Council Report Attachment: 1. Community Services Committee, Agenda Item 5.5, 12 September 2006

C O U N C I L R E P O R T Agenda Item 5.9

26 September 2006

2007 ARTS GRANTS PROGRAM

Committee Community Services

Presenter Cr Wilson

Purpose

1. To:

1.1. provide a summary of the 2007 Arts Grants Program;

1.2. consider the final list of recommendations of the Cultural Affairs Advisory Board; and

1.3. seek approval for the allocation of grants, as shown in the attached tables.

Consideration at Committee

2. As a result of consideration at Committee, the recommendation contained in the Management Report as adopted, subject to the following amendments:

2.1. the words “(except the International Chinese Arts Festival)” being added to the end of paragraph 3.1 below; and

2.2. the following paragraph (3.3 below) being added:

“approve the arts grants allocation for the International Chines Arts Festival.”

Recommendation

3. That Council:

3.1. approve the 2007 Arts Grants allocations, as recommended by the Cultural Affairs Advisory Board and detailed in Attachment 1 to the Management Report (except the International Chines Arts Festival) ; and

3.2. refer uncommitted funds of $74,500 in the Indigenous Arts category to Council’s Indigenous Arts Advisory Panel to be allocated to projects that reflect Council’s celebration and acknowledgement of Sorry Day, Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC weeks in 2007; and

3.3. approve the arts grants allocation for the International Chinese Arts Festival.

C O M M U N I T Y S E R V I C E S C O M M I T T E E R E P O R T

Agenda Item 5.5

12 September 2006

2007 ARTS GRANTS PROGRAM

Division Arts & Culture

Presenter Morris Bellamy, Manager Arts & Culture

Purpose

1. To:

1.1. provide a summary of the 2007 Arts Grants Program;

1.2. consider the final list of recommendations of the Cultural Affairs Advisory Board; and

1.3. seek approval for the allocation of grants, as shown in the attached tables.

Recommendation from Management

2. That the Community Services Committee recommend that Council:

2.1. approve the 2007 Arts Grants allocations, as recommended by the Cultural Affairs Advisory Board and detailed in Attachment 1 to this report; and

2.2. refer uncommitted funds of $74,500 in the Indigenous Arts category to Council’s Indigenous Arts Advisory Panel to be allocated to projects that reflect Council’s celebration and acknowledgement of Sorry Day, Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC weeks in 2007.

Key Issues

Time Frame

3. It is planned to advise applicants of the 2007 Arts Grants Program outcomes as soon as possible after the September meeting. This will allow for preparation time for all projects, including those commencing early in the 2007 calendar year.

Relation to Council Policy

4. The 2007 Arts Grants Program and the recommendations of the Assessment Panels support Council’s Arts Strategy 2004-2007, noting that the membership of the Assessment Panels is set out at Attachment 2. The 2007 Arts Grants Program is a key element of Investing in the Arts. Further, the recommendations are consistent with the overall directions of City Plan 2010 – Connected and Accessible, Inclusive and Engaging.

Consultation

5. Consultation has occurred at all stages of the planning, development and implementation of the 2007 Arts Grants Program. This consultation has involved Councillors, Council staff, Cultural Affairs Advisory Board delegates, grant recipients and industry representatives.

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Government Relations

6. The Council is aware of Federal and State Government funding for the arts. The funding objectives and aims of Arts Victoria and the Australia Council are distinct to those of Council and its aims and objectives as expressed in the Arts Strategy 2004-2007.

Finance

7. A total of $1.157 million is budgeted for the 2007 Arts Grants Program. In the current year, a further $2.18 million is provided in Arts and Culture grants and subsidies for the 32 Triennial Program funding recipients.

8. All grant recommendations are funded from the 2006/2007 operating budget under ‘Grants and Subsidies’ expenditure.

Legal

9. There are no direct legal issues arising from the recommendation. The recommendation is within Council’s functions and powers.

Sustainability

10. With reference to the goal of a connected and accessible City of Melbourne, Council’s 2007 Arts Grants Program contributes to the ‘cultural accessibility’ of the City through its diverse scope of individual and collaborative projects and activities.

