WITH experience in social service and the arts, Maegan Boundey saw the perfect opportunity to combine her two interests.<\/p>\n
Working at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency and Frontyard Youth Services in Melbourne, she said she could see a better link between how both fields interact.<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed there was a gap in these services where people\u2019s lives are full of therapeutic things and deficit-focused activities and they don\u2019t have anything for fun,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve sat down with clients and I\u2019ll ask them \u2018what do you do for fun?\u2019 and they\u2019d say they don\u2019t do anything or that they have no hobbies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since about March, Ms Boundey has sought to give those utilising social services something to do, offering therapeutic creative workshops through her Red Tree Community Arts venture.<\/p>\n
She said her aim is to give people a chance at healthy creative expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of time people don\u2019t have access to the arts or to try things out,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a potential for empowerment and healing for doing these kinds of activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was working with people at Frontyard, I saw that art was the thing that brought something positive into their lives that wasn\u2019t focused on what was wrong with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Workshops are delivered on-site, tailored to suit each client\u2019s needs and ranging from visual art classes to graffiti, instrument, and choir workshops.<\/p>\n
Red Tree Community Arts has serviced The Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative and currently holds sessions for families through the McAuley Community Services for Women.<\/p>\n
Ms Boundey said she\u2019s keen to help more people in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still relatively new so we\u2019re really wanting to make partnerships in the Ballarat area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone should have the opportunity to engage with the arts especially someone who\u2019s faced a hardship or disadvantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Ms Boundey\u2019s mother handling the administrative side, Red Tree Community Arts is currently a family initiative.<\/p>\n
The duo aims to expand to expand their workforce by hiring people having trouble finding employment as well as advocating for creative opportunities like exhibition spaces for their artists.<\/p>\n
Red Tree Community Arts can be contacted through their website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WITH experience in social service and the arts, Maegan Boundey saw the perfect opportunity to combine her two interests. Working at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency and Frontyard Youth Services in Melbourne, she said she could see a better link between how both fields interact. \u201cI noticed there was a gap in these services […]<\/p>\n