Regional Arts NSW

Media Release

14 April 2011

Country Arts Support Program funds 134 new projects for 2011

Regional Arts NSW is delighted to announce the successful funding applicants of the Country Arts Support Program (CASP) for 2011. This year 134 new arts projects have been given the go-ahead in regional, rural and remote NSW, with a remarkable range of activities, ranging through classical music, oral histories, multi-cultural dance, community choir workshops, origami and graffiti art.

"We welcomed the announcement of an additional $50,000 in funding from the NSW Government to add to this year’s funding pool”, said Elizabeth Rogers, CEO of Regional Arts NSW. “CASP provides small grants for arts projects across the State that yield great benefit to regional communities. The 14 Regional Arts Boards receive an equal proportion of the total funding pool to support projects in their regions and the additional money helps to meet the demand for this program”.

CASP is a key regional arts funding program for NSW which provides support to employ artists in locally initiated arts and cultural projects. The aim is to provide access to arts activities for small communities, to encourage communities to work together on cultural projects, to foster cultural diversity in the regions and to ensure that regional and rural areas have an artistic voice.

Grants of between $300 and $3,000 were provided from a total pool of $200,000 which is devolved to Regional Arts NSW from the NSW Government. For 2011, this amount was bolstered by a one-off addition of $50,000 from Arts NSW. Recommendations on funding are made locally by regional CASP assessment panels, coordinated by the Regional Arts Boards. Applications from local government areas not serviced by a Regional Arts Board are assessed by the State CASP assessment panel which meets in Sydney to approve the final allocations.

This year there were 176 applications received from every region of the State, with a total request of over $380,000. Many of these were first-time applicants and 134 grants were approved.
Some of the highlights among this year’s list are:

A digital storytelling project in the Southern Highlands, utilising skills in interviewing, sound recording, photography and digital processing, where 8 young people share what it is like to be young in 2011 and 8 elderly people tell us what life was like when they were young.
Puppetry skills development workshops with members of the Albury Aboriginal community to learn the basic skills of puppetry, and creative development of a local story which will be scripted for a performance at the Bundyi Festival in March 2012.
Narrandera Aboriginal community members will be taught traditional dance by Duncan Smith from dance group Wiradjuri Echoes, to develop the skills of these participants so that they in turn can pass on these cultural traditions to Aboriginal youth in the area.
Renowned local artist, Brigid Palin, will conduct workshops for the youth of Dunedoo on paper mache and plaster castings and will create a life-sized sculpture of the now extinct megafaunal marsupial lion, which will go on permanent display in the Dunedoo Landcare Office.
Performer Kyoko Miyauchi will conduct a series of traditional Japanese storytelling theatre performances and origami workshops for school students at outer regional primary schools in Baryulgil, Coutts Crossing and Herani in the Northern Rivers.

Read the full list of grant recipients here

Contact: Annette Eassie, Funding Manager, Regional Arts NSW
Tel 02 9270 2502 Email fundingmanager@regionalartsnsw.com.au