TFFF aims to support initiatives that extend community exposure to, and experiences with, a variety of artistic opportunities as well as building the capacity of communities to engage with the arts in a meaningful and sustainable way.
The figures in the infographics below refer only to new funding approved in the 2018/19 financial year. Prior to the 2017/18 financial year, these figures referred to both new and ongoing approvals.
new approvals
average total approved
multi-year approvals
In a year that brought many Queensland communities drought, floods and the worst bushfires in recent memory, Woodfordia’s Festival of Small Halls program has continued to delight outback audiences and participants.
Queensland is a vast state, and both regional arts touring and community development must be delivered with the awareness that each community is best served in different ways. Festival of Small Halls is a unique take on an old idea of empowering communities to reinvigorate traditional cultural venues, celebrate their resilience, and experience the joys of working together. It also builds local capacity and ownership of tour circuits.
It involves a series of tours and performances of the best folk and contemporary acoustic artists, who perform at big Australian festivals, like the Woodford Folk Festival, and leverages visits by high-quality international artists to inspire communities to come together, experience the joy of music, raise funds and put themselves on the touring map.
With support from the TFFF, the Festival of Small Halls has presented 40 shows over two tours and provided performance opportunities for 46 emerging musicians as well as a community circus company. Music workshops were delivered to young people in four small towns, including Muttaburra State School, which has only nine students.
The TFFF has supported the ongoing adaptability of the program and affected an increase in the organisation’s touring operations in outback Queensland by 50 percent. This has been achieved through dedicated programming to suit the tastes of the west and a tour route that tackled the vast distances between towns. A new touring route of coastal Queensland has also been included.
Communities have lit up with stories held in the walls of their small halls, come together and put on a show that reminds us of the everyday magic in small towns.
Eleanor Rigden
Producer of Festival of Small Halls
Collaborative seed funding for A New Approach, an independent think tank created to champion the benefits of investing in a rich creative and cultural landscape and advocating for broader and deeper support for arts and culture across Australia.
An education program using dance to inspire and develop the next generation of Indigenous storytellers, reconnecting young Indigenous people with culture and strengthening intergenerational connections to support their wellbeing and development of a strong sense of self.
Support for Camerata’s regional engagement strategy through a contribution towards annual touring costs and wages for key personnel responsible for consultation, preparation and coordination of touring, education and community engagement in Queensland communities.
Continued capacity support to enable Crossroad Arts to achieve its overall strategic objectives in working with young people, the disabled and the aged in Mackay and in other rural, regional and remote communities in Queensland.
Support for Dancenorth’s community development and engagement aspirations through a contribution toward ongoing delivery as well as a the employment of key personnel to strategically review and redesign this work for the future.
Support to ensure remote Indigenous Art Centres and Arts Workers in Queensland and the Northern Territory can participate in the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair each year. At DAAF, a curatorial program connects arts workers with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curators from public institutions across Australia and provides the opportunity to build skills in exhibition development and curation.
Capacity support enabling Flying Arts Alliance to implement key strategic recommendations towards improved sustainability as well as expanding and deepening their artistic offerings to, and relationships with, artists, art workers, educators, young people and community groups in rural, regional and remote Queensland.
Support for JUTE to build its capacity to develop, produce and tour high quality theatre that shares the unique stories of Indigenous people in Queensland’s north, with accompanying school residencies to inspire students throughout Far North Queensland.
Contribute to a rich and diverse arts ecology throughout regional Queensland through improved community access to an array of visual arts experiences as well as professional development opportunities for regional artists and galleries.
Support to grow and strengthen the Learning, Regional and Community Department through the employment of existing and new personnel, to enhance the company’s capacity to tour opera to diverse regional communities across Queensland.
The development of the APT9 Kids publication, Ali’s Boat and a tour of APT 9 exhibition-related arts activities to children in rural, regional and remote communities throughout Queensland.
Support for Queensland Music Festival to grow and deepen its engagement with rural, regional and remote Queensland through the co-design, development and performance of musical collaborations tailored to communities.
Capacity support to enable the company to achieve their goals of entertaining, inspiring and educating audiences across rural, regional and remote Queensland through the employment of key Community Engagement and Education staff.
Support to build the capacity of Queensland Theatre to engage and respond to the creative needs of schools, communities and performance venues throughout regional Queensland.
The continued delivery of Topology’s flagship Top Up program throughout Queensland and the establishment of creative hubs in regional areas, which provide opportunities for local artists and practitioners to upskill and lead community-based projects.
Reviving local spaces and bringing community members together by touring high quality folk and contemporary acoustic artists to small halls in communities across Queensland and expanding into the Northern Territory, actively engaging community partners to increase their capacity to deliver events at this scale without external input.
