Slide 1 Developing a Creative City - City of Bunbury and Minutes/Archives 20… · Slide 1 . Developing a Creative City. Andrew Brien t. Chief Executive Officer. ... The quote from

ICTC – Developing a Creative City 2016

Andrew Brien – Chief Executive Officer [email protected]

Slide 1

Developing a Creative City

Andrew Brien – Chief Executive Officer

The role of local government

Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. Over the next 20 minutes or I am going to present a brief overview of the roles of the City in transforming the City of Bunbury form a regional industrial City based around a port, to a creative, vibrant and engaged City.

The presentation will briefly touch on the approach taken, the driver behind them and events and activities that have helped Bunbury to become part of the creative corner of the South West of Western Australia.

For those that are interested, a copy of the presentation will be available along with supporting note so feel free to sit back, relax and hopefully enjoy the presentation.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the presentation are from my observation as the CEO of the City over the last six years and may not always reflective similar views of the elected Councillors of the Council.

Slide 2

• Population: 33,075 with over 90,000 in Greater Bunbury region• One of the fastest growing regional cities in Australia – 2% annually• Commercial and residential heart of the booming South West region• Vibrant, creative and multicultural community – a place of unlimited potential

Appendix CEO-16

mailto:[email protected]



For those of you who do not know Bunbury, we are a regional city located approximately two hours south of Perth, and approximately one hour north of the Margaret River Wine Region. The local government area is approximately 65m2 and has a population approaching 34,000 with the three adjoining local governments, the population is approaching 85,000. The City has developed from its beginnings as a port city with a major focus on the export industry to a vibrant, culturally diverse and creative City providing a true alternative to capital City Living. Given its historical beginnings since European settlement, the City had always been seen as a blue-collar town with a very strong industrial and maritime focus. In more recent times with the move to fly in fly out operations, the City has focused on diversification of industry and looked to Bunbury becoming the regional capital of the South West. Five years ago a perception survey was undertaken and Bunbury was identified by the community “bogan Bunbury, Crime Capital, nothing to do, backwards and boring, a place to leave”. The Council have tried many different approaches to change the focus however many of these failed as they were based on the same underlying approach – that is council doing the work and try to make the change without the community being on board. So what did we do?? Slide 3

“Culture is not created by Government, but is enabled by it. Culture is created by community”

Creative Australia National Cultural Policy

It was recognised that arts and culture play an important role in activating our streets and open spaces as well is providing the level of amenity and vibrancy appropriate for a major regional city. The quote from the Creative Australian National Cultural Policy underpins much of what the Council has now embraced in the strategic development of the City.




In time of economic constrain, it is easy to dismiss such things as non-necessities and reallocate money to more essential infrastructure and services. In saying that, the City of Bunbury has invested significant resources over recent years developing a Creative Bunbury Strategy and implementing the supporting programs to ensure the appropriate outcomes are achieved. Slide 4

Creative Bunbury• The role of the City

– Custodian and host– Facilitator and information

broker– Promoter and advocate– Capacity builder and

supporter– Partner and stakeholder

An aspirational framework for Bunbury’s arts and cultural development

Following the local government elections in 2013 a number of new Councillors and a new Mayor were elected with a completely different approach to where the City was going and how to get there. They took control of the situation and worked with staff to create a new approach. The resolute of this change in direction was the development of a Creative Bunbury Strategy which provided and aspiration framework for the City’s Arts and Cultural development Creative Bunbury aims to strengthen the identity of our City as a vibrant arts destination, a confident and resilient community with a supportive environment for artists and creative business and address the concerns expressed in the survey. The goals and targets in this strategy guide council in activating public spaces, encouraging the generation of new ideas an initiatives, and developing arts and cultural facilities. Council strongly believes that the primary source of new arts and cultural initiatives should be artists, creative individuals, community groups, organisations and businesses. Council actively fosters the exchange of information, knowledge and contacts that will enable creative ideas to become reality. Within the framework the role of the City incorporates the following:

- Custodian and host: Caring for and developing arts and cultural collections and facilities and providing, maintaining and activating spaces where creative expression and activity can happen.




