Everyone is invited to collaborate towards building a vibrant, connected and creative community in Brimbank.
Creative Brimbank brings quality experiences in performing and visual arts to the west, and delivers an engaging program of creative workshops, festivals and events.
We’re supporting arts at all levels to blossom. Creative Brimbank runs a huge variety of programs so that everybody in Brimbank can create art and engage with art by:
- Watching performances – like Homelands on April 10. This afternoon of music, dance and story celebrates the irrepressible power of the human spirit. It will feature artists from the Bosnian and Herzegovinian communities and the Brimbank Multicultural Choir.
- View exhibitions like the Australian Vietnamese Arts Association’s current exhibit in the STACC exhibition space – Paper Flowers. Or photographer Parminder Kaur’s Fleeting Landscapes at the Sunshine Art Spaces Gallerey.
- Make our neighbourhood part of the art projections like Adrian Whear’s “Street Photography Gone Viral” around Sunshine
- Participate in workshops and classes ranging from poetry to alcohol ink to Korean Language. We also provide community training on how to run festivals and events.
Creative Brimbank supports everyone in Brimbank’s ability to have their inner artist flourish.
Every week young people in Brimbank can find a way to express themselves through the arts. Toddlers on Tuesday and young people over 12 on Fridays.
Local resident Lucy took her two-year-old to Toddler Tuesdays for the first time recently. Later that night Lucy said “I’m impressed. In the time we were there, my little buddy learnt how to use (child-safe) scissors, stamps, sticky tape and encouraged to explore and play with different art mediums and techniques in a safe, open and inclusive environment. It was so lovely to get out of the house and get involved in such and simple and creative casual community environment. Am very grateful this exists.”
For kids a decade older – they can move on from safety scissor to music clipping. The weekly Rhythm and Beats workshop makes a space for anyone aged 12-25 to express themselves, develop their music talents as well as technical production skills.
Plus, anyone can come and have a go at a new style of art at the upcoming alcohol ink workshop or join the chorus in a singing workshop with legendary performer, Kutcha Edwards.
Creative ways to bring the Brimbank community together
Art is a way to connect and explore topics that are important to us as individuals and as a community. An International Women’s Day event featured women and gender diverse folks who have experienced criminalisation and imprisonment. They presented a short series of creative readings and songs. Participants said they liked how welcoming the space was – despite public health regulations required the event be held on line.
“The powerful women who shared their insights and experiences in a way that taught and challenged me” said one person who attended in their feedback.
Another said “The women involved were so strong and erudite. It was such an education to hear their stories and passion.”
The art connected generations for another mother and adult child duo who attended. “Each of the performers were jaw dropping in their different ways. My mum was blown away.”
The team at Creative Brimbank are now planning a similar event at STACC for Trans Day of Visibility on 31 March.
Giving local artists “room to move” through artist residencies
In addition to bringing people together, Creative Brimbank supports artists to branch out of their own, like current artist in residence Michaela Ottone. Michaela is an emerging local dancer, choreographer, photographer and life model.
“It’s been extremely difficult for a lot of independent dance artists during the pandemic. Many dancers had their entire year of work dry up due to lockdowns and border closures, and weren’t eligible for Jobkeeper… that on top of parents having to juggle remote learning….
Michaela is a Room to Move Residency artist at the St Albans Arts and Culture Centre (STACC). The residency program offers the dance studio at STACC at no charge for individual artists and small collectives for training, rehearsal, and experimentation.
“My solo dance improvisation practice uses tools or ideas that I call scores. Attention is at the forefront to all of these scores. I’m excited to have dedicated time and space to test out some ideas that have been brewing for a little while. I’ll be building on my solo practice and continue to look at embodying different emotions, while layering spatial structures. I’m also keen to draw from some literature, such as Clementine Ford’s feminist writing.”
You can see Michaela Ottone perform at perform at STACC’s ‘Be Bold’ festival on 8 November 2022.
Creative Brimbank also runs workshops on professional skills for artists.
You can check out the current Creative Brimbank program on our website.
The program includes what’s on at the Bowery Theatre and Visual Art Exhibitions around Brimbank. The program also features information on community arts and other local festivals and events.
Find Creative Brimbank on:
- Check the Creative Brimbank website for more information on upcoming programs and events.
Find other arts news on the Arts section of the site, or the Creative Brimbank website.
