This consultation is closed.
Thank you to all of the artists, community organisations and potential applicants who participated in our Arts and Culture Grants Review. We heard from almost 60 of you in August 2022 to find out what changes you want to see to the program.
We're currently going through your feedback to identify trends and possible steps to move forward.
There will be more information on this will be presented at a Council Meeting later this year. Stay tuned to find out more!
In Yarra, we love our unique arts and culture sector.
From fabulous festivals, enthralling exhibitions and popular programs, the arts thrive in our city. We want to make sure it keeps thriving.
That's why we have provided $640,000 in grants over the last year to boost our arts and culture sector. These grants help over 50 independent artists and community organisations contribute to our community.
These grants also celebrate the diverse communities that call Yarra home. The programs, exhibitions and events funded through them support our:
- multicultural community
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- LGBTIQA+ groups
- young people.
We’re reviewing our grants program to ensure they continue to be accessible, meet the needs of our diverse communities and deliver benefits to our broader community.
We want to hear from independent artists and community groups, whether they’ve applied for a grant or not, to understand how we might improve our grants program. We'd also like to hear from the wider community to get your feedback on whether you think these grants are helping our arts and culture sector the way they should.
Your insights and suggestions will help us evaluate and improve our Arts and Culture grants program thus far, identify ways to improve the application process and help us find ways to make program better overall.
Yarra offers 5 different types of grants to support the arts and culture sector.
These grants happen as part of Yarra's Annual Grants program. There are three categories that individuals or organisations can apply for:
- Arts Development ($70,000 available annually)
- Community Arts ($50,000 available annually)
- Festivals and Events ($135,000 available annually)
All artforms are accepted with projects by professional artists and communities funded through this grant stream. In 2022, 31 recipients received funding through these grants including
- Evanesce, a climate art display by the Centre for Projection Art and CLIMARTE that highlights research about the climate crisis and shows their concerns within an artistic setting.
- We Are Colourful, an African Australian cultural project which uses contemporary dance to engage African young people in Richmond and Fitzroy.
- Groove Tunes, an all-accessible music event run by Tibi Access at the Corner Hotel.
These are two-year partnership grants to support all artforms. Individuals can apply for up to $15,000 and organisations can apply for up to $30,000.
There are currently 12 recipients of this grant including:
- Real Youth Music Studios (RYMS), a free music and dance program run by Drummond Street Servicesfor young people aged between 8 and 13 from the Collingwood and Fitzroy public housing estates.
- All the Queen’s Men, a dynamic body of work supporting the health and wellbeing of older Victorian communities, specifically older LGBTIQ+ people.
- Kids’ Own Languages: Yarra, a multilingual publishing program in which small groups of Yarra parents or carers and children under 5 years are the authors and illustrators of culturally and geographically relevant children’s picture storybooks.
Click here to find out more about the Creative and Engage Yarra grants program
Celebrate Yarra partners with invited organisations to provide 3 years of funding to deliver programs and events. Current programs include:
- Victoria Street Lunar Festival, a street festival celebrating the Lunar New Year with rows of food stalls, carnival rides, lion dancing, competitions and multicultural entertainment.
- Johnston Street Fiesta, a vibrant street festival celebrating the heritage, tradition, music and food of the world’s many Spanish speaking countries.
- Gertrude Street Projection Festival, is Australia’s longest running projection festival looking to discover new artists, uncover places and explore ideas through playful, thoughtful, and inspiring new media work.
These are a series of small ‘quick response’ grants of up to $1,000 to support community groups, not-for-profit organisations and artists on projects across all artforms. The assessment process takes around three to four weeks from your submission date.
The 2022/23 Small Project Grants program is now open. Head to the Small Project Grants page for more details.
These grants of up to $5,000 are designed to support organisations to remain in Yarra.
Room to Create grants focus on creative infrastructure and could be used for fitting out new studio spaces, conducting an audit of spaces to make them more accessible or purchasing key equipment. There are 6 grant recipients in the 2021/22 grant program.
