The CASP (Country Arts Support Program) is an annual small grants program with funding of up to $5,000 to support local community arts and cultural development, increase regional opportunities, cultural experiences, and economic benefits to the community in regional NSW.
Grants are available for short term arts and community projects, initiated and delivered in the following local Government areas in the Northern Rivers: Byron Shire, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed Shire.
Administered by Arts Northern Rivers through devolved funding from Create NSW, CASP 2024 was available for community engaged projects and activities that include workshops, exhibitions, performances, public art, and design projects.
The aims of Arts Northern Rivers CASP funding are to:
- Assist locally determined community arts and cultural activities
- Increase opportunities for regionally based groups and individuals to access a diverse range of arts programs
- Enable communities to explore and express their cultural identities
- Lead to greater awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity
- Increase the sustainability and resilience of regionally based community arts organisations and individuals
Applications were assessed by a panel of arts professionals convened by Arts Northern Rivers.
Download the funding guidelines here.
CASP 2024 supported 6 community arts projects that aim to increase cultural experiences and regional opportunities.
PROJECTS -
Sprung! Integrated Dance Theatre Inc - Dis-co Ball 2024.
Disability Community Ball will be an annual, disability-led community arts event. Championing access and inclusion, Dis-co Ball showcases the creative talent of our local disability community and brings together people of all backgrounds and abilities in a celebration of difference.
Mullumbimby & District Neighbourhood Centre - Kinship Doobai Dancers.
This project is to develop dance collateral for a contemporary Aboriginal Womens Dance Troupe. The project will focus on working with a local musician to develop the music and sound scapes for the dances and to run an intensive to finalise and share the dances with women and girls.
SeedArts Australia Incorporated - The Con Story: Aim higher and walk the wire.
A mobile tightwire performance and workshop for Northern Rivers youth exploring positive risk-taking and identity using circus, movement and visual arts. We draw on our previous work, The Xrossing, the unbelievable story of Lismore born Indigenous tightwire walker, Con Colleano to rework it into a schools touring show with workshops.
The Tropical Fruits Inc - Arts and Culture program at Tropical Fruits New Year Festival.
The Arts and Culture Program at Tropical Fruits 2024 Festival will expand upon the inaugural program presented in 2023 and features workshops, installations and performances. It aims to increase participation in the arts through artistic development workshops and funded art installations and roving performances at the event.
Benjo Kazue - Kyogle Zine + Print Fair
A zine + print fair and gig at the KMI Hall in Kyogle, in March 2025, featuring 25 local Northern Rivers artists, with bands from Lismore/Kyogle/Casino, a food truck and youth-run coffee cart on site. This community-focused event celebrating zine culture, independent publishing and DIY art will encourage, educate and inspire the community, engaging the public in discussions promoting zine-making as an accessible art form and platform for creative expression in Kyogle.
Karenza Ebejer - The Future is...
A series of digital storytelling workshops for young women and gender diverse people aged people aged 18-25. Participants will learn the process of story creation using accessible digital tools! These hands on, creative, fun workshops are designed to build connection, creativity and give a voice for all involved. There will also be a group show in Lismore.
CASP 2023 Recipients were:
Byron Youth Services – Who Ate All the Pies? is a pilot mentorship program for 4 x early career artists in building sustainable careers in the arts and community sectors. The project aims to address and disrupt the erosion of access to the arts and subsequent reduction of the capacities of young and emerging artists to participate in the sector and society.
Darling Muffs of May – This is a community arts project, based in Mullumbimby. Key events are an artist-run, craft workshop (Feb ‘24) creating works to be photographed for a curated photographic exhibition (May ‘24). The project will raise money for women who are at risk or affected by homelessness.
Gurehlgam & Deborah Taylor – Gurehlgam is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to improve the lives of Aboriginal people and families in Northern NSW. The project aims to collect and display photos on the current ‘Welcome Project Murals’ on the old Grafton Bridge Pylons and South Grafton levee wall. The project will engage with local First Nations families from South Grafton and Grafton, utilising historical family photographs to share and celebration cultural connections in the region.
Kyogle Readers and Writers Inc – The project involves a writer-in-residence program, including mentorship, open, on a competitive basis, to emerging writers across all genres, who are based in rural or regional areas. The successful applicant will be invited to Kyogle for a two-week residency, and they will also be platformed in the 2024 Writers Festival.
Paul Walker – ‘We Will Thrive’ is a creative recovery project for the Northern Rivers LGBTIQA+ community after the 2022 floods. It follows the pilot project, I Will Survive, from 2022. This iteration includes 10 creative art/performance workshops led by local LGBTIQA+ artists to develop a performance/installation piece for the Tropical Fruits Festival.
Completed CASP 2022 Projects were:
MOVE IT – dance for film workshop series – The MOVE IT – dance for film project is a series of performance-making workshops for dance on screen. They are designed to enrich the social lives and mental well-being of the dance community by making ongoing creative connections with local and visiting artists.
View the outcome HERE
Nuance – Byron Youth Theatre devised an original theatre production exploring the nuances of communication and how they can positively and negatively affect our relationships.
View a short of the performance HERE
Rescue – Jeanti St Clair and Raimond de Weerdt’s ‘Rescue’ project collects stories and portraits of people involved in the heroic civilian rescue operation during the 2022 Northern Rivers floods. Individuals took it upon themselves to use their boats, jet-skis, canoes and blow-up boats to rescue residents caught out by the floods.
View images of the exhibition HERE
The Making of Buni (fire) – The making of fire will be an inclusive documentary-style project that will explore Jahvis Loveday sharing his knowledge on how to traditionally make fire. Through hands-on experience, the community will get an exclusive insight into the culture that is still practiced today.
View the documentary HERE
