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The Arts and Creativity grants program continues to realise the vision of the Arts and Creativity strategy, Connected through Creativity 2029. The grants provide vital support for the arts sector, ensuring a vibrant, connected and engaged community.
2024/25
Council received 73 applications across two project categories, with 24 projects awarded grant funding totaling $100,087. Of the 24 projects recommended for funding, 6 projects received the full amount requested and 18 projects received partial funding.
The 2024/25 Arts & Creativity grants recipients were endorsed by Council at the meeting on Tuesday 15 October 2024.
Congratulations to the successful recipients.
Independent Creative Projects
| Applicant | Project | Approved funding |
|---|---|---|
| I.C. Markus Dunworth & R. Siciliano | Eco film processing in industry waste with The Darkroom Social A series of three subsidised community workshops, increasing access to creative education with a sustainability focus. Held in collaboration with local businesses, these workshops will have low-cost tickets and will teach students to repurpose hospitality waste for an eco-friendly alternative to photographic development processes. | $4,000 |
| J.A. Nicholson & F.C. Verity | Art W*nk Podcast: platform subscription Project support towards audience development and promotion for a weekly podcast produced on the Northern Beaches featuring local creatives and gallerists. | $978 |
| Jackelyn Bickell | Create. Connect. Cultivate: Professional development seminars for emerging artists Towards three professional development seminars with networking workshops for local emerging artists. Local established practitioners will provide expertise and insights across different focus topics, fostering connections through knowledge exchange. | $3,000 |
| Jodie Katherine Dowd | Wayapa Wuurk: Practitioner training and workshops Providing professional development for local Noongar weaver and curator Jodie Dowd, towards accredited study in Wayapa Wuurk (Indigenous cultural knowledges), and three free community Wayapa Wuurk workshops for 20 community members with yarning circles, and program evaluation. | $5,000 |
| Joshua Paul Little | Ikigai Sessions: Video and performance recording project Towards professional development for a local emerging musician to release a four-track EP, five-part YouTube series featuring local artists, businesses, and cultural centres, and 12 live music performances at venues on the Northern Beaches. | $3,349 |
| Katherine Alison Butcher | Common Threads: Collaborative exhibition with community workshops A two-week inaugural exhibition featuring sustainable art using repurposed materials by six Northern Beaches artists. It includes a collaborative soft sculpture using weaving, sewing, beading, threading, dyeing, and painting. The event offers free interactive drop-in sessions with the artists, community 'create with us' activities, two ticketed weekend workshops, and a final showcase event. | $5,000 |
| Li Sze Teo | Eastern ceramic techniques: Practitioner training, exhibition and community workshops Towards supporting a local ceramicist to develop and share a new practice not readily available on the Northern Beaches. Project includes a Taiwanese Ceramics Exhibition, two public talks, and two subsidised Qinghua painting workshops for eight people. | $4,000 |
| Mai Oshima | Stained glass workshops Annual program comprising 24 stained-glass workshops, including children’s school holiday workshops to promote hands-on creativity, relaxation, and community engagement. | $4,000 |
| Michael Booth | Manly bookshop theatre project Nine public performances for 350+ audience of Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation performed in Desire Books & Records in Manly, presenting theatre in unique, non-traditional spaces, and providing professional development opportunities for local actors and crew. | $3,000 |
| Penelope Susan Blunsden | Everywhere and Nowhere: Solo exhibition A two-week debut exhibition at Curl Curl Creative Space for a local emerging artist recently graduated from the National Art School, including exhibition launch and free guided tours with the artist. | $3,500 |
| Simon Maurice John Croker | Phantom Elegance: Film project Supporting local creatives to produce a short film based on ghost stories of the Wakehurst Parkway from a queer perspective. The project includes production, music composition, set and costume design and two public screenings during the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras 2025 on the Northern Beaches and in Darlinghurst. | $5,000 |
