Podcast celebrates 25 years of Arts Foundation

A NEW podcast by the Ballarat Arts Foundation is celebrating 25 years of the organisation.

Podcast series 25 Years, 25 Artists premiered on Wednesday and celebrates the stories of alumni whose talents grew with the support of the foundation.

Hosted by local voice actor and presenter Tabitha Rickard, some names taking part in the initiative include world-renowned saxophonist Joshua Hyde, singer and performer Kara Ciezki, Hollywood based actor Aaron Glenane and award-winning director Ben Joseph Andrews.

Ms Rickard said while the discission with each alumnus was unique, there were some similarities.

“There’s common threads amongst them which are really interesting,” she said.

“Some of the challenges that artists have faced have not been that dissimilar but how they’ve pivoted and worked through that may be different.

“It’s such a great insight to anybody wanting to get into a particular field to hear a person’s story of how they got to where they are today.”

Ms Rickard is a voice actor for animations, advertising, e-learning, and video games, and she received a grant from the Ballarat Arts Foundation last year to purchase equipment for her recording studio.

She said the Ballarat Arts Foundation played a critical role in supporting artists who are trying to build a career.

“The story coming out of the podcast is how much of an impact the Ballarat Arts Foundation has had over the last 25 years in fostering and helping the emerging arts community,” Ms Rickard said.

“The City of Ballarat are really great in supporting the really new artists and then your more established artists, whereas that middle ground can sometimes get lost.

“That’s where the Ballarat Arts Foundation really fills that gap.”

Further episodes will be released each Wednesday and will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn and the foundation website.

To find out more about the Ballarat Arts Foundation, head to the website.