Geelong Arts Centre is excited to today announce six recipients of their latest Creative Engine grant packages for 2022.
After a challenging couple of years for regional artists, the Geelong Arts Centre has unveiled the six local recipients of this year’s Creative Engine grants which once again aim to benefit artists and creatives working in the region, in their pursuit to develop fresh, innovative, and exciting work.
Now in its third year, the grants, both financial and in-kind studio access within the arts centre’s landmark Ryrie Street building valued at over $50,000, directly benefit individuals and organisations who demonstrated the desire and ability to drive bold and exciting contemporary arts practice and performance.
The key takeaways
- Geelong Arts Centre has unveiled the six recipients of this year’s Creative Engine grants
- Equating in $50,000 in financial grants and in-kind occupancies within the centre’s landmark Ryrie Street building, these grants will directly benefit creative individuals and organisations in the region.
- The next round of grants is due to be announced early next year
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Since its inception, Creative Engine has awarded 29 grants. The calibre and variety of submissions in this latest round was outstanding, with the selected projects spanning multiple artistic disciplines, including cabaret, theatre, audio-visual art, and contemporary dance, but share in common their ability to meet the program’s three selection criteria: Connection, Innovation and Thoughtfulness.
Ignition grants – designed for projects that are in the early stages of creation and need support in transitioning from creative development to prepare for presentation – were awarded to Breasts Become Her, a solo cabaret show written and performed by Miss Cairo, where a queer transgender cabaret artist of colour which poses the question: At what point am I considered a woman?; and to Christian Cavallo’s The Mentor. The Mentor is Amanda Redfern: a one-time Hollywood star whose life has spiralled in later years. When she begins tutoring young actor Jordan Ridley, the two discover a vastly different set of perceptions across themes of sexism, ageism, respect, consent, and mental health; their methodologies as actors fuelled by vastly different lived experience.
These recipients were awarded $5000 alongside in-kind studio access and mentoring opportunities.
Providing $1000 cash grants and access to in-kind studio for innovative concepts to play and explore ideas further, the Jump Start grants were awarded to two amazing concepts.
The first is The World According to Dinosaurs from Belle Hansen. The World According to Dinosaurs is an interrogation of globalism through the lens of paleontology, world events and what we had for dinner last night. A culmination of the stories we tell ourselves about existence. Fact, fiction, wives’ tales, white lies, myths, learnt behaviours, common misconceptions – it’s all part of the human narrative.
The second is Project Connect from Stacey Carmichael, which asks how do we connect to others? Has this changed given the current global climate? How do we connect as artists to explore concepts and ideas? What is that point of connection where our different art forms and artistic expressions meet? Using group devised theatre processes and assembling a group of creatives from varying artistic backgrounds and training; Stacey aims to bring together a group of theatre makers to use these questions as a launching point for exploration and play!
The last round of grants come under the Place to Make initiative, designed to offer a testing ground for creatives and companies to sample and refine ideas.
These grants were awarded to Marta Elizabeth Lopez’ Geelong Latin American Movement and Caroline Meaden’s Mouse In The Room. Representing the Geelong Latin American community through stage, theatre performances and audio-visual art at PAKO FESTA, Marta aims to be the catalyst for creating interest from other organisations to support the continuity of her group’s projects at large and, in turn, be able to initiate the creation of other art projects, while Mouse In The Room will see Caroline will continue developing her practise at the intersection of dance, language, and acting, alongside 5 dancer/collaborators, building on ideas seeded during a 2021 Creative Engine residency.
“There is nothing we love more at Geelong Arts Centre’s Creative Engine than watching the early seeds of local projects develop and flourish,” says Geelong Arts Centre Head of Programming, Penny McCabe.
“We have so much creative talent connected to our region, and we are thrilled that these grant recipients will not only receive project-specific support, but also join a community of like-minded creatives who will have a lasting impact on their broader artistic practice.”
In 21/22 Geelong Arts Centre’s Creative Engine provided over $80,000 of cash contributions to artists to pay them to spend time on their new creative work.
Playing a pivotal role in the continuation of the arts in uncertain times, the Geelong Art Centre’s Creative Engine (a co-working space and eponymous arts development program) was introduced in October in 2019 with a primary directive to support individuals and artistic collectives and build sustainable arts practices within regional Victoria.
Geelong Arts Centre’s Creative Engine will continue to offer regular grant rounds to invest in emerging projects produced by those with a strong connection to the Greater Geelong region, with the next due to be announced early next year.
You can find out more about the grants and these specific projects via the Geelong Arts Centre website.
