ArtStart 2009

Youth Arts & Skills Festival

$52,000 to Outback Arts AND West Darling Arts

Funded by TAFE NSW Access & General Education Curriculum Centre

Scheduled:       Term 2, 2009

What is ArtStart?

ArtStart is a NSW Government initiative for young people in NSW aged 12 to 24. The program builds skills and community networks through creative projects and events.  Info on statewide activities www.artstart.com.au

~ TOUR DATES ~

Gulargambone Central School - Tues 9 June

Walgett High School - Wed 10 / Thurs 11 June

Lightning Ridge Central School - Fri 12 / Mon 15 / Tues 16 June

Brewarrina Central School - Wed 17 June

Goodooga Central School - Thurs 18 ^/ Fri 19 June

Bourke High School - Mon 22 June

Cobar High School - Tues 23 / Wed 24 / Thurs 25 June

Warren Central School - Fri 26 / Mon 29 / Tues 30 June

Coonamble High School - Wed 1 / Thurs 2 / Fri 3 July

Project Background & Rationale    

The towns of the Outback Arts region all exist in remote regional communities and the potential for isolation and disconnection is great.  For young people the experience of living in these communities is unique.  A sense of being ‘out of it’; isolated from a wider region or even ‘world’ is not uncommon.  The ‘levy bank syndrome’ is a term used to describe a sense of insularity felt by people – particularly for young people.  The project seeks to break down perceptions of isolation and explore and develop alternate ways of seeing ourselves in ‘place’ both geographically and conceptually using STORYTELLING and PERFORMANCE.

The project aims to create a unique artistic map of the area that brings insight to the creative links that can potentially bring people together in celebration of their own identity and the identity of the region.

Themes & Focal Areas

The urban myth of "six degrees of separation" has actually been developed into an exciting new field of scientific research known as "Network Theory" and this new theory has been applied to various fields of research from curing cancer, to military strategy, to financial systems (well that one hasn't worked yet!). From an artistic and social point of view it is something that we all know, the importance of networks (communities) and of identifying hubs of activity. Within the context of this project we would aim at setting up new means of communicating – artistically, which would seek to identify the webs of interconnectedness between seemingly isolated communities.

Target groups

Young people aged 12 – 25 years.  The 12 - 18 year old aged bracket will be targeted through schools.  18 - 25 year olds may be accessed in community or youth centre workshops held outside of the school setting.

The Project

Contemporary dance and theatre artist Jeff Stein will work with young people in storytelling performance workshops.  Through voice and movement young people will explore their own stories – these will be about their town, their place.

Participants will be given a set of performance tasks in dance, song, and story which will be documented on video by Jeff.  Questions like "What do you have to say to the next town, about yourself and about them?" will be asked of the participants and 'How can you answer this question through songs, dances and stories'.  Their performances will be directed towards the next town, or place in Jeff’s tour so that participants are ‘reaching out’ or sending messages to other young people in the region.  In this way each performance will represent a form of message stick to the next community in the tour.

DOCUMENTED BY VIDEO young people’s STORIES will be replayed to them as a means of assessing their own process - and also to share stories with their peers and possibly families - and finally, the next community in the tour.

Young people will be shown the previous community’s messages at the beginning of the workshop.  They will also be shown a short selection of other stories from the tour.  The screening will feature edited clips in the form of a collage of stories ‘told’ in various forms through PERFORMANCE.

Project Outcomes

• Workshop participation and skills development in voice and movement

• An informal screening of rough-cuts from other communities involved in the tour

• Final DVD featuring a collage of stories from the entire region (I.e. all filmed stories from all towns) sent to all schools post-tour

RATIONALE: In 2009 Outback Arts decided to run one regional program for ArtStart instead of the small grants round.  This new approach had been adopted to ensure that projects occur with minimal stress on already overworked organisations and that less money is absorbed into the high administrative cost associated with a small grants round by both Outback Arts itself and applicants.

FOR PAST ARTSTART PROJECTS IN THE OUTBACK ARTS REGION SEE ArtStart Project Page

Outback Arts' role: Every 2 years Outback Arts, along with a number of other Regional Arts Boards (RABs) across the state, applies to be a regional coordinator for the biannually held ARTSTART Youth Arts & Skills Program.  Application is made in partnership with our regional neighbours West Darling Arts (covering Broken Hill, Wentworth, and the unincorporated area of NSW).  The combined regions (West of the Darling and Far West) cover an area approximately 342,000km squared.

ArtStart was established in 1991 as a strategic response to the significant body of evidence showing that participation in arts and cultural activities is an effective way to re-engage young people in education and training.

ArtStart is managed by TAFE NSW Access and General Education Curriculum Centre. The program relies on community partnerships and networks operating at both state and regional levels. These networks include the community, cultural and youth sectors, schools, training and tertiary sectors.

ArtStart NSW Youth Arts and Skills program is a NSW Government initiative funded by the NSW Department of Education and Training.  It is run in the Outback Arts region biannually in partnership with its neighbour West Darling Arts through a program of activities for young people.

With thanks to... staff at the TAFE NSW Access and General Education Curriculum Centre, staff at Gulargambone Central School, Walgett High School, Lightning Ridge Central School, Brewarrina Central School, Goodooga Central School, Bourke High School, Cobar High School, Warren Central School, Coonamble High School, and Jeff Stein

This regional tour is proudly supported by Outback Arts