- The inaugural round of Queensland Arts Project Fund is supporting organisations and groups and delivering on Queensland's Time to Shine: A 10-year arts and cultural strategy.
- Funding supports a broad range of activities and artforms across visual and performing arts, writing, design and multidisciplinary arts.
- Nearly $1.8 million will deliver 37 exciting new creative works across Queensland.
- The Crisafulli Government is delivering a plan for Queensland's future after a decade of decline under Labor.
The Crisafulli Government is delivering a plan for the future of Queensland's vibrant arts sector with an inaugural round of funding to support arts groups, organisations and individuals across the state. The Queensland Arts Project Fund will help local creatives develop and deliver new arts and cultural work and enliven galleries, stages, studios, digital and community spaces. Nearly $1.8 million will be shared between 37 successful applicants from Far North Queensland to the Gold Coast, including Dead Puppet Society, Gold Coast Music Network, Mount Isa City Council Owned Enterprise Pty Ltd and Cairns-based violinist and teacher Kirtley Walker-Halstead.
The funding is delivered through three streams - a general stream providing up to $70,000 for projects, an individuals stream providing up to $20,000, and two-year matched funding of up to $150,000 for exceptional large-scale projects.
Additional funding of up to $10,000 has been made available to applicants through the Fund to support access needs of artists and audiences with disability. Minister for the Arts John-Paul Langbroek said the inaugural round of funding was part of the Crisafulli Government's plan to grow the State's vibrant arts scene through our 10-year arts strategy Queensland's Time to Shine. "The first round of the Queensland Arts Project Fund showcases the true depth, diversity and originality of creative talent in Queensland," Minister Langbroek said.
"The Crisafulli Government is delivering a plan to grow the sector and ensure arts experiences are accessible for all Queenslanders, after a decade of decline under the former Labor Government. "The central role of our independent artists is recognised through the Fund, comprising a third of successful applicants, and a further seven applicants will share in additional funding of more than $45,000 to support artists and audiences with disability, ensuring projects are more inclusive. "More than half of the successful applicants are based outside of Brisbane which will help boost creative opportunities across regional Queensland.
"This inaugural fund will inspire new audiences, contribute to our creative economy, and ensure our arts and cultural experiences grow heading into the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games."
Cairns-based violinist and playwright Kirtley Walker-Halstead is among 13 individual artists and arts workers to receive a one-off grant through the Fund, allowing her to develop a new history-spanning chamber music and theatre work alongside fellow musician and composer Dr Katrina Pring.
Ms Walker-Halstead said she was overjoyed to receive grant funding in this round of the Queensland Arts Project Fund.
"As a result of this generous funding The Dalinger Violin - A Violin's Journey Through Time can take the first steps to becoming a finely crafted play rich with newly composed chamber music," Ms Walker-Halstead said.
"Together with my collaborator Katrina Pring, we are so immensely grateful for the opportunity this grant provides us to create my violin's signature melodies, telling the story of its travels in a 300-year journey to unite with me, its latest violinist-caretaker, here in the mystical tropics of Far North Queensland.
"As Katrina and I are both regional based artists, the support of Arts Queensland is vital to give new works - such as ours - life and vision."
Dead Puppet Society, a Brisbane-based theatre company known for blending intricate and high-tech design with genre-defying storytelling will receive a grant of $73,648 to develop ECHO – an innovative robotic puppet performance delivered in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and The Princess Theatre.
Eligible project activities from Round 1 will commence from 2 March 2026.