| Siobhan Stollznow | Fibre Arts Festival One-day festival at Curl Curl Creative Space to connect the knitting, crochet, and needlework communities of the Northern Beaches and Sydney. Includes market stalls, skills exchange, and in-person social networking for greater wellbeing. | $2,000 |
Community and Creative Sector Projects
| Applicant | Project | Approved funding |
|---|---|---|
| Amber Marie Boardman | Drawing marathon for high school visual arts students Towards a two-day drawing workshop marathon conducted by two established Northern Beaches artists for 20 high school visual arts students at Bushwick South Studios. The project includes program development, materials, mentorship, and a public exhibition of student work. | $5,000 |
| Anita Patricia Connell | Art therapy program for young people Towards an inclusive music education program for high school students and young people with disability on the Northern Beaches to co-create music over one school term, culminating in a three-day recording session to produce a professional recording for distribution. Led by music therapists, participants gain new skills and learn how to use music to enhance health. | $5,340 |
| Avalon Palm Beach Business Chamber Incorporated | Avalon Village Arts and Environmental Festival A weekend-long festival with ticketed and free events featuring live music, multi-media, and slam-poetry performances; an exhibition of local artists at Avalon Surf Club; a program of events curated by First Nations Community; and creative and environmental workshops and talks. | $5,000 |
| Cerebral Palsy Alliance | Cerebral Palsy Alliance: Arts and creativity program Towards the development of a new program to support local people with disability develop new skills and express themselves through creativity. | $2,400 |
| Hamazkaine Armenian Educational & Cultural Society Regional Committee | Armenian Prpoor Festival Australia 2025 A weekend festival at the Hamazkaine Arshak & Sophie Galstaun College (Ingleside) for 400+ people connecting Armenian and non-Armenian residents through music, dance, and food, sharing cultural practices fostering a sense of community belonging. | $6,000 |
| Lewis Edward Holt | Canned Laughter: Comedy development program A 12-month program with monthly workshops and performances at local venues to develop the skills, industry knowledge, and careers of local comedians. Towards workshop facilitators, artist fees, and production. | $6,000 |
| Manly Theatre Group Incorporated | Festival of Short Plays: Program development Towards program development and rehearsal space hire for the Festival of Short Plays, supporting the creation of up to 15 short new plays written and performed by local creatives, free workshops, and skills development training. | $2,000 |
| Manly Writers' Festival Inc | Manly Writers' Festival 2025 A three-day ticketed literary festival for 2,000+ writers and readers showcasing emerging and established authors from the Northern Beaches and beyond. Curated program features up to 40 sessions including one-on-one conversations, workshops, and panel discussions in Manly. | $5,000 |
| Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce | Newport local music pilot program A new program to support live music in Newport. Towards musician fees for two free live performances at two Newport venues over a four-month period. Connecting community and supporting local venues. | $3,000 |
| Romani Arts and Culture Collective Incorporated | Balkan-Brazilian cultural event A one-day intercultural event for 300+ people, featuring 18 culturally diverse artists and 10 emerging jazz musicians to connect and represent multicultural communities living on the Northern Beaches. Towards the creation of new music, mentorship of young musicians, and artist performance fees. | $6,000 |
| The Balgowlah Bowling Club Ltd | Eastern Lounge: Live music program A new, monthly live music program hosted at the Balgowlah Bowling Club, in partnership with the Eastern Lounge, to showcase Northern Beaches and local Sydney emerging and established musicians. Towards production and technicians for four events, featuring 12 acts for 450+ audience members. | $3,520 |
| Venessa Crane | Me and My Shadows: Theatre production Toward development of an intergenerational production of a new theatre work, based on Goethe’s Faust including six accessible public performances at Kamaroi School (Belrose). Production features a diverse cast and crew of 30 local creatives across all abilities. Towards multimedia production equipment, costume and prop materials, and documentation. | $8,000 |
2023/24
Council received 84 applications across three project categories, with 27 projects awarded grant funding totalling $122,000. Of the 27 projects recommended for funding, 4 projects received the full amount requested and 23 projects received partial funding.
