The Big Announcement
Last night in front of a glittering gold curtain Lisa Havilah announced not one, but two winners of the Arts Northern Rivers Your Big Idea project.
‘The Northern Rivers has produced some really groundbreaking arts projects so we were expecting to be wowed,’ said Arts Northern Rivers Executive Director Peter Wood.
In a surprise twist the selection panel, that included Lisa Havilah, Director of Carriageworks, Jeff Khan, Artistic Director & CEO of Performance Space and Roslyn Helper, Director of Underbelly Arts, decided to award an established and emerging category.
Caroline Wales took the emerging category for Ballina’s Pop Up Festival of The Arts, Ballinale; converting self-storage units in the Ballina Industrial Estate into immersive interdisciplinary spaces.
‘Caroline’s Storage-Space Festival idea was exactly the sort of innovative thinking we were looking for’ said Wood. ‘The panel agreed that the project has huge potential to become a significant and regular fixture on the Northern Rivers’ cultural calendar and we can’t wait to work with Caroline to find ways of making this happen’.
The established category went to NORPA (Northern Rivers Performing Arts) who the judges thought the extensive reach of the project and its aim of engaging with artists and partners across multiple disciplines deserved the top gong.
NORPA’s project is a durational multi-artform project that will run for twelve months along the 132 km length of the abandoned railway line from Casino to Murwillumbah via Byron Bay.
The two projects will receive a tailored Project Development Package; a unique opportunity to work closely with Arts Northern Rivers to hone their project and develop a funding application for mid 2018.
During this incubation phase the successful applicant can leverage Arts Northern Rivers’ expertise and gain access to industry networks and expert knowhow across various sectors.
For more information about the Your Big Idea project contact info@artsnorthernrivers.com.au
Image | (L-R) Lisa Havilah, Caroline Wales, Julian Louis, Roslyn Helper, Jeff Khan
Photo | Hamish McCormick
