Six creative Redlands Coast projects encompassing theatre, the visual arts and music have received funding through the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF).
The successful applicants will share in $36,012 through round 2 of the 2024–2025 RADF program, which is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Redland City Council.
Mayor Jos Mitchell said the program highlighted the significance of arts and culture on Redlands Coast.
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“Council offers two rounds of RADF funding each year to support both professional and emerging artists and art workers,” the Mayor said.
“The projects that are funded help to foster a thriving creative community that encourages partnerships and skills development.”
RADF Assessment Panel chair Cr Shane Rendalls said the program aimed to support a diverse range of artistic projects with a focus on inclusivity, accessibility and community engagement.
“In this latest round, funding has been allocated towards an interpretive exhibition that shares the community’s stories on the experiences of Tropical Cyclone Alfred on North Stradbroke Island,” Cr Rendalls said.
“There’s also a theatre production aimed at youth audiences that supports safe artistic expression among young people, and a series of community vocal workshops that bring together people of all ages and backgrounds.”
RADF Assessment Panel member Cr Paul Bishop said the program also aimed to support the activation of creative experiences that transcended traditional boundaries.
“RADF provides opportunities through project-based funding in a wide range of artforms, from music, theatre and the visual arts through to gaming, film, circus and writing,” Cr Bishop said.
“It’s exciting to see projects this year that merge visual arts and storytelling, oral history with an exhibition relating to community resilience and an opportunity for visual artists to expand their practice into wearable art.”
Council has awarded $64,412 to nine recipients over the two funding rounds in the 2024–2025 RADF program.
The successful applicants in round 2 of the 2024–2025 Regional Arts Development Fund are:
- Assembly of Elephants – for an in-school arts and community engagement program in conjunction with TOXICITY, a theatre production scheduled for RPAC in 2026.
- Bernadette Mollison – for an oral history project to support the research phase of Lives of the Shoreline, an art exhibition that aims to explore and highlight contemporary commercial fishing practices on North Stradbroke Island.
- Sara Zastera – for Art my Word 2025, an innovative arts event on Macleay Island that merges visual arts and storytelling, inviting participants to create original works.
- North Stradbroke Island Museum – for Being a barrier: experiences of Cyclone Alfred – An Exhibition, that will document the experiences of an isolated community during a natural emergency, culminating in an interpretive and analytical exhibition.
- Sonja Carmichael – to support visual artists Sonja and Elisa Jane Carmichael, who are expanding their practice into visual art with a runway show at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2025.
- Play It Forward Australia – for Redland Sings workshops led by founding Artistic Director Jonathon Welch AM at Cleveland and on Macleay and North Stradbroke islands, to help reconnect and strengthen community ties through the shared joy of music and laughter.
More information on the RADF program and successful applicants is available on Council’s Grants and sponsorship webpage.