11. With reference to the goal of an inclusive and engaging city, the 2007 Arts Grants Program includes categories that achieve the action of establishing ‘community and cultural development projects to promote understanding of our personal culture and that of others’. The 2007 Arts Grants Program strongly focuses on the strategic direction of promoting, celebrating and further developing ‘Melbourne as a City of the Arts with a rich and vibrant cultural life’.

12. With reference to the goal of an innovative and vital business city, the Victorian arts industry, with Melbourne as its core activity centre, employs around 20,000 people and generates $2.05 billion annually.

13. With reference to the goal of an environmentally responsible city, the 2007 Arts Grants Program promotes cultural and arts activities that are both environmentally respectful and responsible.

Background

Overview

14. Council’s commitment to creating an innovative and vibrant city environment is demonstrated through the Arts Grants Program. The City of Melbourne currently supports more arts and cultural activities than any other local government in Australia. Council demonstrates particular leadership in support of Indigenous arts, the ArtPlay program and young artists.

15. The major review of Council’s Triennial Program 2006-2008 impacts on the annual Grants Program. The key change is that recurrent funding is now linked to the Triennial Program. This in turn enables the annual grants to be more flexible and responsive to creative new projects for the Council and the arts community.

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16. This year, three key changes were made to the Arts Grants Program to ensure maximum opportunity for artists to engage with the arts in Melbourne. These were:

16.1. the former Community History Publishing category was revised to become Writing about Melbourne to capture a wider and diverse range of publications and websites;

16.2. a 100 per cent increase in funding for the Artplay category; and

16.3. the North Melbourne Town Hall category is now known as Arts House Presentation Grants and will continue to be split into two funding rounds for 2007, which will assist with the curated program of the venue. Arts Grants in this report relate to the period January to June.

17. The Arts Grants Program is a vital component of Council’s commitment to nurturing and supporting artists to present new projects, events and activities to city audiences. It reflects a broad range of contemporary arts practice crossing all artforms. The benefits to the city’s visitors, workers, students and residents include access to affordable and often free innovative arts and cultural events.

18. The guidelines for the 2007 Arts Grants Program state that applicants must have acquitted all previous grants from the City of Melbourne to be eligible to apply for funding.

19. Grants are provided for one year only and there is no guarantee of future funding.

Advertising and Promotion

20. The 2007 Arts Grants Program was advertised in April 2006 with a closing date of 26 June 2006. A general public briefing for all grant categories was held at the Melbourne Town Hall attended by over 120 artists. Over 250 Arts Grants information packs were mailed out via the Hotline and the Arts and Culture Branch. The Arts Grants website continues to be the most effective marketing tool.

21. Council facilitated a number of specialist meetings and workshops with various communities to better promote the program and encourage a wider and more culturally diverse group of applications. The Arts and Culture Branch worked with Multicultural Arts Victoria and the Victorian College of the Arts to capture both young artists and artists from non English speaking backgrounds.

22. Applicants were invited to submit proposals in seven categories:

22.1. Arts Projects;

22.2. Young Artists;

22.3. Arts House Presentation;

22.4. ArtPlay;

22.5. Community Cultural Development;

22.6. Indigenous Arts; and

22.7. Writing About Melbourne.

23. A total of 244 applications were received (a decrease on the 289 applications received in 2006). The table below provides a summary of applications received and the amount of funding recommended to be applied to each application.

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Grant Category Number of Applications Received

Total Request

Number of applications recommended

Total Recommended Budget

Arts Projects 135 $1,638,992 53 $398,164 $374,000* Arts House 7 $183,496 4 $90,000 $220,000** Community Cultural Development

34 $425,064 17 $210,836 $235,000*

Indigenous Arts 8 $88,400 8 $78,500 $153,000 Young Artists 31 $143,790 12 $45,000 $45,000 Writing About Melbourne 16 $120,636 6 $30,000 $30,000 ArtPlay 13 $175,613 8 $100,000 $100,000

244 $2,775,991 108 $952,500 $1,157,000 *$24,126 transferred from Community Cultural Development to Arts Project Category ** $130,000 available for Arts House Presentation second funding round late 2006

Evaluation Process

24. An Assessment panel was established for each of the 2007 Arts Grants Program categories. The normal make-up of each Assessment Panel includes a community representative, a representative from the Cultural Affairs Advisory Board, a Team Leader from the Arts and Culture Branch and up to five relevant external experts. For the second time, observers sat on the Arts Projects and ArtPlay panels. The membership of the Assessment panels is detailed in Attachment 2 to this report.

