Page 4968 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 28 November 2018

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around grants, boards and councils in the ACT. Can you please update the Assembly on the outcome of the latest round of arts activity funding?

MR RAMSAY: I thank Ms Orr for the question. I was pleased in May this year to announce a new, more flexible and frequent approach to funding arts projects which has been very well received across the arts community.

This year’s advertised pool of $775,000 in project funding, which is now called arts activity funding, is delivered in two major rounds each year of grants of up to $50,000, as well as a rolling program of grants of up to $5,000. On 31 October I announced the first recipients of the $5,000 to $50,000 funding round, which resulted in 16 projects being funded, to a total of $303,000, with a further $300,000 available in the next round, which opens on 1 December.

The quality of applications, not surprisingly, was very high. Successful projects included the recording, mixing and mastering of an EP of new hip hop music by artist KG, a visual arts project pairing seven community artists who live with disability from Hands On Studio with seven working Canberra artists, and the BOLD II Festival, which celebrates the legacy and impact of professional and community dance across all ages and cultures.

Unsuccessful applicants in this round are welcome to apply again for the next round. The up to $5,000 funding is available all year round. To date 17 successful applications have received total funding of over $62,000 of the $175,000 that is available for this financial year.

There is a full list of the funding recipients on the artsACT website. The variety and strength of these successful projects further showcase the vibrancy of the Canberra arts sector and its strong contribution to the social, cultural and economic life of this city.

MS ORR: Can the minister outline what the recent grants for capacity building in the arts sector are achieving?

MR RAMSAY: I thank Ms Orr for the supplementary question. The arts capacity building funding I announced earlier this year was in response to feedback I received from the arts and is being delivered in a number of ways. The Ainslie and Gorman arts centres have been granted funding of $25,000 for capacity building for ACT artists in 2018 and 2019 for the design and delivery of free assistance to ACT artists to conceptualise and develop arts projects and to develop funding applications, including to the ACT government.

MusicACT has been granted funding of $108,000 for capacity building for the live music sector in 2018 and 2019 to deliver a program of workshops and seminars on professional skills development; working with promoters, event managers and record companies; staging performance; self-promotion; the impact of digital technology; and support for all-ages concerts.


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