August 16, 2019
A dozen creative people gathered at The Shed in Nanango on Thursday night for the third of the South Burnett Regional Council’s quarterly “Creative Roundtable” get-togethers.
Previous meetings have been held in Wondai and Blackbutt.
The idea for the Roundtables – which were suggested after an Arts Council public forum in Kingaroy – is to get people involved in the creative arts out of their “silos”, to brainstorm, network and build relationships with Council.
So far, discussions have revolved around RADF funding and the need for Council to develop a new Arts policy.
An official Arts policy is needed before applications can be made for larger-scale grants.
A copy of Council’s last Arts policy, which was developed in 2011, was tabled at the Nanango meeting.
SBRC Senior Economic Development Officer Craig Tunley and arts portfolio holder Cr Danita Potter said this would be used to form the basis for community consultations and discussions within Council around the development of a new arts policy, but this was unlikely to be completed ahead of next year’s March Council election.
Other topics discussed included:
- The successful Tractor Tattoo event held in 2012
- South Burnett and Cherbourg On Show-type itineraries for visitors
- The recent Digital Animation workshop in Kingaroy, and
- The upcoming “eat in the street” community dinner in Nanango which will include the launch of the Sound Trails phone app. This dinner will be held in Little Drayton Street on August 31 and will also mark the end of fundraising for the Butter Factory Park project. Organisers will supply the tables, chairs and entertainment while diners need to bring along their own tablecloths, crockery, cutlery, food and drinks. Cost is $5 a head with funds raised going towards the Butter Factory Park all-abilities playground project.
Some of the other ideas tossed about included:
- The potential for the Winter Craft Festival in Kingaroy, which ran at the Kingaroy Art Gallery during June and July, to be expanded
- Community singing events in pubs or wineries
- How to connect tourists coming through the area with regular local events, such as the music nights at The Shed
- The possibility of allocating a specific round of RADF funding to events associated with a larger festival event (which occurred with Tractor Tattoo)
Council’s next Creative Roundtable get-together will be held from 1:00pm on Sunday, September 22, at Murgon RSL Club.
It will be preceded by a meet’n’greet hosted by South Burnett Arts Inc (buy lunch and chat) at the same venue from noon.
Disclosure: Anne Miller is secretary of South Burnett Arts Inc.