The 2023/24 Arts & Creativity grants recipients were endorsed by Council at the meeting on Tuesday 24 October 2023.
Individual Creative Projects
| Applicant | Project | Funding Amount |
| Annabella Louise La Spina | The Poetics of Motion (Spit) Production of an ‘etched video’ and prints celebrating and exploring ideas raised by the iconic Spit Bridge. A stop motion animation created with copper plate etchings, the video will immortalise the Spit Bridge as the artist reflects on the Spit itself and its standing as the ‘entry to the Northern Beaches’. | $3,000 |
| Catharine Barrett Plummer | We Believe You Babcia A multimedia art installation about storytelling Polish grandmothers, intergenerational relationships, and the often-untraced creative lineage of familial storytelling. With sculpture, sound and augmented reality, the work will be exhibited at MAG&M in conjunction with Express Yourself and asks young artists to take stock of their own, perhaps unacknowledged familial creative lineage. | $5,000 |
| Craig Wiles | The Art of Craig Wiles An exhibition of mixed-media artworks sharing the lived experience of a trained local artist Craig Wiles, presenting a series of works exploring his lived experience of schizophrenia at Curl Curl Creative Space. | $4,000 |
| Emily Jane Lecky | Dancing On the Edge: A Vertical Dance Expedition Post-production of a short documentary and dance film leading to a local premiere screening. The documentary follows an all-female expedition of Northern Beaches dancers as they traverse 200km through the Murchison River Gorge in Western Australia. The film then shifts into a cinematic portrayal of a breathtaking vertical dance work on the cliff walls that border the gorge. | $3,000 |
| J.A Nicholson & F.C Verity | Art Wank Podcast Equipment and marketing support for a prominent visual arts podcast to develop its content opportunities and expand its audience. The podcast focuses on the process and practice of contemporary art within the Northern Beaches community and beyond to learn more and demystify the art world. | $772 |
| Katherine Edney | I Want to Lie in the Clouds with You Creation of a series of paintings responding to themes of love, comfort and loss. The artist will explore and express the subject of anxiety, reflecting on their own struggles with mental health, to connect with and bring comfort to viewers, especially women, who may be dealing with their own mental health struggles. | $3,748 |
| Kristina Brook Wilson | Northern Beaches Songwriter's Live Performance Development Enable an emerging musician to produce new music and foster meaningful collaborations with fellow local artists. Through recording and releasing more music, and gaining skills in music production along the way, the artist will develop their practice and expand their audience. The artist will build their profile through increased live performances at Northern Beaches venues. | $3,000 |
| Nicholas Andrew Price | Wax Rat Post-production to complete and launch a short film set on the Northern Beaches, produced with local creatives and crew. Wax Rat is a drama about a young girl who discovers joy in surfing amidst the breakdown of her family. Written and co-directed by local author Kirsty Eagar, adapted from a scene in her award-winning novel, Raw Blue. | $5,000 |
| Patrick O'Dwyer | Oceanic Organ A mobile performance installation using a wave-powered musical pipe organ that combines sculpture with sound art and environmental activism. The work will be presented at the Ocean Festival hosted by the Manly Environment Centre and serves as an educational installation, teaching valuable lessons on rising sea levels and the power of renewable energy. | $3,800 |
| Working Title Writers' Group | Women and Myth: An Illustrated Anthology Local authors and an illustrator will collaborate to produce a published collection of short stories on ‘Women and Myth’. Exploring new and traditional myths, the project aims to reinvigorate public consciousness of the power of foundational myths, highlighting the often-forgotten feminine in the source material. | $1,950 |
Creative Community Projects
| Applicant | Project | Funding Amount |
