On Day 1 of the Conference, Arts Front partnered with leaders from 3 diverse Queensland communities, Mackay, Bundaberg and Cairns, to lead the development of a 7-minute presentation/performance about their vision for the arts in their region in 2030. Glenda Hobdell led this project with weCAN to present our vision for the future of Mackay arts.

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The brief from Arts Front was that the forum presented "a platform for big ideas and blue sky thinking - an opportunity to place yourself in a fictional future based on your dreams for your community in 2030. What might regional arts look like in 2030? What has changed?".

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WeCAN's response...

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Drawing on notions of intertextuality, WeCAN referenced three artworks (see below) in the conceptual development and creation of this video.

 

Limited access to contemporary practice across arts disciplines continues to be a problem for regional audiences. Deficit thinking about regional arts in the video is supported by the following research.

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“…there is a prevailing, metro-centric view of arts in Australia; that artists have to go to metropolitan areas if they are to succeed”

(Regional Australia Institute, 2017, p. 1)

“[There is an] imbalance of resources directed to regional Australian arts and culture compared with metropolitan cities”

(ibid, p. 2)

Regional arts funding is historically much lower than that provided to major capital cities, in particular Sydney and Melbourne

who both dominate national funding grants (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017).

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