04 Mar, 2021

City's new cultural partnerships launched

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor has launched an exciting range of Cultural Strategic Partnerships to help create extraordinary and dynamic city experiences.

City of Adelaide is excited to announce that it will be partnering with a wide range of local artists and organisations to bring an incredible range of performances, live music, public art installations and activities to the city.

City of Adelaide’s investment of $250,000 will support the delivery of 13 new projects and programs worth $975,000 including partner contributions. The value of partnership support ranges between $10k and $40k to each partner.

The partnerships will have a significant cultural, social and economic impact across the city.

It will result in increased employment in the arts and culture sector, aiding economic recovery as a result of COVID-19, as well as boost city wellbeing through engagement with the arts, adding to Adelaide’s reputation as a world-renowned creative city.

At an event held in Adelaide Town Hall, the new partners spoke about their partnership projects and how they will enliven the city.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor is looking forward to supporting artists and artisans to create more opportunities to engage in arts and culture in the city this year.

“The City of Adelaide is partnering with our arts community to deliver these exciting projects, which will build on Adelaide’s reputation as a creative city and support the creation of extraordinary experiences here in our city,” the Lord Mayor said.

“We know that whether we engage in arts and culture as practitioners or as part of an audience, creativity makes our lives infinitely more interesting and fulfilling. “Coming together, sharing, delighting and experiencing art is at the heart of Adelaide life.”

The 13 partnerships are as follows:

• Aboriginal led Balya Productions will deliver Give them the Mic, an international First Nations music exchange with New Zealand, Aotearoa. This partnership contributes to Council’s aim of ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Cultures are strongly represented in the Creative Life of the City and highlighting our status as a global creative city.
• Guildhouse will expand its reVision Philanthropy Program to support the artist eco-system and attract new donors.
• Mercury CX will offer the Fast Track Emerging Creative Hothouse Scheme to support emerging creatives in production, screenwriting and programming to produce their own market ready film project, providing opportunities for future employment and sustainability.
• Adelaide Film Festival will partner with Council and Palace Nova to present short films and community wellbeing messages before feature films in 2021.
• Writers SA will present Context: Winter Writing Festival produced by a CALD or First Nations writer. The festival will be open access, free and held at City Library.
• The Mill & OSCA will offer City Mobilities, an innovative approach to collaboration and stimulation with artists, planners, designers and performers to use city public spaces to develop new public art, with the process documented on film.
• True Ability, led by former parliamentarian Kelly Vincent, will deliver an annual program of workshops at Nexus Arts, supporting a group of multi-generational artists with a lived experience of disability to create a new theatrical work that will culminate in an end of year public performance.
• Slingsby Theatre will deliver Flying Squad; storytelling through the capture of city memories, reflected back as a range of theatrical performances in innovative and diverse city spaces and places.
• The Adelaide Festival will partner with Council (and the Rundle Mall Management Authority) on The Plastic Bag Store, a significant and free immersive public art work created by international artist Robyn Frohardt in Rundle Place, forming part of the Adelaide Festival 2021 program. It exemplifies how public art can be used to demonstrate and amplify current sustainable and social issues with its focus on recycling.
• The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra will present Milli Jack and the Dancing Cat; performance and music in a ‘relaxed concert’ setting for people experiencing neuro-diversity and others who would benefit from such an innovation.

In addition, commitment to three partners to deliver Council’s core strategic arts and cultural programs include:

• Expressions Media for Vaulting Ambitions, a new iteration of The Business of Being Creative Program which supports the skills development of cultural entrepreneurs.
• Adelaide Choral Network to deliver Year of the Choir 2022, as year 3 of 3 of an existing commitment to amplifying our status as a UNESCO City of Music.
• Guildhouse will present opportunities for an emerging curator, artists and writers to deliver exhibitions in Council venues and spaces through the Artworks program.

Opportunities for audiences and the community to participate, experience and enjoy the Cultural Strategic Partnerships will be regularly shared on the City of Adelaide website and via our monthly Art in the City newsletter throughout 2021 Subscribe now (confirmsubscription.com).

Matt Halliwell