The City of Melbourne are offering grants of up to $50,000 for free activations that will bring people back into the city.
They’ve announced $1.75 million in City Activation Grants for creative ideas for temporary exhibits and interactive activities to bring Melburnians back into its precinct areas, with a special focus on the CBD, Docklands, Lygon Street and Errol Street.
They’ve announced $50,000 City Activation Grants that are open to businesses, startups, creative agencies and community groups, designed to support innovative projects that will increase economic activity and attract people to visit those areas.
What you need to know
- $1.75 million in $50,000 ‘City Activation Grants’ are available for new exciting new projects
- Activations can be static exhibitions or interactive activities
- The grants are aimed at businesses, startups, creative agencies and community groups
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These grants are aimed at supporting businesses and increasing economic activity in specific areas that have been hit hard by the pandemic, are for free public events that can be held in a COVIDSafe manner.
The council offered a few examples; from workshops and interactive activities, to walking tours or history experiences, and virtual art installations. The projects must be temporary though, so can’t permanently change the sites they’re staged in.
They also specifically listed their Urban Blooms activation in 2020 and pop-up children’s playground at Docklands in 2021 is an example of this type of activation.
They come in the wake of the City of Melbourne’s Shopfront Activation Program, which is offering free or low-cost shopfronts to artists and other creatives in some of these areas, in a bid to increase foot traffic.
The grants are funded as part of the Melbourne City Recovery Fund, which is a partnership with the Victorian state government, and are for activations that are set to be delivered between 1 January 2022 and 30 June 2022. You can view the full program guidelines here.
Applications close on Friday 12 November 2021 at 5pm, with successful applicants to be notified in December 2021.
