The City of Melbourne has awarded more than $800,000 to a diverse range of artists, as part of the latest round of Council's Annual Arts Grants Program.
70 artists and arts and creative organisations, have received funding for 2020, representing one of the largest cohorts of grants recipients ever funded by the City of Melbourne.
Chair of the Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolio, Councillor Rohan Leppert, said the grants provide a major boost for Melbourne's arts scene, with projects stretching from theatre, dance and music to writing, multimedia and visual arts.
"This year's recipients are some of the most diverse we've ever seen and are a testament to the continued growth of our city's renowned arts scene," Cr Leppert said.
"With this funding more than 1,070 artists will be employed to create 1,400 days of arts activity, 74 per cent of which will be completely free to the public.
"I'm proud that Council is continuing to work hard to promote and foster Melbourne's artistic growth as we cement our title as Australia's cultural capital."
This year's grant recipients include:
- Weird Place Fest4, a two-day festival line-up of Australia's most exciting established and up and coming punk, rock, psych, post-punk and garage rock bands.
- Multimedia experience BeeScapes, an immersive VR artwork and documentary experience allowing audiences to experience the world through the senses of a bee.
- Music program Music in Exile, designed to support Melbourne musicians from refugee or migrant backgrounds to showcase their work and break into the music scene.
- A suite of neon works created by Sanja Pahoki entitled The Window, designed to connect the artist with the passing community of workers, residents and visitors.
Councillor Rohan Leppert said the latest round of Arts Grants is part of the City of Melbourne's new Creative Funding Framework.
"Council invests over $4 million into arts and creative outcomes each year by independent artists and arts organisations," Cr Leppert said.
"The framework helps us set out a clear purpose and principles to guide our future investment up to 2024."
