Kojonup bush tucker trail workshop. Photo by Wendy Thorne.

Further Funding Opportunities Department of Culture and the Arts

CAN WA delivers a free workshop approximately six weeks before the March and September rounds. The workshop helps you to formulate your ideas, understand the process and selection criteria, and learn how to write a better funding application and prepare a budget. It also offers information about other funding opportunities available.

The Western Australian Department of Culture and the Arts offers a range of funding opportunities and support to the arts across Western Australia.

Further information on the date, time and location of the workshop will be published closer to the rounds on our website and in the Around the Campfire e-news.

Australia Council for the Arts

For more information on funding, visit the department website: www.dca.wa.gov.au/funding.

Guidelines and application forms can be downloaded from www.canwa.com.au/doing/catalyst. The Australia Council for the Arts supports community arts and cultural development through community partnerships. The support takes the form of grants to individual artists, financial and operational support to community arts organisations, community partnership support services and initiatives to build capacity across the sector. For more information on community partnerships funding opportunities, contact CAN WA’s funding manager or visit the grants section of the Australia Council for the Art’s website: www.australiacouncil.gov.au/grants.

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Dream. Plan. Do.: An Introduction to Community Arts and Cultural Development is a comprehensive “how to” community arts publication and film resource produced by CAN WA. It is designed to inspire and guide individuals, organisations and communities to get involved in community arts. The publication addresses what community arts and cultural development are, why they are beneficial and how you go about delivering community art projects. It includes an in-depth exploration of the process and practical steps to follow. The accompanying film features 17 Western Australian and two Polish community artists who share their views on working in community arts. They discuss some of the highlights, common challenges and ways to approach community arts projects. Dream.Plan.Do. is available to purchase for $25 (excluding postage and handling). Contact [email protected] or call (08) 9226 2422 to get your copy. A sample of the chapters and accompanying film can be viewed online at http://www.canwa.com.au/canwa-resources/ publications/project-publications/.

Photos by Daniel Grant.

It is some of most joyful and soulful work you can do. Do it! Michelle Hovane, Artist (commenting on community arts)

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If you can’t actually be there and witness firsthand the power of community arts, then the next best thing is to check it out on film and hear what practitioners have to say about what happened to them. Dr Dave Palmer, Senior Lecturer in Community Development, Murdoch University

Dream. Plan. Do. will encourage and support communities initiating and running their own community-arts and cultural projects, as these will in turn contribute to the wellbeing of their communities. Hon. John Day MLA, Minister for Culture and the Arts

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