Owner bending over backwards to get artists the space they deserve

GEELONG’S next generation of circus performers are moving to a new home, but they need help to get there.

CircArts has filed a development application with the City of Greater Geelong to move to a new location in Grovedale from its Breakwater building.

The new space will be fitted with fit-for-purpose safety and circus equipment and a much-anticipated climate control system.

CircArts founder Rosa Pagani said the move is an exciting development for the company.

“We outgrew our space in Breakwater and are really excited to be relocating to a space in Lewalan Street, Grovedale,” Pagani said.

“We’ll be doing some fundraising for the new space so that we can really make it fit for purpose and go the extra mile to create the ultimate training space for all of our students.”

Pagani said plans for the new space will create improved accessibility for students, allowing them to have a better training experience.

Hoping for as little downtime between spaces as possible, Pagani is now waiting for confirmation from the City of Greater Geelong that her development application is approved.

Ensuring the fit-out is completed properly is essential to the safety of students.

“We really do pride ourselves on safety. We make sure that every single rigging point has a mat underneath it – our coaches and our students go through really progressive training so that they learn and teach skills safely – and everything is modified to the individual as well. We meet every student where they’re at,” Pagani said.

“Part of that is because everyone’s unique and learns in different ways but it’s also because we deeply understand the importance of safety.”

Pagani said the CircArts community is excited to be making the move and is ready to support their cohort to make it happen.

The fitout will not come cheap and Pagani said fundraising will be required to get everything delivered in the best possible way.

Transparency is important for the business owner, who wants to ensure the community understands how their money is spent.

“We’ll be setting up a fundraiser on a platform called effort.giving which empowers donors to see where every dollar gets spent,” Pagani said.

“If anybody donates towards our beautiful new space and supporting regional artists they’ll be able to see how we spend those funds for the fitout.”

CircArts’ development application is available for public comment via the City of Greater Geelong until 17 March.