President’s Report, Susan Brindle
It is with great pleasure that STA welcomes Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council as a financial member and the diverse communities of the QPRC area to the STA region. All 7 Councils in the STA region have renewed their partnerships, each operating under a new Memorandum of Understanding. This is great news for the STA region as it shows a continued commitment to supporting and promoting the arts.
All 7 Councils send representatives to twice-yearly meetings of the STA Regional Advisory Panel, hosted by a different Council each time, held in a different location. STA Board members attend these informative and inspiring sessions where all parties contribute arts and cultural perspectives and provide feedback on STA programs and actions. This collaborative approach and feedback ensure that STA remains responsive to the needs and interests of the communities it serves.
With our new 4-year funding arrangement with Create NSW underway and all 7 Councils financial, STA is operating in a more secure funding environment. Funding levels affect investment in resources and initiatives that increase effectiveness. In turn, this impacts the types of activities and projects undertaken as well as the quality and impact of creative outputs.
We are grateful for the across-government policy focus on regional development and sustainability by the NSW Government. It saw wonderful new cultural infrastructure in parts of the region. Investment in cultural infrastructure has a significant impact on the cultural and economic development of a region, providing opportunities for artists, cultural organisations and the wider community. When well-designed and well-placed, this infrastructure fosters creativity, cultural participation, social cohesion as well as attracting visitors and supporting local businesses.
In response to the state’s tumultuous weather events and pandemic the NSW Government, in developing its recovery responses, allocated significant funding to arts-focused recovery grants. This type of high dollar value funding provides crucial support to the arts and cultural sector and communities impacted by disaster, recognising the traumatic aftermath so widely experienced.
The STA team secured a large value grant for creative responses to fire-affected communities. It conceived an ambitious program, partnering with Councils, rolling out huge murals by some of Australia’s leading mural and street artists in prominent urban locations across the entire region. The team has stepped up its project management framework and is demonstrating capabilities which can be deployed in the delivery of large future projects and programs. The gorgeous PAINT THE TOWN murals in Wollondilly are already uplifting and inspiring the local community. These striking and beautiful murals throughout the STA region will in time, take their place next to the Australian Silo Art Trail, positively impacting the economies of our towns for decades to come. Landmark attractions draw tourists and visitors, instil pride in local communities and contribute to the cultural identity and vibrancy of the region.
I extend my appreciation to the small businesses supporting us in the areas of finances, IT and audit services. They play a vital role enabling access to expertise in key areas while providing cost-effective support services. As far as possible, STA staff concentrate on core operational matters within this model.
The Board joins me in expressing our appreciation to Rose Marin. Her passion for community arts and culture, her energy and drive are taking STA recognition to new levels as she delivers strategic objectives around capacity building. If you’ve met her, you’ll know that her mantra is ‘We do with not for’. It is a powerful focus that empowers creatives and communities to take an active role in the development of their cultural landscapes.
Rose has built a team to drive the STA work further than ever before. Erin, Kiri and Daniela bring their skills and enthusiasm to program delivery as they build understanding of the unique communities STA serves. Their progress is impressive and successful on-the-job experience is building confidence. It is clear that their contributions are already significantly impacting STA’s work and regional presence.
Rose and her team are crucial to the success of STA. It is wonderful to see their dedication and passion for community arts and culture making a positive inroads across the region. I thank volunteers Cathy and Dorothy for their work with us at important times.
Finally, I express my gratitude to my Board colleagues for their knowledge, overview and deep care of our much-loved organisation. It takes a dedicated team of individuals to guide an organisation like STA and to ensure that it continues to thrive and make a positive impact on the communities in our region.
Their commitment to STA is testament to their belief in the importance of the arts in regional development and in making our communities wonderful places to live, work and play.
Treasurer’s Report, Joanne McCauley
With the pandemic seeming to be behind us and life starting to return to normal, 2022 was a successful year for Southern Tablelands Arts. A small increase in funding from the NSW Government has allowed the organisation to increase staff levels and roll out many valuable and interesting projects.
At the time of writing this report the auditor has not finalised the 2022 accounts but I believe the operating profit will be approximately $45,000. This modest profit shows that our income has been well spent and that there are sufficient reserves to move into the future as a going concern. From an accounting point of view the year has run very smoothly.
As mentioned, we are running a number of projects and the accounts reflect an amount of approximately $255,000 in project revenue unspent as at 31 December. The money is unspent because the projects are only mid-way through. The unspent money shows the magnitude of the projects that we are facilitating for the region. The team are doing a brilliant job managing the budgets for each project to ensure the money is spent as effectively as it can be.
Additional work comes with the extra projects and staff members. Thank you to Graham and Sophie from Book Us Bookkeeping for making sure the accounts are up to date and money is being paid on a timely basis.
Rose Marin, I really don’t know how you do it. Another incredible year with a great result. I am very proud to be the Treasurer of Southern Tablelands Arts and see the impact it has on the regions it represents.
