Create NSW

Communities and audiences across the state will enjoy the exceptional calibre of homegrown creative talent with 51 NSW organisations funded to deliver diverse arts and cultural programming in the coming year thanks to the Annual Organisation Funding round, delivered as part of Create NSW’s Arts and Cultural Funding Program (ACFP). Among the diverse recipients was Western Sydney-based We Are Studios Arts and Disability Inc. who received funding to deliver a program of accessible professional skills development workshops in Blacktown for emerging artists with disability. Others include a First Nations program in the Riverina for youth to express themselves through dance and cultural connection; a multi-sensory art and music festival takeover of White Bay Power Station showcasing ambitious new works by NSW artists; and an annual artistic program including a Mardi Gras exhibition that provides emerging curator career-development opportunities. This transitional round of annual organisational funding bridges the gap as the program transitions to the new, simpler, fairer, faster Arts and Cultural Funding Program with longer-term Multi-year funding programs. See the full list of recipients: https://lnkd.in/ghAYYTK9 #CreateNSW #AnnualFunding #ArtsAndCulture __ Image credit: We Are Studios Arts and Disability Blacktown. Picture L-R Miah Tito Barratt, Josseline Jeria, Holly lee Dickson, Adrienne Proud Image by Ebony Wightman

On this International Day of People with Disability, Create NSW celebrates the incredible contributions of creatives with disabilities. Meet Louis Walker, a participant in the Createability Internship Program at ERTH, who exemplifies the program's impact on building inclusive opportunities in the arts. Through Createability, Louis has honed their skills in the creative industries. This program, supported by Create NSW, showcases the potential of accessibility in the arts to drive innovation and enrich our communities. Applications for the 2025 Createability Internship Program are now open. Find out more and apply: https://lnkd.in/eAiUew86 #CreateNSW #InternationalDayofPeopleWithDisability #IDPwD #Createability

Congratulations to our six shortlisted finalists for the Create NSW 2025 Visual Arts Fellowship Emerging, in partnership with Artspace: Ellen Ferrier, Ellie Hannon, Ali Noble, Vedika Rampal, Joel Sherwood Spring and Ali Tahayori. These six shortlisted emerging visual artists will receive invaluable support, curatorial advocacy and exposure to the industry and wider NSW arts audiences. In partnership with Create NSW and Artspace, the annual NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging) opportunity supports emerging visual arts practitioners to challenge and expand their practice under the mentorship of Artspace’s curatorial team. The six finalists will realise works for the 2025 NSW Visual Art Fellowship (Emerging) Exhibition at Artspace in August 2025 where the overall Fellowship recipient will be announced. Read more about the Fellowship and the finalists: https://lnkd.in/gFTGsVib #CreateNSW #VisualArtsFellowshipEmerging #VisualArt #VisualArtists __ Image credits: 1) Ellen Ferrier. Photo: Kristen Augeard. 2) Ellie Hannon. Photo: Bonnie-Grace Dwyer. 3) Ali Noble. Photo: Richard Healey-Finlay. 4) Verdika Rampal. Photo: Liam Macann. 5) Joel Sherwood Spring, SAVAGE SYSTEMSTM, (still), 2024. Courtesy the artist. 6) Ali Tahayori. Photo: Jacquie Manning.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve just launched a new initiative - Creative Industries – Connectivity, which will deliver grants of up to $50,000 to support arts and cultural sector organisations, in collaboration with a creative industry business partner, to develop boundary-pushing projects and programs. This new program charts a course for ongoing collaborative ventures across the arts, cultural and creative industries ecosystem, driving greater innovation, long-term sustainability and increased cultural exports. Applications are invited from not-for-profit small-to-medium arts and cultural organisations collaborating with a creative business to deliver an innovative idea. The broad range of partner creative industries businesses include broadcasting and digital media, design, architecture and fashion, built and physical heritage, arts education, food and beverage and technology sector.  This new Creative Industries – Connectivity program will inspire a new wave of collaboration and innovation between artists, cultural storytellers and creative industries, to push boundaries, engage new audiences and develop lasting partnerships. Applications are open until 17 March 2025. Find out more https://lnkd.in/gQtdzUTb #CreateNSW #ArtsAndCulture #NSWCreativeSector __ Image credit: Tender by CuriousWorks, Multi-panel Immersive Projection Environment, Sydney Opera House Tide Room, 2024 Image: Kiraiki Zakinthinos. Tender reveals the nuances and tender sides of the communities of Western Sydney through four individual but interconnected documentary films by multidisciplinary artists: Mohammad Awad (3awadi), Carielyn Tunion, Diamond Tat, and Sharon Mani.

