Triennial Arts Partner Funding (2020-2023)
Arts, cultural or heritage organisations based in Maribyrnong who have a strong track record of producing high quality work and engaging the community in a significant way are encouraged to apply for Council’s new Triennial Arts Partner Funding.
Maribyrnong City Council provides financial and in-kind support to the local arts and cultural sector through subsidised Council-owned arts facilities, programs and funding to support the operations of key organisations. Triennial Arts Partner Funding is designed to:
- Provide multi-year organisational funding to significant arts, cultural or heritage organisations in the City of Maribyrnong.
- Assist with their capacity to deliver programs that support local artists, build new audiences and increase participation in the arts by the community.
- Increase partnership opportunities for key arts organisations through leverage and strengthening financial viability for not-for-profit organisations.
- Enable forward planning for arts organisations with multi-year funding, reducing administrative processes and building organisational capacity.
- Increase creative outcomes in Maribyrnong and extend our local creative sector's marketing reach.
- Ensure that the outcomes of the Arts and Culture Strategy 2018-2023 are fully realised.
How to apply
Please note: Applications for the 2020-2023 program are now closed. See below for more information about the successful organisations.
As an applicant to Maribyrnong Triennial Arts Funding, you must meet the Eligibility Criteria and demonstrate how your three year program contributes to achieving the Council Plan 2017-2021 priority areas and the actions of the Arts and Culture Strategy 2018-2023. All applications are assessed by a peer panel of industry representatives to ensure a robust and fair process.
Successful applicants: Triennial Arts Partners 2020-2023
Our local arts, cultural and heritage organisations are significant partners in achieving the creative vibrancy Maribyrnong is renowned for. The inaugural Triennial Arts Partner (1 July 2020 - 30 June 2023) grant program is designed to build organisational capacity and foster the development of the City’s creative people, culture and communities. Congratulations to the following successful applicants, who will receive operational funding for the next 3 years:
Footscray Community Art Centre (FCAC)
Established in 1974, Footscray Community Arts Centre is both: a community engaged and contemporary arts organisation delivering diverse and high quality, participatory programs, and a state-of-the-art cultural facility; producing and presenting culturally relevant programs, opportunities and creative works that are representative of social, cultural and political commentary in contemporary Australia.
Women’s Circus
Since 1991, Women’s Circus has partnered on over 300 community projects, employed 100s of artists and trained 1000s in circus and performance using their model of feminism and community cultural development practice. Women’s Circus is an influential feminist arts organisation and is considered a pioneer of social circus both nationally and internationally, using training programs that focus on the physical and imaginative potential of the human body, self-awareness and self-esteem.
Western Edge Youth Arts
Since 2005, Western Edge Youth Arts (WEYA) has been providing free performance-based workshops and creating dynamic theatre with structurally disadvantaged and under-represented young people in Melbourne’s West. Each year WEYA deliver approximately 170 workshops, creative projects, and performances for over 2000 audience members.
Pidgeon Projects (trading as 100 Story Building)
Formed in 2009, 100 Story Building is a centre for young writers based in Melbourne’s west whose literacy programs have reached more than 35,000 participants. They focus on literacy, confidence and sense of belonging through storytelling and creative literacy programs that engage children and young people in their own learning. They provide opportunities for the most marginalised children and young people in our community to build the literacy skills, confidence and a sense of belonging that are fundamental to increasing wellbeing in 6-18 year olds.
Living Museum of the West
Melbourne's Living Museum of the West is an ecomuseum and community social history museum based at Pipemakers’ Park in Maribyrnong. Established in 1984, the Living Museum is best known for its outreach programs and close involvement with the community it serves. There are opportunities for locals to participate through the Museum’s research and oral history programs, through one of the many artist residencies or partnership programs with the university sector each year.
Snuff Puppets
Since 1992, Snuff Puppets has been unleashing its giant puppet spectacles on people worldwide, clocking over 100 million YouTube views per year. Their work is a collision of visual art, sculpture, design, engineering, music, movement, performance and physical theatre.
L2R Dance
L2R Dance is a well-established, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing free dance programs, arts leadership opportunities and employment pathways for children and young people experiencing disadvantage in Melbourne’s West. L2R makes dance accessible to children and young people who can’t access regular dance schools and activities due to social and financial barriers and advance culture through arts and cultural activities, contributing to the nation's vibrant cultural life.
Trocadero Arts Space
In 2020, Trocadero celebrates its 15 year anniversary, marking the delivery of over 700 exhibitions, 900 artists, various public programs, events, and collaborative endeavours within the City of Maribyrnong. Trocadero provide exhibition and other opportunities for artists working across multiple mediums including painting, sculpture, sound art, video, photography, and performance. Trocadero is a not-for-profit space run by a collective of artists, writers, industry professionals and western local community.
Cinespace
Cinespace is a non-profit, volunteer-based organisation that fosters the creation, appreciation, and dissemination of screen and media content by and about people from marginalised ethnic (cultural and linguistically diverse) communities and First Nations people. Cinespace supports the Victorian screen industry and Australian screen culture in ensuring that it is responsibly representative of the broader inter-cultural community. Cinespace run workshops, provide mentorships, production support and networking - all at low or no financial cost to participants.
Footscray-Yarraville City Band
The current Footscray-Yarraville City Band is an A Grade brass band based in Melbourne’s inner west that has been drawn together from a number of musical associations over more than a century. In addition to a regular competition schedule, they perform in the local community at events such as Yarraville Festival, Christmas carols and the Western Bulldogs football club. The band caters for a wide range of musical skills and abilities from semi-professional to developmental, and also offer the Percussion Academy and a smaller performance ensemble - Western Brass.
Footscray Historical Society
Since 1968, the Footscray Historical Society is a charity intent on advancing culture in the west by: recording and cataloguing the history of the Footscray district; collecting, preserving, and exhibiting items of historical significance to the Footscray district for the benefit of the community; advocating for the conservation, restoration and maintenance of buildings and sites of historical significance to the Footscray district for the benefit of the community; and fostering public awareness of, and interest in, the history of the Footscray. The Society opens at regular hours in its historic building Ercildoune.
Wit Incorporated
Wit Incorporated is an award-winning, artist-led theatre company based in Melbourne's west, creating sustainable, accessible theatre inspired by the community. Wit favour stories exploring the intersections of gender, sexuality, culture, ability and identity, striving for proper representation on stage and access for all. Alongside a strong artistic program, Wit Incorporated runs two core community programs - Sundays with Wit artist workshops and Wit Kids children's drama classes.
Hyde Street Youth Band
Formed in 1928 as the band of the (then) Hyde St. Primary School in Footscray, HSYB has long been associated with the tuition of young people in brass instruments and music participation for young people in Maribyrnong. Many professional and well-known musicians have made their start with the HSYB, and they continue a strong tradition by assisting members to develop their musical skills in a professional and supportive low-cost environment.