Creative types get a local leg up

FIVE individuals working in the creative industries have been selected to partner up with local businesses and organisations for a fully paid, three-month stint.

As part of the City of Greater Bendigo’s Creative Residency Recovery Program, Coliban Water, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Bendigo Pottery and the Emporium Creative Hub, as well as COGB, have opened their doors for the initiative.

Felicity Martin, creative industries officer at City of Greater Bendigo, said the program was partly conceived to help participants “reconnect” after COVID and the isolation that came with it.

“We also thought this would be quite a good way to try and activate new ideas and get some creativity and innovation into some of our local businesses,” she said.

“The program is unique in the sense that we’re actually putting the creatives in with businesses, because normally they’ll either go into universities or they’ll go to retreats or something like that to work on their projects.”

Writer, producer and researcher Mia McAuslan, who’s been linked up with Emporium Creative Hub, said after a very disheartening year for the arts industry, being accepted into the program has restored her enthusiasm for creating.

“It feels fantastic,” she said. “It’s especially exciting to be a part of a collaborative enterprise in the local community and connect with other creatives in the region.”

“Being a part of the Emporium Creative Hub is giving me the opportunity to connect with other creators working in different mediums, such as videographers, composers and illustrators.”

“Additionally, having a desk at the hub has given me a workspace that is dedicated to my creative practice, so I can make it a priority.”

“Collaboration is so often the lifeblood of creative work and while artists have engineered resourceful ways to stay connected in isolation, nothing beats the feeling of a bustling artistic space.”

Emporium manager David Hughes said the creative hub got involved in the residency program as their purposes are directly aligned.

“It’s crucial that we are supporting emerging arts practitioners in developing their practice, especially through what has been the most challenging time for creatives in living memory,” he said.

“Creative’s often live a solitary existence, and one of the things we have been able to do is to connect Mia, who has moved here from Melbourne, into the local creative community.”

“We don’t support creatives like Mia with a view to benefitting from this. However, she has already shared many insights and contacts from her previous experience that will be invaluable to us as we continue to develop our own programming.”