Executive Director’s Report, Rose Marin
2022 was a year of reconnection, as we rediscovered the power of the Arts in our communities. It was an extremely busy and productive year for STA as our region and nation keenly emerged from the pandemic. Collectively our appetite to put the pandemic behind us was metered by a wariness of how to recover from such a deeply effecting time of change and uncertainty.
One big development for 2022 was the reconnection with Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council who voted to resume their relationship with STA for the second half of 2022. STA have a proud and fruitful history of supporting QPRC (or more correctly its pre-amalgamation Councils) for over 26 years. With QPRC back onboard, the STA Territory of seven local councils is once again complete. The reconnection was celebrated with a rich program of workshops, professional development opportunities and community meetings. As QPRC is my home region this reconnection was particularly significant.
STA wasted no time rescheduling programs that weren’t possible in 2021, this included three Artist in Residency programs in Hilltops, Wingecaribee and Wollondilly. STA are committed to providing ongoing residency opportunities with the program continuing in 2023.
The PAINT THE TOWN Street Art Festival is a major program of multiple mural festivals that include workshops and events. The project kicked off in 2022 in Wollondilly with 11 murals achieved across the area. PAINT THE TOWN murals are codesigned with fire effected community members and have proven a powerful platform for sharing stories, ideas and hopes. A perfect program for the current times.
The Woven Together program of First Nations weaving workshops funded by the Regional Arts Fund commenced in 2022. First Nations weavers Ronnie Jordan and Jodie Munday worked with STA throughout the year to facilitate the workshops.
The STA Box Gallery project saw the installation of three covered plinths that operate as micro galleries in Picton, Young and Yass. The resulting seasonal exhibitions are available to all STA members to apply for and are accompanied by an online exhibition at the STA Gallery page on our website. A fourth and final Box Gallery was installed in the Q Theatre Queanbeyan in 2023.
CASP (Country Arts Support Program) was devolved in 2022 by Create NSW to be directly administered by STA and across the state by the Regional Arts Network. The result was a simplified application process and widened eligibility, as well as a decreased need for auspicing bodies. STA topped up the available 17k of state funding to fund seven fabulous arts projects across our region.
Our winter once again lit up with the Illuminate Wollondilly Festival returning after a two-year hiatus. STA delivered multiple lantern workshops with Tracy Luff leading up to a community lantern parade through the Picton Botanic Gardens. STA is proud to be a foundation partner of this spectacular festival.
The Champions of Change project delivered training sessions with Brain Rapsey to emerging film makers who were then match to local environmental champions to create documentary films. The resulting works were screened at the Champions of Change Film Festival and can now be viewed anytime online.
STA thanks our partner venues for the 2022 STA Mobile Office program: Hume Conservatorium in Goulburn Mulwaree, Southern Cross Cinema in Hilltops, Crookwell Visitor Information Centre in Upper Lachlan, Ngununggula, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery in Wingecarribee, The Wollondilly Heritage Centre & Museum in Wollondilly, The Yass Valley Information Centre in Yass Valley, and Rusten House Arts Centre in Queanbeyan Palerang.
STA continued our collegial programs. The Dress Circle is our online forum for community theatres consisting of online meetings and a facebook forum. The Goulburn Arts Leaders or GALs is a monthly working lunch for the arts sector of Goulburn Mulwaree. Round the Mixing Desk monthly online meeting with the Music Industry delivered in partnership with Luminous Entertainment concluded in August.
2022 was the year of consolidation for the Creative South cultural tourism website which now boasts 440 listings of arts and cultural experiences making it the most exhaustive offering of museums, galleries, public art, festivals and hidden cultural gems across 10 local government areas. Be sure to visit when planning your next trip into the Creative South.
The STA Creative Directory continued to grow as an extensive listing of creative practitioners across our region.
Stories from the Studio is our weekly focus on STA Members every Friday night. The project now has over 150 featured artists charting the rich tapestry of featured practitioners and their stories.
The STA Advisory Panel which consists of Delegates from each of our contributing Councils met twice in Bowral and Yass. The panel supports STA to deliver strategic outcomes with a regional emphasis and is a strong platform for interactive planning and achievement sharing.
Across the busy year, STA outcomes, programs, events, and supports are detailed in a select listing in the printed paper based Annual Report Zine with a more exhaustive available online.
I’d like to acknowledge Giselle Newbury who finished up as the Coordinator Community Arts & Communications in mid January. During her time with STA Giselle achieved an extraordinary list of outcomes for our region, some of which were celebrated when she was the focus of a Stories from the Studio feature.
Giselle’s departure triggered a restructure of positions which saw us go to market with new roles in April. STA recruited Erin Olafson who started four days a week as the Project and Communication Officer in late April. Followed by Kiri Morcombe who commenced two days a week in May as the Special Projects Officer. The team was completed in October when Daniela Diaz joined the as the part time Administration Officer, two days a week.
Most of all a huge thanks you go out to our creative practitioners and communities. It’s your continued interaction with STA that allows us to make such a huge contribution across the STA Region.
Rose Marin
Susan Brindle
President
Joanne McCauley
Treasurer
Rose Marin
Executive Director
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