These are activities or projects that Council has initiated to address a gap in arts and culture service delivery in the community. Council Initiated Activities focus on one or more local and state government target groups and/or priorities.
Recent Council Initiated Activities have included the Arthur Titley Centre Mural to bring arts to the outdoors and enliven public spaces for locals and visitors to our region. This project involved Aboriginal People and Regional Queenslanders. It addressed the priority of activating local places and spaces and elevating First Nations arts.
Another activity was the Queensland Week Faces and Places of Charters Towers Creative Workshops held in the Arthur Titley Centre as part of the 150 Years Celebrations. Local artists and arts groups facilitated a variety of interactive workshops to build creative capacity in the community by involving the audience in arts activities in a non-traditional format. Workshops included cupcake icing, dot painting, taiko drumming, storytelling, ukulele playing and creating decorative pottery items.
The Queensland Week Faces and Places Workshops addressed all priority target groups of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Children and Young People, Older People, Regional Queenslanders, People with Disabilities and Tourists with an extremely diverse audience attending the event. The workshops met local and state priorities of sharing stories and celebrating our history, activating local places and spaces, elevating First Nations arts, and strengthening our community by creating partnerships.
At the History and Heritage Fair held at Venus Battery, also as part of Charters Towers 150 Years Celebrations, local artisans held informative and interactive displays. At the Fair, there was an instrument maker, basket weaver, wool spinning, wood turner, blacksmith, and leatherworker, all from within the Region, who shared their skills and knowledge with interested audience members. These artisan skills are a dying art and to be able to provide the opportunity for these artists to share their incredibly valuable skills with the community was appreciated by both artisans and audience members.
This activity focussed on many target groups including Aboriginal People, Regional Queenslanders, and older people. It addressed the priority of strengthening our community by creating partnerships and connection within the community. It also addressed the priorities of sharing stories and celebrating our history, activating local places and spaces and elevating First Nations arts.
The 2022-2023 Council Initiated Activity was part of the biggest event in the 150 Years Celebrations calendar, the Rush Festival. Busby Marou are a world renowned musical duo with their roots firmly set in regional Queensland with a strong connection to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Peoples.
Bringing Busby Marou to the Rush Festival met RADF priorities of elevating First Nations arts, activating local places and spaces, and sharing stories and celebrating our history as well as addressing all target groups through the diversity of the audience. Busby Marou performed at the family-friendly Sunday Session of the Festival. The performance was very well received by all in attendance.
Also as part of the Rush Festival was the Film Festival which showcased the premier of the ‘Our World’ Documentary produced to celebrate our 150 Years. This documentary was written, directed and produced by local film maker Orvon Gough from Towers Filmworks to tell the story of Charters Towers and highlight what is great about our Region.
This activity addressed local and state priorities of celebrating 150 Years of Charters Towers, sharing stories and celebrating our history and strengthening our community by creating partnerships and connection within the community. The involvement of so many different areas of our community was truly inspiring, and their stories were clearly heart-felt.
The community benefit of these activities is clear, and they go a long way to fill gaps that exist in the arts and culture scene in this Region. The variety of activities has led to all local and many state priorities being met. All priority target groups have been involved in one or more of the offered activities. The Council Initiated Activities contribute to the vibrant and innovative arts and culture experiences that are offered in this Region.
