Christmas bonus! A bucket of money for Gold Coast creatives
Once deemed a cultural desert, the Gold Coast is now an arts powerhouse that’s just put more than $1 million dollars up for grabs for artists with the right stuff.
Paul Keating once famously said that you should never get between a premier and a bucket of money. The same could be said of artists. So let’s watch the stampede that ensues when Gold Coast artists hear they are set to benefit from the launch of an exciting new $1.5 million arts fund designed to support and raise the profile of local talent.
The Experience Gold Coast (EGC) Arts Fund will showcase the breadth of the Gold Coast’s artists and support their creative capacity by funding a broad range of art form practices including theatre, dance, music, film and photography, circus and multi-genre collaborations.
Grants of up to $200,000 will be available to artists and creatives where the presentation of local content can be aligned to EGC signature festivals and events.
It seems almost counter-intuitive that the glitter strip has become such an arts powerhouse with the coming of Bleach Festival and HOTA. The arts have the support of the entrepreneurial Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate who says “the EGC Arts Fund is a timely hand up, not a handout, for local creatives”.
“We know we have incredibly talented locals across a whole range of artistic pursuits, and this project will provide the support they need to go to the next level,” Mayor Tate says.
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Experience Gold Coast’s head of arts and culture Yamila Alfonzetti says the organisation is honoured to be in a position to make a significant annual contribution to the arts and culture ecology of the Gold Coast.
“A thriving society needs arts and culture practitioners and activities of all types and levels,” Alfonzetti says, adding that the fund “will ensure that the Gold Coast continues its impressive trajectory”.
“HOTA, Home of the Arts, is in the privileged position of being able to support dozens of Gold Coast artists and creative personnel each year, and the opportunity for HOTA to present even more artists and their work at this wonderful precinct is one which I welcome wholeheartedly,” she says.
The $1.5 million in funding is aimed at making a significant investment in local artists, local performing arts companies and creative personnel to deliver high-profile and reputation-raising outcomes across all art forms.
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Applicants can apply for three grant categories with funding tiers of up to $25,000, $100,00 or $200,000.
The EGC Arts Fund is made possible with the support of the City of Gold Coast, something Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn makes clear.
“I want to acknowledge the unwavering support of Mayor Tom Tate, whose vision for arts and culture in this great city is unrivalled,” Warn says.
“From Blues on Broadbeach to Groundwater Country Music Festival to Bleach and Wonder – this is our invitation to our artists to join us in making brilliant and irresistible art right here on the Gold Coast.”
The new EGC Arts Fund will focus on three grant categories: Gold Coast Stories – development of new content by Gold Coast artists, companies and community for presentation across EGC platforms, festivals, events and stages; Gold Coast Creates – attracting high-calibre artists with strong connection to the Gold Coast to create and deliver work; and Gold Coast Presents – presentation of readymade high-quality local creative content.
Applicants practicing in any art form are eligible to apply, with new and unusual contemporary arts practices encouraged.
More information about application open and close dates as well as criteria for the three categories is available on the Experience Gold Coast website.