Sunshine Coast gets arts/culture advisory board

The Sunshine Coast Council has formally endorsed the importance that arts and culture play in the region by endorsing a Sunshine Coast Arts Advisory Board to provide a strategic approach to grow the sector on the Coast.

It will be operational by July, and is also tasked with establishing a Sunshine Coast Arts Foundation.

Community Programs Portfolio Councillor Jenny McKay said, “Australia’s creative economy, which includes the arts, is worth $32 billion and employs more than 600,000 Australians.

“Here on the Sunshine Coast, the arts and cultural sector is a vitally important and growing part of our economy that provides employment, education, tourism and leisure opportunities.

“Establishment of the Sunshine Coast Arts Advisory Board is an important next step in the development of our arts and culture industry. It will build the momentum and further grow the partnerships that have already been formed between council, the arts industry, artists, and philanthropists.”

The advisory board’s job is to help build the Sunshine Coast as an arts destination, encourage secure new investment in arts and cultural infrastructure by promoting the region’s advantages, and provide advice to the Council on arts and culture in terms of facilities and policy.

The members of the board are being tapped at this stage. Its first order of business will be to draft the region’s first strategic Arts and Cultural Plan.

It will establish the Sunshine Coast Arts Foundation that will be closely aligned with the Caloundra Regional Gallery. It will link government, business and community in their support of the gallery, support the expansion of its collection, and work towards growing the community’s appreciation of the arts.