Inner West Council will take immediate action on the feedback from the recent Arts and Music Summit by turning all eight Inner West Council Town Halls into arts and culture venues and exploring more Special Entertainment Precinct locations in the Inner West.
The summit, which was hosted by the Inner West Council in partnership with the Sydney Fringe Festival and was designed to help performers, artists and arts-based businesses find a way forward after two years of the pandemic.
It was attended by a broad and representative cross section of the Inner West arts and music sectors including artists, peak organisations, creative businesses, live performance venue operators and academics as well as several State and Federal parliamentarians representing electorates in the Inner West Local Government Area with the aim to facilitate an open discussion of ideas, and to record the input of participants to enable development of an Inner West Arts and Music Recovery Plan.
Council received a report from the Summit. This report was completed by an external facilitator. It includes specific actions proposed by participants on the day which could be undertaken by Local, State and Federal Government as well as the business community and relevant peak bodies.
While the Arts and Music Recovery Plan is in development, immediate action can be taken to help our creative community. This includes:
- Ensuring maximum use of local artists and venues for Council events including the Marrickville Festival, Inner West Film Festival, World Pride activations, and the Perfect Match program
- Conducting a creative spaces audit to identify appropriate spaces across the Inner West for creative and rehearsal use. Council's eight town halls have already been approved for this initiative
- Investigating opportunities to support local artists and music venues by identifying potential locations for more Special Entertainment Precincts in the Inner West
- Establishing a 'concierge matching' service that matches artists with spaces
- Reaffirming Council's Outdoor Activation program and Public Art program and enhancing Council's commitment to Perfect Match by increasing funding 20%.
Councillor Chloe Smith said, "We have heard loud and clear from artists, musicians, and creative venues that they need support right now. This suite of measures includes tangible actions that Council can take straight away to support our local creative community and reinvigorate live music and arts in the Inner West.
Early next year, we will begin opening up all eight town halls across the Inner West for use as live music, rehearsal, studio and creative venues, as we have done at Marrickville Town Hall.
This will help to address the critical shortage of creative space in the inner city and breathe new life into these proud civic venues.
I'm looking forward to working closely with our local creative community as we chart a blueprint for the sector's recovery."
Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne has written to Arts Minister Ben Franklin and Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke regarding the outcomes of the Inner West Arts Summit.
Mayor Byrne is confident that both Ministers will embrace the findings of the summit and that a bright future for the creative community of the Inner West and broader NSW lies ahead.
"The Inner West will be the beating heart of this change. With the feedback from the Summit report, and collaboration from key stakeholders including the Arts and Culture Advisory Group, we'll be able to develop a robust Arts and Music Recovery Plan that will help put the Inner West's creative community back on track," Mr Byrne said.
