News

Regional and rural communities stand to benefit from improvements in the administration of the Regional Arts Fund following the appointment of Regional Arts NSW as the manager of the Fund in New South Wales for the next three years. The changes introduced by Regional Arts are intended to increase the opportunities for sustainable cultural development offered by the Fund.

The Regional Arts Fund is a major Commonwealth Government grants program aimed at giving all Australians, wherever they live, better access to opportunities to practise and experience the arts. A total of $230,000 is available for New South Wales under the fund for 2002.

Since its inception until now, the Regional Arts Fund has been administered in New South Wales by the NSW Ministry for the Arts. Regional Arts NSW sees the invitation to administer the Fund as a significant endorsement of the position achieved by the organisation since its restructure two years ago.

As the peak body for the arts and community cultural development in regional NSW, Regional Arts NSW offers a coordinated approach to statewide regional arts development and is the fitting manager of an arts program with a regional and rural focus.

From its consultation with regional arts workers, Regional Arts NSW understands that supporting projects with long term objectives is the way to achieve sustainable arts and cultural development in this state. Accordingly, we have introduced a major new initiative under the Regional Arts Fund which allows for two to three year projects.

The allocation under the Fund for Regional Quick Turnaround Grants has also been increased, from $13,000 to $25,000 per annum, to provide increased professional development and project development opportunities for rural and regional arts and cultural groups and practitioners.

Regional Arts NSW will also be undertaking some major promotional efforts to spread the word about the outcomes of these projects - telling the stories, sharing the lessons and celebrating the achievements - producing documentation that meaningfully extends the value of the work and helps to increase the profile for the arts in regional NSW.

Extensive consultations have been conducted with the former Fund manager to ensure a continued high standard of administration for the Regional Arts Fund. Regional Arts NSW has appointed an assessment panel of nominees from statewide arts organisations with regional programs, representing a cross-section of art forms and/or areas of practice. The individuals panel members are:

• Jan Irvine, Performing Arts/Touring Manager, NSW Ministry for the Arts (and former fund manager)
• Virginia Ferris, dancer/choreographer
• Vahid Vahed, film/video/multimedia artist
• Meg Larkin, Community Services Manager, Tamworth City Council, Deputy Chair Regional Arts NSW
• Nina Angelo, community cultural development artist
• David Gilbey, writer/author
• Charles Trindall, composer/musician, Regional Indigenous Cultural Officer, Regional Arts NSW and
• Gillian McCracken, curator, researcher, visual arts/crafts policy adviser.

Regional Arts NSW is also pleased to have secured the services of arts consultant Patricia Parker to set up the guidelines and procedures for the administration of the Fund and to manage the first round of applications.

The timeline for the introduction of the Regional Arts Fund at Regional Arts NSW has been challenging, due to difficult deadlines being experienced at Commonwealth government level. Nonetheless, Regional Arts NSW is determined to make the funds available to New South Wales as soon as possible. The first round is therefore open immediately, with a deadline for applications of 5:00pm, Friday 16th November 2001. The results will be announced in mid December.

Further information about the Regional Arts Fund is available from the Grants section of our website.