New space to support creatives

THE doors were opened last week on a new creative space roughly two years in the making and nestled in the heart of Ballarat’s arts precinct.

Initially slated to launch on January, the Ballarat Arts incubator is aimed at accommodating people working in all fields creative.

Deb Lord, founder of Channel 31 LGBTQI+ variety show LaNCE TV is one of the space’s five key tenants.

Having previously created the show out of a shed since its establishment in 2017, Lord said the new space will allow LaNCE TV to develop alongside their neighbours.

“We hadn’t had the space or ability to work with the broader community before,” Lord said.

“As an arts organisation, this gives us space to extend beyond LaNCE TV into other artistic pursuits.

“We’ve always been mad collaborators. In the shed it was difficult to do that. The rest of the tenants and I are already looking for ways to collaborate in this new space.”

With Lord currently leasing the site’s film production suite, they said opportunities will arise, either through workshops or on-the-job training, to learn relevant creative skills.

The site was established by the City of Ballarat with $75,000 provided by Creative Victoria, and a municipal spokesperson said it’ll be a central hub for the region’s artistically minded.

“Creatives can now come together and flow on from each other’s creative talents,” the spokesperson said. “I think it really puts some more enthusiasm and motivation behind our arts sector.

“The fact we finally have a centralised location for young and emerging artists to get in contact with established mentors is another great opportunity.

“I don’t see the space as only being used by its tenant groups but as a very vibrant space that will allow people to come and collaborate.”

The Arts Incubator is located at 36 Camp Street and was formerly the site of the Ballarat Learning Exchange.

The site houses music rehearsal spaces, dedicated rooms for young people, a theatre space for writing and workshops, and a film production studio.

Along with LaNCE TV, other occupants are Ballarat Evolve, Outlet Productions, The Rat Lab, and the City of Ballarat Youth Services team.