NSW Govt provides extra $208,540 for Aboriginal arts

16 July 2009

An extra $208,540 will be made available to bolster the State's Aboriginal arts and cultural sector, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Paul Lynch said today.

Mr Lynch said the NSW Government funding recognised the importance of arts and culture to Aboriginal people throughout the State.

He said the additional grants included $67,330 to extend two Contemporary Aboriginal Art Curator positions in Western Sydney to the middle of 2010.

In three years, these positions - at Campbelltown Arts Centre and Penrith Regional Gallery - have been responsible for initiating a series of programs that highlight the important role Western Sydney plays within the Aboriginal cultural landscape.

Mr Lynch said the funding also included $60,000 to Regional Arts NSW to conduct a research project to identify the training needs of the Aboriginal creative arts sector in regional and rural communities.

This research will inform the design of a comprehensive training strategy for this important segment of our creative community, he said.

The new funding includes more than $81,210 for five initiatives which promote Aboriginal contemporary musicians from NSW.

The initiatives include:
$9000 to the Australian College of Country Music to continue its Troy Cassar-Daley Aboriginal Country Music Scholarship for three years.

$20,000 to the Groundswell Indigenous Music Touring Project to include a NSW Aboriginal solo artist or groups to tour the eastern seaboard of Australia in September.

$22,210 to Whichway: Indigenous Music and Artist Development Program to run three music workshops (hip hop, country, singersongwriter) and undertake a review of the program.

Mr Lynch said the State Government also supported the work the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association was undertaking with young Aboriginal artists and had provided the organisation with grants totalling $240,000 over three years.

The Government greatly values our Aboriginal communities and is determined to support opportunities to assist them to develop, share and strengthen their unique cultural practices, he said.

Mr Lynch said the funding was in addition to more than $400,000 in grants from the Government’s 2009 Arts Funding Program for a range of initiatives to develop Aboriginal cultural infrastructure within NSW, including the visual arts, performing arts and programs for young people.

MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew Williams 0408 602 936

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