Some indigenous and regional arts organisations received multi-year funding for the first time, reported Minister for the Arts Heidi Victoria when she launched the initiative yesterday. These include The Black Arm Band, The Click Clack Project and Baluk Arts.
She said, “As a result of this new program we have been able to extend multi-year support to a greater number of Victorian arts organisations, providing some stability in an otherwise uncertain environment. Nearly 40 per cent of the funded organisations will receive multi-year support for the first time, and ten have no previous history of operational funding.
“This commitment of three years of funding means that organisations can now better plan for the future, build their business capacity, develop their artistic programming and leverage funds from other sources.”
The Organisations Investment Program includes three categories of funding – Developing Organisations, Established Organisations and Lead Organisations. These sit alongside the existing Major Performing Arts Organisations which receive long-term state investment, totalling $7.5 million, as part of a partnership with the Federal Government.
Developing organisations receiving support included Wantok Musik Foundation which promotes the connection between indigenous and Melanesian artists through tours and CDs ($40,000), Community Music Victoria which promotes and facilitates music-making among Victorian communities ($60,000), percussion based Speak Percussion ($70,000), Liquid Architecture Sound which presents sound arts and experimental music ($50,000) and sound art organisation The Click Clack Project ($40,000).
In the Established Organisations category, among the 58 supported were were Next Wave Festival ($390,000), Footscray’s Big West Festival ($130,000), the Melbourne Fringe ($332,000), Melbourne International Jazz Festival ($400,000), Arts Mildura which runs the Murray River International Music Festival as one of its projects ($112,800), The Black Arm Band ($80,000), multicultural The Boîte ($122,000), The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues ($113,000) queer arts Midsumma Festival ($50,000), Footscray Community Arts Centre which holds concerts ($220,000) and Songlines Aboriginal Music Corporation ($80,000).
Of Lead Organisations, getting the moolah with 88 associations were Melbourne Festival ($6.2 million), Melbourne International Comedy Festival ($1.6 million), Regional Arts Victoria ($735,400), Multicultural Arts Victoria ($320,000) and Arts Access Victoria ($200,000).