| Alex Colley Hart | Photo:Synthesis An immersive multidisciplinary group exhibition exploring the fragile and multidimensional relationship between the environment, light, and contemporary artistic practice. Providing support for an emerging local curator, and artist fees for a diverse selection of prominent Australian-based artists working within the intersection of contemporary photography, video/sound installations, and sculpture. | $8,000 |
| Amy Frances Gopperth | Sustainable Jewellery Workshops for Community and Mindfulness Development of a creative business to build a skilled jewellery-making community on the Northern Beaches through expanding and reimagining jewellery making workshops that focus on sustainability and connection. Key to this is the establishment of mobile jewellery workshops, able to be taught in flexible spaces with broader audiences. | $3,000 |
| Emma Sinclair | Manilla to Manly – Beach to Bush: Communities in Action A public program for Creative Open 2024, inviting creative community action for climate action. Connecting beach to bush, artists from the rural Renewable Manilla festival will come to Manly for an exhibition and workshops. Activities include the development of a giant sun sculpture, solar lanterns, mending circles, and more. | $5,700 |
| Felicity Jane Lenehan | Life Stories: Writing Workshops and Community anthology Writing workshops provide community, education, and support for people who wish to write their life stories. Participants contribute to a published Anthology, focussing on heritage and place. The group will convene monthly at a Northern Beaches Library, developing their stories and learning techniques used by biographers and oral historians. | $7,665 |
| Gaimaragal Group Pty Ltd | The Power of 8 8 First Nations women will participate in a multi-media art project whereby each participant adds to the artwork started by another sister. Over 8 weeks, 8 artworks will be developed, complimented by a shared journal capturing the artists’ life stories and art practices. The artworks and associated stories will be captured in a publication. | $8,454 |
| Les Sculptures Incorporated | Les Sculptures Refusées Development and documentation support for a free and high-profile exhibition that re-imagines the Quarantine Station location and its cultural context and provides a major public art event in Manly. As an alternative selection to Sculpture by the Sea, it creates opportunities for artists to exhibit work and local audiences to engage with significant sculptural works. | $1,967 |
| Linda Doreen Haigh | Pittwater Artists Trail An alliance of 21 artists who collectively open their studios to the public twice a year, creating a trail for art lovers over 3 days. Artists share their work, allowing audiences from the Northern Beaches and beyond to personally engage with artists and their practice, and buy original artworks. | $2,289 |
| Manly Theatre Group Incorporated | Manly Theatre: Group Education Program and Theatre Production Inter-disciplinary performing arts workshops and classes focussed on acting, writing, directing, and producing theatre. Out of the workshops, the group will produce a full-length play written, produced, and performed by local creatives. The group provides an inclusive community and skill-building opportunity for theatre practitioners in the Northern Beaches. | $3,200 |
| Melanie Hitchcock | Cultiv8: Creative Waves Workshops Workshops using the art and meaning of Hip Hop culture to connect with some of the most disadvantaged young people in our community. Workshops will be delivered across four elements of Hip Hop culture - dance, DJ’ing, graffiti art, and lyric writing - providing a platform for mentorship and intergenerational sharing. | $4,900 |
| Nicole Megan Buckland | Collage for Carers Creative workshops for local carers to connect and visualise their personal stories with collage. Facilitated by Angie Cass, a collage artist and community educator, and Nicole Buckland, a collage artist, educator, and occupational therapist. Participants are encouraged to utilise creative expression as a means of self-care and community building. | $8,495 |
| Northern Beaches Chorus Incorporated | Sing in the Season: Christmas Music Learning Program Northern Beaches Chorus (NBC) women's choir is a community group focused on performance, fun and music education. NBC will run a Christmas music program in November, inviting local women to attend four weekly sessions at the Warringah Mall Community Rooms and learn to sing Christmas carols in four-part harmony. | $1,760 |
