Fourteen new arts projects will take place in regional Queensland over the next twelve months thanks to significant funding from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund grants.

Flying Arts Alliance and Regional Arts Australia are pleased to announce the successful recipients of grants totalling $328,415 – more than twice the amount of funding distributed in the previous round of Project Grants in early 2020.

Projects include a three-month public art installation along the Bruce Highway between Miriam Vale and Bororen; a series of recycled materials workshops in the Mackay region; and a cultural heritage restoration project for the Chinese community in Cairns, among others.

Successful recipients will deliver strong arts projects in diverse locations across the State, from western Cape York to Moreton Bay, with visual arts the most represented art form. Most projects deliver a strong focus on community engagement and cohesion, deepening connection with the arts in a post-COVID environment.

The Regional Arts Fund is an Australian Government program designed to benefit regional and remote arts practitioners, arts workers, audiences and communities. The Fund is provided through Regional Arts Australia and is administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.

Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cites and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the project grants would support sustainable economic, social and cultural development throughout Queensland.

“I congratulate the 14 recipients of the Regional Arts Fund Project Grants in Queensland, who have each demonstrated how their unique projects will raise the profile of regional arts and broaden community engagement with the cultural sector,” Minister Fletcher said.

“This investment of $328,415 will support these artists and organisations to develop new networks and diverse works, and is part of the Morrison Government’s $3.6 million annual investment in the Regional Arts Fund across Australia.”

Flying Arts Alliance CEO Kerryanne Farrer is excited by the innovation and sense of unity evidenced in the projects:

“Organisations, independent artists and arts facilitators are really looking at new ways to connect with their communities and demonstrate the impact that arts can have on lives and livelihoods,” Ms Farrer said.

“Our talented creatives are finding new ways to show and share work within the constraints of a post-COVID landscape. There are strong themes of cultural sharing between diverse groups, creating meaningful connections across age and interest groups, and making art visible in local gathering places and new and existing festivals and events. It is an exciting time of arts renewal across this great state of Queensland, made possible by the highly regarded and contested Regional Arts Fund.”

For more information on the Regional Arts Fund in Queensland, including upcoming round dates and how to apply, please go to flyingarts.org.au/raf or phone 07 3216 1322.

Full descriptions of projects and recipients below.

