Liesel Zink, The Stance, Creative Sparks Program 2014-15. Image courtesy of Liesel Zink.
With seismic changes at the Australia Council and cuts to federal arts funding, the role that local government plays in supporting the arts sector has become more important than ever.
Arts grants programs, such as those offered by Brisbane City Council though its Creative Sparks Program and Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowships, play a major role in supporting individual artists and organisations in the development and presentation of rigorous and innovative arts projects. Applications to both programs, as well as the Brisbane History Grants, are now open.
The Creative Sparks Program is a joint initiative with the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and includes a $200,000 funding pool to support artists, arts workers and producers in the development of new work and the extension of their professional practice. Up to $20,000 funding per application is available.
‘The great thing about Creative Sparks in the context of Brisbane is that it really is trying to find those artists that have a commitment to Brisbane and making work in Brisbane, and it’s a real commitment to supporting them. Brisbane is quite a small community in some respects, so I think it’s a really great opportunity to get your name in the mix and hopefully get some work,’ said dancer/choreographer Liesel Zink, who received $18,000 funding through Creative Sparks in 2015.
As a result of being funded, Zink was able to complete the development of a new site-specific dance and sound work, The Stance, and present it in Brisbane’s King George Square. The work was subsequently showcased at the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) in February 2016, and has been programmed as part of Junction Arts Festival in Launceston, Tasmania, where it is being staged this week.
‘For me the Creative Sparks grant allowed me to create my second, quite large scale, site-specific work and that allowed me to work with nine Brisbane dancers as well as my core creative team – to work with a really big bunch of Brisbane dancers, to work outdoors, in a Brisbane space, and to be presented by Brisbane’s very own Metro Arts. It really gave me time in my home town to build a work, and from there I’ve actually been able to take that work, The Stance, to APAM and have it seen on a global level, and my practice is now starting to go international, which is really exciting.’
Learn more about the Creative Sparks Program
Zink has subsequently received additional funding through the Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowships, a program supporting Brisbane artists and arts workers aged 17-30 years who wish to join national or international training and development programs.
‘The Lord Mayor’s Fellowship is helping support me to take the next step in my practice, and the next step overseas as well, so it’s been a really nice kind of trajectory,’ Zink said.
Jeweller Clare Poppi; image supplied.
Contemporary jeweller Clare Poppi was the recipient of a Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship in 2013, which enabled her to study environmentally sustainable jewellery making practices with artist Christine Dhein in San Francisco.
‘I was looking for ways I could continue learning and continue expanding my practice, and because I have an interest in ethical jewellery practices I’d met Christine a few years earlier. I was really interested to reconnect with her and look for a way where I could really learn more outside of a traditional institution,’ said Poppi.
Read more about the Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship
Both artists stressed how simple the funding application was, with Zink noting: ‘They ask you to reflect on your practice and your relationship to Brisbane and how this work will help Brisbane audiences and help Brisbane artists, as well as asking about your project and what you want to do.
‘And I think the great thing about Brisbane City Council is they’re really good, particularly for those younger emerging artists – they’re really helpful and friendly during the process, and they also have quite a few forums and conversations to try and help guide people through that process.’
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Despite the relatively easy application process, Poppi said it was helpful to have some more experienced friends read over her application.
‘Because it’s very different for an artist starting out, so I think it’s very helpful to have other people read over it who can help point out the things that you’ve been able to achieve in your career to date,’ said Poppi.
Following her return to Brisbane from San Francisco, Poppi was keen – as are all Fellowship recipients – to pass on her newly-learned skills to other artists.
‘I came back and delivered some classes at local institutions, at the Brisbane Institute of Art and at Fio, a contemporary jewellery studio, and so through that I was able to pass on all of that knowledge that I’ve been able to gain from Christine and from the Fellowship to other people who are starting out on their journey as well,’ she said.
Zink is also appreciative of the opportunity to disseminate her learnings to friends and colleagues.
‘It’s so important. I think that what both the Creative Sparks and the Lord Mayor’s Fellowship offer is for you to kind of come back and give back to your community,’ she said.
‘Creative Sparks is about building a project in Brisbane, and the Lord Mayor’s support is for Brisbane artists to develop professionally and have these exciting opportunities and then enrich the process in Brisbane as well. And I think that need to travel and come back is important, to make sure that you know the larger context in which you’re creating work, so that your work in Brisbane is still developing and moving forward in a progressive way.’
Applications for the Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowships and Creative Sparks opened on Monday 5 September and close Monday 24 October 2016. Visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au for details.