- Facilitator and information broker: Acting as a central resource provides knowledge, information and contacts between artists, creative professionals, businesses and community.

- Promoter and advocate: Championing arts and cultural initiatives and their benefits, utilising Councils marketing resources and mechanisms to promote and generate audiences.

- Capacity building and supported: Supporting education, training and sector development, encouraging research, data collection and measurement for sustainable arts and culture sector growth.

- Partner and stakeholder: working with artists, creative professionals, entrepreneurs, businesses, organisations and community groups to support programs and create new opportunities.

Overall, as clearly and regularly articulated by our current Mayor, the role of local government is to facilitate and get out of the way. Slide 5

Goals• Destination Bunbury

– A vibrant city of choice for artists, residents and visitors

• Resilient and confident Bunbury– A city with a distinctive character and

strong sense of place through connectedyet diverse creative communities

• Creative Hub Bunbury– A regional arts capital dedicated to

supporting creative people and innovative ideas

As mentioned the Creative Bunbury Strategy is an aspirational document with only three goals, these are:

- Destination Bunbury - Resilient and confident Bunbury; and - Creative Hub Bunbury




Slide 6

Destination Bunbury

When looking as Destination Bunbury, we have identified a number of activities and facilities that will help to drive the outcomes of this goal. As a City located on the water, including beach, bay, inlet and rivers, lifestyle is an important part of making the City a destination of choice. The strategy focuses on activation of open space for creative events, creating a showcase for all creative arts, Public Art, Street Art, Heritage sites and events. Slide 7

Bunbury Regional Art Galleries

Housed Outstanding arts facilities and venues, including Bunbury Regional Art Gallery and Stirling Street Arts Centre provide an opportunity to showcase both local and national exhibitions. For many years the management and operation of the Regional Gallery were undertaken by a spate Board of Management however over many years this became a closed shop and was becoming more detrimental to the arts than it was an advantage.




With the roll out of the strategy, the City resumed control of the Gallery and then allowed much greater use and community engagement to work out what could be undertaken through better use of the venue. The building forms part of the history of Bunbury being a former convent and is heritage listed. Whilst this creates some challenges it also has provided an opportunity to showcase arts and culture. The community is now actively involved in the Gallery and it is now being used more than ever before. Slide 8

Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre

Whilst the role of local government is to facilitate and get out of the way, in terms of the regional entertainment centre the Council has recently invested over $12.5M in expanding the centre to provide more opportunity for the centre to be used for other purposes. Previously there was a sign 850 seat theatre which meant that only major events could be hosted there reducing the ability of the community to use it. The expansion has seen the addition of function rooms, a black box theatre with seating for up to 300 and a new bar area. This has provided the catalyst for increased usage and financial sustainability. It is now very difficult to book space in the centre due to the level of use.




Slide 9

Re.Discover

Signature Bunbury arts events are another key component of Destination Bunbury. E of the most successful events has been Re.Discover Bunbury which is a walking street exhibition created to showcase established Australian and International artists through the painting and exhibition of exterior murals in the streets of Bunbury’s CBD. The project uses street art as a catalyst for urban development and social change by bringing communities together in conversation and creative inspiration. The Re.Discover exhibition at BRAG showcased works on paper by over 30 local nationals and international artists. When the project was first raised with myself, it sounded like a small scale project to simply legalise some graffiti across the City. The driver behind the project was a local artists and business entrepreneur named Andrew Fraser. Mr Fraser approached the Mayor with the idea of painting a few walls around the CBD. The problem, in an old City that many of the walls he wanted to paint were on heritage buildings which resulted in many discussions with Council, the Heritage Council, Artists and building owners. Most of the walls that were not heritage listed were Council owned and without knowing what was to be painted, I was very reluctant to allow these to be painted. I love being proved wrong and Re.Discover was one of those events that I thought would be of limited appeal, however the survey results and comments tell a very different story along with the thousands of people who attended. Councils role in the event was seed funding and looking for walls to be painted.