25. Briefings were held for all panel members, prior to the assessment process, to ensure that Council’s processes and objectives regarding the 2007 Arts Grants Program were fully understood.

26. Applications were assessed against the following key criteria; quality of the idea proposed; artistic and cultural merit; administrative and financial viability, and how well the proposal met the assessment criteria and program objectives as stated in the guidelines and the Arts Strategy. The Arts House Presentation Panel assessed by an additional set of criteria to address Council’s curatorial approach to the category. The Community Cultural Development and Writing About Melbourne Panels also assessed by an additional set of criteria detailed in the Arts Grants Guidelines.

27. The applicants in the Indigenous Arts category were able to make presentations to the Assessment Panel. This process was viewed as a great success by panel members in achieving a better understanding of the wide range of projects presented.

28. The Cultural Affairs Advisory Board considered the recommendations from the seven Assessment Panels on the 9 August and endorsed the recommendations as tabled.

Overview of recommended grant outcomes

29. The 108 projects recommended in the 2007 Arts Grant Program represent original and diverse activities across all art forms. This year over 60 per cent of all applicants represented new initiatives, new cultural organisations and artists. It is estimated that over 3,000 artists are associated with the recommended projects and that 46 per cent of these reflect a multicultural perspective or content.

30. The recommended applications represent a total activity value of over $4,322,000 against Council’s expenditure of $952,500. This indicates that there is a strong multiplier effect from Council’s support of artists and arts organisations, particularly as the above figure relates only to the estimated direct financial value of activities and not flow-on benefits and employment. Furthermore over 50 per cent of all projects recommended are free and accessible to the public.

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Attachments: 1. 2007 Arts Grants Program Summary of Applicants by Category 2. 2007 Arts Grants Program Panel Membership

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31. The Arts Projects category regularly attracts strong applications and a high level of diversity in artform. The characteristics of the recommendations in this category identifies that 30 percent are organisations, 45 per cent are female and approximately 25 per cent are male applicants. Over 25 per cent of activities recommended are solo events and the remaining 75 per cent are collaborations. All projects recommended are new and did not receive a grant from Council in 2006.

32. In the Young Artist category 31 artists are associated with the 12 recommended projects. Eight visual arts and multimedia projects were supported and one dance, performance, film and music are recommended. Concepts ranged from one off performances to week long events and a number of exhibitions. All of the recommendations are new projects that have not been funded by Council before.

33. The Arts House Presentation Grants saw a reduced number of applicants on previous years due to the requirement that artists work closely with Arts House staff in the development of their application. This process ensures that projects will work well in the venue, both technically and artistically, and the ideas will be well articulated. This resulted in very strong applications being received. The investment in grants for the first funding round is $90,000 leaving $130,000 for the second round late in 2006.

34. In the ArtPlay category, a panel of adults and children took part in the assessment, making it the second time children have been involved in this kind of meeting for Council. All the children played a very active part in the discussions regarding the proposals. The expanded range of grant programs supported by additional Council funds will have a positive effect on the overall programming at ArtPlay in 2007.

35. In the Community Cultural Development category, the majority of the proposals were from first time applicants. The recommendations strongly reflect arts-based projects developed by migrant and refugee communities, some of which are from recently arrived refugee communities. This reflects the outreach work undertaken by the program over the last six months to make links with new communities. There were also a number of high quality applications for projects involving young people. Funding is recommended to 17 applicants. The remaining applications did not meet the criteria.

