Ten local creative projects will receive $1000 each in funding support from Mount Alexander Shire Council’s rapid-response Get Lost Quick grants program.
Many of the funded projects will reveal and celebrate past and emerging stories from Jaara country, including Lisa D’Onofrio’s research to celebrate historical and contemporary local women; Jan Wositzky’s reignited ‘Storyteller’s Guide to the Goldfields’; Wide Open Road Art’s ‘Connects’ cultivating our sense of home; and Martin Lee and Wally Gunn’s sound installation at the Castlemaine Railway Station amplifying our untold travel stories.
Shedshaker Brewery’s ‘Love Your Local’ performances and The Village Festival’s ‘Drive-in Fire Show’ will engage a large number of local creatives and help the wider community to come together safely.
Capacity building across sectors is also a key focus of the program, with Castlemaine Hot Rod Centre’s ‘The Art of Pinstriping’ reviving a renowned Castlemaine trade; Kate Gamble’s ‘Re-thinking the Streets’ creatively tackling social distancing needs; Sach Motee’s ‘Castlemaine Electronic Workshop’ building professional development pathways for the electronic music sector; and Punctum Inc’s ‘the Way – the Water – the Walk’ in partnership with Castlemaine Art Museum and Castlemaine Secondary College.
Demand for Get Lost Quick grants was significant, with council receiving 30 applications over a five-day period.
Council’s cultural development officer Vicki Anderson said she was grateful to the whole sector and to the Get Lost community working group – creative producer Sam Thomas, and the teams at We Push Buttons and Storyland – for their ongoing support in bringing the Get Lost initiative to life.
“At any time of year, under any circumstances, there is so much incredible work happening across our shire, so it’s great to see everyone just getting on with what we do best,” Ms Anderson said.
Sam Thomas said the diverse and accessible program of creative projects was breaking new ground.
“It demonstrates our capacity as a community to act beyond our individual needs and embrace the power of the collective,” Mr Thomas said.
“During this exceptional time it is important that we focus on our shared experience, on what brings us together.
“The creative arts are a great vehicle for us to reimagine our surroundings, and the sense of anticipation of what is possible is energising,” he said.
Creative people are encouraged to keep providing information through the Get Lost platform, to continue to build a picture of cultural activities and services being developed across the shire.
Council and the Get Lost community working group will continue to work with all Get Lost Quick grant applicants and other local creatives to help enable the important collective cultural work underway under COVID-19.
Find out more at www.getlost.org.au.
