Regional Arts Victoria has welcomed support in the vicinity of $500,000 from the Australian Government’s Catalyst program to fund its Arts and Education Access Program.
The Arts and Education Access Program will create arts experiences for disadvantaged Victorian young people. It matches regional and remote, socio-economically disadvantaged and disaster-impacted Victorian students in Victoria with high quality, educationally-relevant arts programming created by independent artists and small arts organisations.
The Program builds on the strengths of Regional Arts Victoria’s Education & Families Program by delivering touring, workshops, residency and creative development programs to communities who could not otherwise afford them, from Producers who would not otherwise be able to tour. Critically, the Program is built on a highly innovative model that becomes financially sustainable across ten years.
“We are thrilled to be the recipients of Catalyst funding, which provides the means for us to offer a high quality arts-based program to inspire all young people and their communities across Victoria,” said Suzi Cordell, Regional Arts Victoria’s Education & Families Manager.
“The arts can make a monumental difference to the lives of young people, helping them to reach their potential; to dream, innovate, think, connect and collaborate. By providing access to all, we can imagine their contributions to making the world a better place.”
For over 40 years, Regional Arts Victoria has been the leader in providing workshops, performances and arts experiences for children and young people. Each year we tour a wealth of projects throughout regional and metropolitan Victoria, spanning Mallacoota to Murrayville and Heywood to Corryong.
“I am delighted that the Arts and Education Access Program has been funded via Catalyst,” said Esther Anatolitis, Regional Arts Victoria Director. “This is a project that aligns with Catalyst’s Partnerships and Collaborations guidelines directly in proposing a new way of doing philanthropy in Australia, and I commend Regional Arts Victoria’s General Manager Joe Toohey on developing this important new model.”
Regional Arts Victoria through its Director Esther Anatolitis is a vocal advocate for transparency and equity in public investment in the arts. “Catalyst has funded a range of projects with regional impacts across Australia, and this is welcome,” said Esther. “We look forward to seeing more projects that meet the guidelines outlined in the Catalyst fund supported in the future.”
The project will begin in July 2016, with impacts to be felt over the coming 10 years. Throughout May and June, Regional Arts Victoria is also running the Share Your Pocket Money campaign to provide essential subsidies for disadvantaged regional students to access high quality art experiences. For every $5 donated, a Victorian student who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity will be able to access Regional Arts Victoria’s Education & Families Program.
For more information about Regional Arts Victoria, visit: www.rav.net.au for details.