36. In the Indigenous Arts category, a small number of applications were received but they represent high quality proposals. All applications have been recommended for funding.

37. The CAAB believes it is critical to ensure that Council’s funding, targeted to Indigenous artists and communities, is used to support important and high quality projects initiated and delivered by Indigenous artists and community members.

38. The CAAB recommends that uncommitted funds of $74,500 be allocated to projects that reflect Council’s celebration and acknowledgement of Sorry Day, Reconciliation and NAIDOC Weeks in 2007. It is recommended that any project funded are considered and approved by Council’s Indigenous Arts Advisory Panel.

39. The Writing About Melbourne category has been broadened to include fiction as well as non-fiction. Importantly, institutions and organisations are now welcome to apply and individual applicants no longer need be amateurs. Potential readership is considered an important aspect of assessment. The six applications recommended were enthusiastically received by the panel.

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Attachment 2 Agenda item 5.5

Community Services Committee 12 September 2006

1

2007 Arts Grants Program Panel Membership Arts Projects

Mandy Nicholson - Cultural Affairs Advisory Board Representative Helen Thomson - Performance, Theatre Critic, the Age Cathy Drummond - Visual Artist Charlie Owen - Musician and Performer Michelle Ely - Team Leader Arts Investment

Art House Presentation Martin Brennan - Community Rep., Chair of NWNeighbourhood Centre Georgia Metaxas - Cultural Affairs Advisory Board Representative Robin Laurie - Performing Arts Theatre and Music Rinske Ginsberg - Performance and Physical Arts Samantha Comte - Visual Arts Sue MaCauley - Multimedia Sue Beal - Team Leader Arts House Team Community Cultural Development

Bernie Geary - Community Representative, Child Services Commissioner Ian Pidd - Cultural Affairs Advisory Board Representative Ruth Whittingham - Arts Access, Arts Administrator Kirsty Baird - Artist - Filmmaker Jansen Dolic - Artist – Musician and Performer Jane Crawley - Team Leader Cultural Development Team Indigenous Arts Gary Foley - Community Rep., Historian and Academic Kutcha Edward - Cultural Affairs Advisory Board Representative Kim Kruger - Artist – Musician and Performer Lisa Maza - Artist – Performer and Writer Ray Thomas - Artist - Visual Jane Crawley - Team Leader Cultural Development Young Artist Annie Davey - Community Rep., Chair Fringe Festival Board Natalie King - Cultural Affairs Advisory Board Representative Rae Howell - Artist - Musician and Performer Sam Kitoko - Artist - Musician and Performer Bill Hay - Artist - Visual Michelle Ely - Team Leader Arts Investment Writing about Melbourne Sandy Kirby - Cultural Affairs Advisory Board Representative Virginia Maxwell - Artist/Writer Kate Darian-Smith - Australia Centre, Melbourne University Martin Paten - Team Leader ArtPlay Reference Panel Sally Lindsey - Community Representative, Art Play patron Ian Pidd - Cultural Affairs Advisory Board Representative Gillian Howell - Artist and Educator Simon Spain - Team Leader ArtPlay Note: On some panels young artists or children observe the assessment process.

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Agenda Item 5.5 Community Services Committee

12 September 2006

FINANCE ATTACHMENT

2007 ARTS GRANTS PROGRAM

A total of $1.157 million is budgeted for the 2007 Arts Grants Program. In the current year, a further $2.18 million is provided in Arts and Culture grants and subsidies for the 32 Triennial Program funding recipients.

Joe Groher Manager Financial Services

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Agenda Item 5.5 Community Services Committee

12 September 2006

LEGAL ATTACHMENT

2007 ARTS GRANTS PROGRAM

The functions of a Council as set out in section 3E of the Local Government Act 1989 (“the Act”) include:

“(a) advocating and promoting proposals which are in the best interests of the local community;

(b) planning for and providing services and facilities for the local community;”

Pursuant to section 141(a) of the Act, Council may apply any money to enable it to perform its functions and exercise its powers.

The recommendation in this report is therefore within the functions and powers of Council.

Kim Wood Manager Legal Services

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