New visual art, theatre, songwriting and public art pieces will come to life in Townsville thanks to five Regional Art Development Fund (RADF) grants approved at today's Townsville City Council meeting.
Council partners with Arts Queensland to deliver the grants, which support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
Community and Cultural Development Committee chairperson Ann-Maree Greaney said the five successful applicants all showed a clear vision for the pieces of art they wanted to produce.
"RADF grants are open to any and all art practitioners in Townsville who want additional support to bring their art to life," Cr Greaney said.
"There is a RADF Panel that assesses each application and determines whether they will be beneficial to the Townsville community. In the first round of the 2021/2022 RADF, we have selected five successful applicants whose works will positively impact our city."
The successful applicants are Shakespeare Under the Stars for Orphans by Dennis Kelly, Jo Stacey with Life Below Water, Jonathan McBurnie with Maximal Madness (Working Title), Isabelle Reynaud with Songwriting Intensive and Bede Ashley with Community Collaboration to Kickstart Short Film Industry in Townsville.
Cr Greaney said these works and projects all showed just how much local talent was harboured in Townsville.
"Townsville is the home of a wealth of talented individuals and passionate artistic groups who help make the city vibrant, exciting and colourful," she said.
"I'm looking forward to seeing these works and projects completed and open to the public in 2022."
Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said the Palaszczuk Government is investing $2.08 million through the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) in 2021-22, matched with a contribution of approximately $2.3 million from 59 councils across the state.
"RADF is a great example of working together to deliver our COVID-19 economic recovery plan, supporting employment opportunities and creating new arts and cultural experiences in local and regional communities," Minister Enoch said.
"RADF in 2021–2022 will provide valuable social, health and economic outcomes for regional Queenslanders, and support our Government's 10-year arts roadmap priorities to strengthen Queensland communities, activate local places, and drive social change across the state.
"Our investment complements the Palaszczuk Government's wider commitment to regional arts, including continued support of $6 million over four years for the Regional Arts Services Network (RASN)."
