Accessing Fun in Dubbo!

Sarah-Jane and I were on the road again last week, this time we headed northwest to Dubbo for the yearly Access to Funding workshop.

We put this workshop on in a different region of NSW each year, in this case bookending the Standards Program that took place in Orana last year.

We were pleased to have the following speakers:

· Arts NSW (Gabrielle Eade)
· Regional Arts NSW (Annette Eassie)
· Department of Veterans’ Affairs (Wendy Miralis and Hilary McClure)
· National Library of Australia (Dianne Dahlitz,)
· Australian National Maritime Museum (Clare Power)

I also spoke on our VIM Grant Program.

It was a great opportunity for people from arts organisations to have a one on one chat with funding providers, ask questions and float some funding ideas. I found there were lots of people to catch up with at the workshop – from past Standards participants to groups who had previously had VIM Grants. Again it’s always so nice to meet people in person, some of whom we had been talking on the phone to and emailing yet never met!

We were also lucky to hear an inspiring keynote presentation from Angela O’Brien of the 2828 Committee, an innovative community venture based in Gulargambone (a small town of 395 north of Dubbo). It was incredible to see how a wide cross section of the community had come together and worked really hard to build a cafe, art gallery and gift shop, a successful function centre and a quality catering service.

We were so pleased to be able to put the workshop on in the stunning Western Plains Cultural Centre, an excellent venue for a workshop. Thanks so much to Andrew Glassop and his team for all their help in putting this on.

Hopefully people took away with them some new inspiration for getting their projects off the ground, maybe even from funders they hadn’t thought would be relevant.

Clare Power from the National Maritime Museum presents on their funding program

Annette Eassie leads a practical session on the Regional Arts NSW funding program

Congratulations to the 2010 Standards Participants!

Last Friday Sarah-Jane, Michael Rolfe and I traveled up to Dubbo to celebrate the completion of the 2010 Standards Program with the participants. There were ten museums in this year’s group, from as far as Brewarrina and Lightning Ridge, to Narromine and Rylstone. Despite the Program’s challenging demands of time, hard work and energy, everyone was a delight to work with and I was endlessly impressed by each group’s passion and dedication to develop their museum.

Our celebration was hosted by the Western Plains Cultural Centre, a really fantastic venue. It was great to catch up with everyone again, and we were fascinated to hear the tales of the recent flooding that has had such an effect on the region.

After the group kindly shared their feedback with us on their experience of the program (all very positive!), we had a quick lunch and began the presentations of the Final Reports and Certificates of Achievement. We were lucky to have Deputy Mayor of Dubbo Mathew Dickerson join us to present the reports with Michael. They both expressed their admiration for the museums’ great effort and commitment.

I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone again in Dubbo next year when we hold our workshop Access to Funding on 18th March. Hopefully this will help actualize some of the great ideas people have thought up with their reviewers during Standards 2010.

Thanks so much again to this year’s Standards museums for being such a great group! I’ve really enjoyed getting to know everyone, and look forward to staying in contact in the future.

Ted Davies, Jack Haines and Bob Richardson – Narromine Aviation Museum

Narromine Aviation Museum representatives - Ted Davies, Jack Haines and Bob Richardson

Rochelle Sutherland from the Gulgong Pioneer Museum receives her Final Report and Certificate of Achievement from Deputy Mayor of Dubbo Mathew Dickerson.

Sarah-Jane Rennie, Cr Mathew Dickerson, Michael Rolfe and Phoebe Arthur