Grants to boost creativity for Great Southern artists following COVID-19

Local artists and art groups have received creative enterprise grants from the City of Albany aimed at supporting economic and social recovery following COVID-19.

The grant recipients have shared in $25,000 committed by the Vancouver Arts Centre to develop projects and events in partnership with small businesses in the region.

Six local creatives ranging from authors, artists and filmmakers will have the chance to invigorate their careers with the opportunity to create new projects.

Author Dianne Wolfer will activate two literary events involving five authors and an Albany musician who will all partner with Six Degrees, Paperbark Merchants and Albany Stationers.

Kwongkan Middars (Sand Dancers) is a film by Robert Castiglione that follows the journey of two 16-year-old Noongar boys as they establish a business that presents traditional cultural dances for visitors to Albany.

The Menang Women’s Weaving Circle features Noongar women and elders sharing skills in fibre weaving, creating utilitarian objects and wearable adornments that relate to Menang history.

Albany’s three original York Street and Albany Highway arcades will provide a canvas for the Make a Scene artist pop-up project including markets and workshops.

Matt Ward is developing an interactive QR code trail that will encourage users to solve clues to discover the location of the next QR code in View from the Magpie’s Nest: The QR Code Trail where each code brings a story to life through song.

A website highlighting beloved Great Southern beaches created by Alex Gott-Cumbers will incorporate a traffic light system that lets users know the best time to visit each beach.

City of Albany chief executive Andrew Sharpe said supporting local creativity and talent was vital.

“The six projects that have received these grants display a wide range of disciplines and attract a broad audience, which will enable a vast amount of our community to engage with local art,” Mr Sharpe said.

“COVID-19 has been a trying time for the creativity sector, so we want to see them bouncing back stronger than ever and offering some excitement, engagement and inspiration to our local community.”