We’re thrilled to share that Powerhouse Castle Hill has received the prestigious Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture. Designed by Sydney-based lahznimmo architects and built by Taylor | Australia, this award-winning site showcases the very best in accessible and innovative cultural spaces. Delivered in partnership with Create NSW, Powerhouse Castle Hill serves as a dynamic destination for exhibitions, conservation, and immersive educational experiences that enrich the community and elevate NSW’s creative landscape. Congratulations to the talented teams who brought this vision to life! 🎉 Learn more about the award here: https://lnkd.in/ga9jz7TH #CreateNSWSupported #CreateNSW #ArchitectureAwards #PowerhouseCastleHill #CreateNSWInfrastructure #SirZelmanCowenAward #ArchitectureNSW #CulturalSpaces #ArtsAndCulture __ Image credits: Powerhouse Castle Hill. Photo: Rory Gardiner.

We’re excited to announce that applications for the 2025 Createability Internship Program are now open!  Arts and cultural practitioners with a disability or who are d/Deaf can apply for an internship with select Createability host organisations who share a commitment to access and inclusion. The internship opportunities range from technical TV production, post-production and research roles, performing arts production and programming, community arts and cultural development, technical theatre production, puppet making, marketing, audience development, graphic design, project and event support. These exciting roles are located in regional NSW, Western Sydney and metro Sydney, with leading creative industry organisations Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australian Design Centre, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Bus Stop Films, Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, Drama Queen, Erth Visual & Physical, Milk Crate Theatre, Musica Viva Australia, Penrith Performing & Visual Arts, Performance Space, The Annex, The House That Dan Built, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Australia, Sprung Dance Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company. We’re proud to support the Createability Internship Program in 2025, offering career-expanding opportunities for creative practitioners with disability or who are d/Deaf to gain hands-on experience and grow their professional network with some of NSW’s leading arts, screen and music organisations. The program has a proven track record, having supported 27 arts and screen practitioners with disability or who are d/Deaf since 2022, opening pathways to employment and other long-term positive outcomes. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gfbpQ4Ay #CreateNSW #Createability #ArtsAndCulture #InclusiveOpportunities #NSWCreativeSector #InclusiveWorkplace PHOTO: 2024 Createability Intern Louis Walker at Erth Visual & Physical.

We’re excited to announce that five new Arts and Cultural Funding Program - Project and Multi-year funding rounds have opened today!  Individual creative practitioners and arts and cultural organisations in NSW can now apply for: ⚫ Creative Nations – projects for First Nations organisations and individuals – small project grants up to $40,000; large project grants up to $100,000   Next Steps – professional and skills development (for individuals) – grants up to $10,000   ⚫ Creative Steps – new work development (for individuals) – small project grants up to $40,000; large project grants up to $100,000   ⚫ Cultural Access – projects by organisations and individuals that engages with NSW Government strategic priority areas – small project grants up to $40,000; large project grants up to $100,000  ⚫ 4 – Year Multi-Year - Not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations, service organisations or local government authorities with a primary purpose on arts and cultural activity. Applicants can apply for a minimum of $100,000 and a maximum of $600,000 each year The newly-designed funding categories, part of Create NSW’s transformed Arts and Cultural Funding Program (ACFP), deliver a key commitment in the NSW Government’s Creative Communities policy, responding to the call for fit-for-purpose funding that caters for all artforms, career-stage and organisational size – from emerging artists through to established organisations and everyone in between. Find out more about Project and Multi-Year funding https://lnkd.in/gt2TuZVN #CreateNSW #Funding #ACFP #ArtsAndCulture __ Image credit: 654 Moorambilla MAXed Out Intensive April 2023. Photo: Noni Carroll Photography.