| Northern Beaches Readers Festival Incorporated | The Northern Beaches Readers Festival A biennial, three-day celebration of popular Australian fiction. Attracting 1000+ ticket bookings in 2022, the 2024 edition will feature 17 curated author talks and panel sessions. With nearly a quarter of the sessions free, the festival aims to attract some of the biggest names in popular fiction, engaging even more local readers. | $5,000 |
| Reid & Meagher Pty Limited | Northern Beaches Artists: Career and Collector Fast Track Two-part workshop for artists and collectors. For artists, how to break into the commercial gallery scene, promote themselves, and sell their work. For collectors, how to connect with artists and ways to think about artworks, including their value, and develop their collection. | $5,200 |
| Scotland Island Residents Association Inn | Sydney's Three Underworld Queens: Tilly V Kate V Nellie Development and performance of a new play based on three Sydney women of the early 1900s, Tilly Devine (Queen of Darlinghurst), Kate Leigh (Queen of Woolloomooloo), and Nellie Cameron (Queen of Darlinghurst). Unlike previous stories about these women, the work will explore their class backgrounds and the motivation for their activities. | $5,000 |
| Streetwork Australia Limited | Changing Strokes: Empowering Young People through Creative Art A creative mentorship program seeking to improve young people’s ability to re-engage in school and education whilst stabilising and/or improving their risk of youth crime and mental health concerns. It will see them engaged in a trusted one-on-one relationship-building environment through a tailored art program with counselling support. | $7,000 |
| Tania Murphy | Hands in Clay Ceramics workshops for teenagers and seniors focusing on mental health and art therapy practices. Based at North Head Arts Precinct, participants will create ceramic bird baths/reptile ponds for installation by local regeneration groups. Working with clay allows participants to disconnect from mental struggles and gain the freedom to express themselves. | $4,100 |
Creative Sector Innovation Projects
| Applicant | Project | Funding Amount |
| Evergreen Music Pty Ltd | Tea By the Brook: Live Music Series A live music event series for artists and audiences to enjoy a vibrant and intimate experience. Collaborating with local businesses, and focussing on musical and cultural diversity, Evergreen aims to fill the venue gap in the Sydney music scene, while providing mentorships for local sound engineers. | $7,000 |
2022/23
Council received 52 applications across three project categories, with 16 projects awarded grant funding totalling $84,441.40. Of the 16 applications recommended for funding, 15 projects received the full amount requested and 1 received partial funding.
The 2022/23 Arts & Creativity grant recipients were endorsed by Council at the meeting on Tuesday 18 October 2022.
| Applicant | Project | Funding Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Amber Marie Boardman | Community MFA Salon Series | $9,000 |
| Michael Booth (Trading As 'The Sydney Actors Playhouse') | The Manly Bookshop Film Project | $5,000 |
| Belinda Clare Castles | Walking Sydney: Writers in a changing city | $3,250 |
| Susan Dureau | The Soundscape Project | $5,000 |
| Sandra Garritano-Provencher | 'Beyond the Sea' —A Jazz and Art Soirée | $5,000 |
| J.A Nicholson & F.C Verity | Art W**k Podcast | $2,994 |
| Lachlan Wren | Open Mics on the Northern Beaches | $5,000 |
| Nancy Elizabeth Laver | Northern Beaches Soundscapes | $2,000 |
| Makinnoize Media Pty Ltd (Trading as 'Plushtown Studios') | Bands over Brookvale | $10,000 |
| Manly Theatre Group Incorporated | Acting and Scriptwriting Workshops | $2,202.40 |
| Frances Morgan | The Listening Station | $10,000 |
| Emily Therese O'connell (Trading as 'Anywhere Else Films') | On the Side (Short Film) | $5,000 |
| Jayne Papalia | Community open studio project | $8,245 |
| Zena Rose Miranda Merrifield Shapter | Northern Beaches Writer’s Competition | $2,450 |
| Katie Stafford | Woodworking for Women | $5,000 |
| Sydney Chamber Music Festival Incorporated | Sydney Chamber Music Festival presents Revival | $4,300 |
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