Slide 10

Youth Arts Festival

The Shift- Youth Arts Festival is an opportunity for people aged 12 to 25 in the Bunbury arts and youth community. • A 3D Temporary Art installation at Market Square in which a professional artist worked

with local young artists to install. • Unique performance and exhibition opportunities • Provided the opportunity for up skilling and learning opportunities for young artists and

performers. Slide 11

Public Art

The City has an extensive public art collection which adds to the creativity and vibrancy of the City.




Slide 12

Resilient and Confident Bunbury

Moving on to the second goal of a resilient and confident Bunbury we have a City with a distinctive character and strong sense of place through connected yet diverse creative communities. Opportunities for arts and cultural participation through an extensive range of community driven programs with Council providing seed funding and support/grants for initiatives by creative people, communities and organisations. We have established a Bunbury Events Coordination Group who are responsible for the allocation of funding to events through the year. The Group has $200,000 for small scale events and a pool of up to $100,000 to go towards iconic events if they are identified. The Events group is made up of ac couple of elected members, community and business representatives and local residents. The group assesses all of the events and opportunities and provides recommendations on funding to myself as CEO for approval. We have recently relaunched the Busk #sharethesport which was a community driven concept. The relaunch will encourage more performers into the City whilst giving shoppers a chance to be entertained.




Slide 13

Wardandi - Noongar

We recognise the importance of our indigenous heritage and opportunities for sharing cultural diversity. Whilst we take the opportunity to recognise the first inhabitants of the City through events and ceremonies, we have also worked with the local Wardandi-Noongar people to develop significant areas specifically designed and constructed by them. Two of the best examples to help tell the story are the Wardandi Memorial Park and Des Ugle Park. Both of these locations are of significance to the local Noongar population and the City has again taken the role of facilitate and get out of the way. In these cases, there was land and funding made available to allow for the work to be undertaken but allowing the development to be done by the Community. Slide 14

Creative Hub Bunbury

The final goal for the strategy is based around the idea of a Creative Hub – A regional arts capital dedicated to supporting creative people and innovative ideas.




As I have already touched on we have developed or upgraded a number of venues around the City to help promote a more creative and cultural diverse community including the Regional Art Gallery and the Regional Entertainment Centre, busking opportunities etc. These all go toward creating affordable places for artists and creative professionals. Council has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a private sector company and the State Government to develop a digital animation studio in Bunbury. This is a multi-million dollar investment with Council providing land the project facilitation. Ultimately, it will see the establishment of a digital animation training school employing up to 200 staff with up to 300 students per year, a full production studio and all associated infrastructure. Currently, we are 6 months into the 18 month due diligence period. Slide 15

Creative Lighting

Through work with the private sector, we have embarked on creative lighting strategies to not only bring the City to life at night, but also creating a safe night time environment by lighting up otherwise unused areas. Council have facilitated process and lit up public buildings and streets, and private sector has taken up the challenge with lighting of privately owned buildings and infrastructure.




Slide 16

Australia Day

Our signature event, which is one of three that the City still runs in Australia Day in which over 30,000 people attend the full day events culminating in SkyFest. Slide 17

• Local government is only an enabler of creativity and culture and not a designer of it

• The community will drive the process if given the opportunity

• Those community members with passion and ideas cannot do it alone, local government needs to facilitate and reduce red tape

• A simple idea can build into a major movement so be prepared.

• In finishing off, have we been successful – let the community

be the judge.

In Summary

I hope the presentation has provided you with an overview of what we as a City have been doing for the past few years to move Bunbury forward. In summary, local government is only an enabler of creativity and culture and not a designer of it. We have to provide the environment to allow the community to take the lead. The community will drive the process if given the opportunity, we just need the right focus and the Council is not to risk adverse. Those community members with passion and ideas cannot do it alone, local government needs to facilitate and reduce red tape. A simple idea can build into a major movement so be prepared.




In conclusion, have we been successful – let the community be the judge. We embarked on a campaign to see why people now love Bunbury. Slide 18 Love Bunbury Video - To see a copy of the video please follow the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBSJuIgR1v4 Slide 19

Thank you


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBSJuIgR1v4

Documents

Slide 1 Developing a Creative City - City of Bunbury and Minutes/Archives 20… · Slide 1 . Developing a Creative City. Andrew Brien t. Chief Executive Officer. ... The quote from