To kick off the last day at NSW House at SXSW Sydney yesterday, we hosted an insightful panel, A Visual Feast: Designing Sets and Costume for Stage and Screen, moderated by Karen Rodgers, Director Arts at Create NSW. The discussion featured the creative insights of Elizabeth Gadsby, Artist and Set Designer, and Jake Nash, Designer and Artist, who shared their thoughts on the intersection of innovation, tradition, and creativity in their work. One key theme was innovation. For Jake Nash, this is rooted in culture. He highlighted how First Nations people have been creating for over 60,000 years, passing knowledge down through generations. The panel also discussed how to deal with budget constraints, and how thinking outside the box is essential - to use tools beyond their original purposes. This problem-solving is a crucial aspect of design and encourages using ingenuity to overcome financial limitations. The panel was a rich exploration of how collaboration and thinking laterally come together to design extraordinary sets and costumes for the stage. #CreateNSW #SXSWSydney #SetDesign #CostumeDesign #Innovation #CreativeProcess #ArtsAndCulture

What a way to kick off SXSW Sydney at NSW House, with an insightful panel – The Creative Space Race: Supporting Artists and Creatives in NSW. Featuring Annette Pitman, Chief Executive of Museums of History NSW, Ash Nicholson, Director Government and Industry at CBRE, Tim Kurylowicz, Executive Director of Eastern Riverina Arts and moderated by Lisa Colley, Manager of Cultural Strategy City of Sydney, the discussion centered around the challenges and opportunities facing artists and creatives in today’s economy, and how we can work together to unlock their full potential. Some key takeaways from the panel included: ⚫ We need radical disruption to the way space is secured for creative use. This relies on collaboration, innovative models and policy levers that see government, the private sector and the creative sector all playing a role. ⚫ There is a pressing need for affordable, secure, and fit-for-purpose spaces for creative production. Sydney’s escalating cost of living is making it increasingly difficult for creatives to stay, while under-utilised spaces across the city and state could be reimagined for creative use. ⚫ We must rethink how we evaluate the “highest and best use” of properties. It’s not just about financial returns but meeting societal needs and valuing what enriches us as people. ⚫ Examples like Haymarket Creative, The Station in Wagga Wagga and models like the Creative Land Trust in London are showing how creative, collaborative solutions are adding long-term value to communities, economies and real estate by making space for artists. ⚫ Adaptive reuse of heritage for creative and cultural purposes needs to be reframed. Making space compliant for contemporary use is an obligation for property owners: bringing in creatives and making space fit for their purposes is adding value on top of this baseline. If you would like to discuss creative space models further with us get in contact at https://lnkd.in/gQR2nCbm #SXSWSydney #CreateNSW #CreativeSpaces #ArtsAndCulture #CreativeIndustries #CreativeCommunities

SXSW Sydney is just around the corner! Join us at NSW House for our panel A Visual Feast: Designing Sets and Costumes for Stage and Screen.   Featuring Create’s very own Karen Rodgers, Director of Arts, as well as artists representing resident companies at Walsh Bay Arts Precinct: Sydney Dance Company, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare Company. Hear how our experts in fashion and design work with directors, choreographers and performers to design sets and costumes and how innovation is helping to create transformative spaces. Register your interest today! https://lnkd.in/gMJ4vRGK #CreateNSW #SXSWSydney #ArtsAndCulture #SetDesign #CostumeDesign