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March 29, 2024

Joining the dots of NSW’s arts policy

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The state government asked for feedback on its arts and cultural policy, so The Echo sought the opinions of three local arts producers.

Mullum Music Festival

Industry veteran Glenn Wright is experienced in all facets of the music business, from managing one of Sydney’s most popular music venues, the Harbourside Brasserie, to operating independent record label Vitamin. He is also director of the Mullum Music Festival.

He didn’t hold back: ‘Wow – really dumb paper’.

‘I think the majority of the so-called arts events in NSW that the report mentions are more commercial events. They are large events, but in general don’t support the arts of the region. The report seems to suggest big is best and does not really look to foster artists in NSW as much as it does events.

‘From a record company point of view, NSW has the poorest record of any state in promoting and supporting musicians. WA, Victoria and Queensland all have very proactive state organisations that support musicians. Music NSW, of which I was a board member for four years, has substantially less funds than other states, yet has a far larger music community to service. If you were a young musician in a band and you wanted support for your career then the number one advice I would give is get a WA, Vic or Queensland PO box and say you live in those states. Those states have great initiatives that support young musicians. NSW is more interested in the Sydney Festival and presenting international artists and selling tickets to those international artists. NSW is more about money than fostering an arts and culture community.’

Screenworks

As the region’s screen gateway organisation for more than a decade, Screenworks delivers professional development programs that target creative cluster networking.

General manager Jill Moonie said, ‘There’s good news and other news, plus the surprise of seeing sport mentioned’.

‘Happily, the good news is that NSW is acknowledged as having the lion’s share of the Australian screen production industry, which is predicted to grow at a rate of 7.4 per cent. Northern NSW has the largest regional screen presence in Australia and a 2009 report highlighted that the creative industries growth in this region was more than five per cent annually.

‘Although the report doesn’t specifically recognise this region’s screen contribution, data collected each year by Screenworks put a figure of $30 million delivered into the regional economy and more than 670 jobs created in 2012 through TV drama and reality programs, documentary, web content and other regional production.

‘In addition, the discussion paper identifies opportunities for early career screen practitioners to access knowledge and advice from professionals as being vital for career development.’ Ms Moonie says Screenworks has been delivering this through its current program ‘Enterprise’.

‘Also mentioned in the discussion paper is the lack of formal mentoring schemes,’ she says, ‘which in my experience fast-forward career development and access to jobs. In 2010, Screenworks attracted regional arts funding to run an internship program for four early career practitioners; of those, three continued in jobs, with two of them having ongoing professional success.

‘Despite the glowing reports, mentoring programs continue to be hard to attract ongoing funding to, and the discussion paper doesn’t provide any solutions. In fact, funding for so many of the valuable projects is problematic as it is often one-off funding, with no opportunity to extend the reach of the benefits that arise.

‘So what does this good news and optimism for growth mean for regional NSW creatives? Ultimately, the NSW government has made it abundantly clear in this paper that a broader income base is more crucial than ever to keep small regional organisations, such as Screenworks, sustainable and viable. They are keen to see us funded via crowdfunding and new private sector support. We welcome private sector funding opportunities; however, the competition for private funds is just as fiercely contended. We may well see The Screenworks Project on Pozible and ask you all to dig deep.’

Arts Northern Rivers 

Arts Northern Rivers is the peak body for the arts and cultural sector in the northern rivers region. Its statewide network of regional arts boards are dedicated to building positive futures for regional, rural and remote communities in NSW.

CEO/regional arts development officer Peter Wood says of the policy, ‘In the first instance it’s great to see that the paper acknowledges the Regional Arts Network as an integral part of arts and cultural development across the state. I think it’s important to acknowledge that the Regional Arts Board model is unique to our state and has proved to be an effective and efficient model for delivering cultural services and projects to regional communities.

‘I was pleased to see that the discussion paper encourages us to think beyond the traditional model of “taking arts to the regions” and instead supporting the growth of excellent locally produced cultural products. I think our region in particular has a very strong record of this and in many ways is a leader. NORPA is a good example.

‘I was also pleased to see that that the paper recognises that different regions have different priorities and needs.

‘Delivery of sustainable projects that support various sectors within the creative industries. Currently we are delivering a project that supports the music sector through a mentorship and business development model, which has already had some great outcomes, but it is a limited-life project subject to current funding models that mean it is difficult to extend the project further. The proposed directions outlined in the paper are a little vague but I think they’re generally in the right direction.’

He says that includes identifying areas of specific need, reviewing the NSW government engagement with councils and supporting regional arts boards through training programs, including strategic planning and financial management.

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