Regional Arts Fund Project Grants – Round 1 2021 Recipients

Applicant	Project Title	Project	Funding Amount	Project Location
Cairns & District Chinese Association Inc (CADCAI)	Lion Tales	An experienced repairer from CADCAI will be engaged to repair and restore six ceremonial lions, and three local artists to illustrate key Chinese celebrations and events on the lions, which will be exhibited at the 2022 Cairns Chinese New Year Festival.	$30,000	Cairns, 4870
Southern Moreton Bay Islands Chamber of Commerce Inc	Redlands Coast Islands Festival	Celebrating the idyllic beauty of the Southern Moreton Bay Islands, the inaugural Redlands Coast Islands Festival will present a program of cultural events and experiences built around the Karragarra Sea Market.	$18,486	Southern Moreton Bay Islands, 4184
Ms Fiona Wirrer-George	Oochunyung Dreaming	Drawing from the spiritualities of her Western Cape lineage, Fiona Wirrer-George will take an audience on a journey of self-analysis and philosophical concept sharing; a dramatic depiction of inter-generational knowledge.	$29,700	Cairns, 4870
Moogool Enterprises	Wrapt in Mugul	Wrapt in Mugul will create a new cultural tourism attraction enhancing Central Queensland as a vibrant, creative destination, employing 15 regional Queensland artists, and will be free to access and open for three months.	$30,000	Colosseum, 4677
Booringa Action Group Inc	Booringa Fire and Water: Projection Artwork and Development	Leading arts professionals, Kellie O’Dempsey and Jude Roberts, will work with regional artists to create a new site-specific light, sound and video projection exploring “Booringa”, fire and water in Gunggari language.	$27,000	Mitchell, 4465
Mrs Shirley-Ann Rowley	The Jazzuleles Uketorium	The Jazzuleles Uketorium, a travelling mini ukulele festival, will inspire existing ukulele players by collaborating with local ukulele clubs, whilst offering an event space to welcome and teach non players of all ages.	$8,931	Cairns, 4870
Rockhampton Art Gallery	Collection Study Room Artist in Residence	Rockhampton Museum of Art will offer an Artist in Residence Opportunity in its Collection Study Room with access to nationally significant collection works, database and arts library.	$29,598	Rockhampton, 4700
Theodore Early Childhood Centre Association Inc.	Aboriginal Art Mural for Entrance Footpath	Theodore Early Childhood Centre will create an Indigenous history story-telling mural entrance into the Centre in collaboration with a local Aboriginal artist.	$2,900	Theodore, 4719
Dr Frances Thomson	Tate Adams: In Black & White	Dr Frances Thomson will publish a monograph on Tate Adams, of which none currently exists, derived from the thesis on the artist and as a precursor to a major retrospective at Townsville City Council’s Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.	$28,000	Townsville, 4810
JUTE Theatre Company	I is Maggie – Rehearsal and Production	JUTE Theatre Company will rehearse and produce a new regional theatrical work, ‘I is Maggie’, co‑authored by Cairns-based playwrights, Dennis MacIntosh and Thai-born Australian Saengethien Klamkaew.	$30,000	Cairns, 4870
Mrs Margaret Burgess	Plastic Boutique 3 “Healthy Planet”	Plastic Boutique 3 “Healthy Planet” will offer sculptural and fibre arts workshops that are inclusive and accessible to all community members across three regions, culminating in a large-scale installation of forest canopy and bird sculptures made from recycled synthetic clothing.	$28,458	Mackay, 4740
Whitsundays Arts Festival Inc.	2021 Lantern Art Installation, Lantern-making workshop and  parade	2021 Whitsundays Arts Festival Resident artist, Lily Podger, will run lantern-making workshops, and lead a team of local artists to create a large lantern installation to be displayed at a lantern parade along the Airlie Beach foreshore.	$11,230	Airlie Beach, 4800
Granite Belt Art & Craft Trail Inc	Granite Belt Art Trail	The 2021 Granite Belt Art and Craft Trail (GBART) will showcase all things creative, highlighting the ever‑growing talent of artists and artisans across the region, providing engaging art and cultural experiences to visitors and local artists.	$25,500	Stanthorpe, 4380
Centre for Australasian Theatre	The Gathering – Everything Standing Up Alive Trilogy	The Gathering – Everything Standing Up Alive Trilogy will be a callout to regional artists and regional audiences as part of a three-phase theatre project, situated in both the Mareeba and Cook Shires.	$28,612	Rossville, 4895

– ENDS –

For media enquiries or to arrange an interview with a grant recipient or Ms Farrer please contact:
Odette Miller
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Flying Arts Alliance
comms@flyingarts.org.au

Flying Arts Alliance acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands and seas on which we work, live and create. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

Flying Arts Alliance is honoured to acknowledge the Governor of Queensland, His Excellency, the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC as our Patron. We also acknowledge Mr Tim Fairfax AC and Mrs Gina Fairfax as our Cultural Patrons.

Flying Arts is a not-for-profit organisation inspiring the appreciation, practice and professional development of the visual and media arts as a lifetime interest or career throughout regional and remote Queensland, supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland,  and corporate partners and benefactors.

Flying Arts is the administrator in Queensland of the Regional Arts Fund (RAF), an Australian Government program provided through Regional Arts Australia.

The Regional Arts Fund (RAF) is an Australian Government program designed to benefit regional and remote arts practitioners, arts workers, audiences and communities. The fund is provided through Regional Arts Australia and is administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.