If last week was sublime Tropicana in Cooktown, this week was equally sublime in the far West of the State in the heart of Channel Country: Windorah, Barcoo Shire. 316 kilometres South West of Longreach; population about 80. Barcoo Shire covers an area of 61,974 square kilometres and hosts a total population of 350 people. It’s vast, red and beautiful. And still they came. The good denizens of Barcoo drove in from Stonehenge, Jundah and Windorah for a couple of days intensive training on the Regional Arts Development Fund and the good oil on writing winning funding applications. A great time in the pulsating red heart of the State with a group of wonderfully enthusiastic community champions. All power to you. Thank you all for your energy, good humour and great catering! And thank you Barcoo Shire.

Public art will be the focus of a new plan for highlighting the past, present and future of the Caloundra region on the Sunshine Coast. Sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Council, the plan is a new project for the Goodthinking Group following recent success in Flinders Shire. Public Art can add considerable social, cultural, civic and economic value to the community and we look forward to working with stakeholders to deliver a plan that will provide the direction for a public art program that will stimulate, challenge, entertain and engage residents and visitors.

Image: Sustainable. Hue Chee Fong + L M Noonan

Hooray! The Arts and Cultural Development Policy and Development Plan for Flinders Shire have been signed off and formally adopted by Council. The Shire now has a blueprint for arts and cultural development for the region which can deliver myriad social, cultural, civic, environmental and economic value to the community. What a joy it has been to work on this (and the Public Art Strategy) with Council and the community and the very wonderful, committed and enthusiastic Council staff. A great joy with the best yet to come.  Woohoo!

Last week, a happy return to one of my favourite remote towns – Cooktown. Such a splendid tropical paradise.Tropicana aside, I spent two busy days working with the local cultural champions honing skills in workshop facilitation and grant writing. Alas, after the hard work was done I was forced to spend an extra day in paradise to make the airline connection. So hard. Thank you Champions for your hard work and good humour and good luck with all your exciting cultural projects. And thank you Cook Shire for the invitation. Look forward to many happy returns.

Welcome the bright New Year. No doubt you’ll be well underway already. No rest …….. as they say.

For me the year is already galloping apace with continuing projects in Flinders Shire and the Sunshine Coast and coming trips to Cook Shire, Barcoo Shire and the regions of Charters Towers and Gladstone. Lucky enough also to pick up an exciting new Public Art development project for the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

Planning for the rest of the year continues ‘tho and this is just a quick reminder that along with policy, planning and development, ArtReach Queensland also offers an extensive suite of arts business and management training modules, ranging from half-day to one day and weekend programs.

Whatever your needs and interests ArtReach Queensland is able to provide consulting, project management and/or training services especially tailored for regional and remote communities.

• Policy Planning and Management Services
• Training and Development Services

If we can be of assistance at any time please give me a call or send me an email. We are now taking bookings from April onwards.

And Happy New Year!

Stephen

It was hot work over January but happily the Draft Arts and Cultural Policy and the Development Plan for the Flinders Shire have been completed and delivered. Over the next few weeks Council and the community will have an opportunity to review the Draft Policy and Plan and provide their feedback. Hopefully it will then be a smooth process through to completion and final presentation. With the recently completed Public Art Development Plan as well as the Arts and Cultural Plan finally in place, Flinders will have a sound, innovative platform from which to continue to support the creative and cultural life of the community and enhance visitor experiences.

This ground breaking project, undertaken in conjunction with the University of the Sunshine Coast and the Sunshine Coast Council, is now moving into its next exciting stage. Following the extensive literature review and development of the evaluation model, the research team is about to embark on the primary research phase where the model is put to the test, after which the final adjustments will be made. The outcome will be a comprehensive evaluation framework which Council will be able to use to measure the achievements of arts, culture and heritage events and projects and how this contributes to regional cultural vitality and a return on investment. Exciting.

Image: Ancestors: Kirsten Cash Designs & Lyndon Davies

Welcome the bright New Year. To complement the range of full day arts business and management workshops, ArtReach Queensland has developed a range of half day arts business training modules. If a full day commitment is challenging for your arts community, then maybe a one-off or series of half days modules might suit your circumstances better. Check them out at: Training & Development.

New Year greetings. Happily aha!goodthinking and ArtReach are back for an eventful 2017. Already back at the coalface with continuing projects in the Flinders Shire and the Sunshine Coast Region and looking down the barrel of some new projects in Toowoomba, Samford, Barcoo Shire, Gympie Shire, and the Gladstone Region.  Exciting time ahead. Best wishes all for a stimulating, enjoyable and prosperous 2017.

Just back from another trip to outback Flinders Shire. This time to continue the community consultation process for the Arts and Cultural Plan, as well as to present the Public Art Policy and Public Art Development Plan to Council. Timing wasn’t great due to some layoffs in local rail employment but happy to report that the plans were received extremely well. Now there is real opportunity for the Shire to benefit from investment in public art which will enhance community identity, overall visual appeal and attractiveness to visitors. Good public art can and will help to make a difference. Thanks Flinders. More exciting times ahead.

It’s underway. Our inaugural meeting today set the scene for what’s going to be an amazing journey. The HCCVP is an arts and cultural development project  especially for residents of the SEQ High Country including areas around Highfield, Crows Nest and Hampton. It is auspiced by the Crows Nest Arts Council and funded by the Toowoomba Regional Council.

Over the next six months we will be collecting information from residents, artists and cultural workers about their arts, cultural and heritage interests and needs. This information will be used to create a development plan designed to add value to what’s already happening in the region and generate a new, dynamic cultural vitality – something of value for the whole community.

Early days – looking forward to the journey ahead.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to land in Yeppoon (CQ) for a day-long session with the local cultural champions of Livingstone Shire. We undertook a detailed review of their very successful RADF program to ensure that committee members, staff and the wonderfully resourceful Liaison Officer all had a common understanding of the program and how it currently works. It was a chance to sharpen the saw on RADF philosophy and operations for the benefit of the Livingstone community. Overall a pretty intensive session with lots of great discussion, debate and ideas. Thanks everyone for a highly engaged and engaging workshop. I do get all the good gigs.