Music associations, venues, festivals among 113 groups sharing in $85m Victorian arts funding

Music Victoria, the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall and The Push were among 113 groups named last week to share in $85 million of multi-year grants from the Victorian government.

Arts Access, Songlines and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival are also included.

About 25 of the recipients are receiving financial support for the first time.

Creative industries minister Danny Pearson made the announcement on Friday.

“This is an investment in the future of our creative industries and the thousands of jobs they support that reflects the diversity of Victoria’s talent and our communities,” Pearson said.

Music Victoria was a major recipient with a $1.5 million grant. The association just launched its Your Music Scene Needs You campaign which outlines ways fans can support the state’s music.

Arts Access Victoria received $1,844,000 for its programs that help people with a disability to realise their cultural aspirations as artists, arts workers and audiences.

The sector also received aid through Arts Project Australia ($400,000), which works with artists that have intellectual disabilities, and Warrnambool’s Find Your Voice Collective ($200,000) for its career-developing programs for deaf and disabled artists.

The inaugural Flow, Australia’s first Deaf Arts festival, got $200,000 for its 2022 and 2023 run.

Melbourne International Jazz Festival

Leading the slate of metro and regional festivals was the Melbourne International Jazz Festival ($1.68 million) which pre-COVID drew 30,000 over 27 venues.

Others included Melbourne Fringe ($1.66 million), Melbourne International Comedy Festival ($7.42 million), Next Wave ($1.72 million), and the queer showcasing Midsumma ($1.12 million).

Regional events were Castlemaine State Festival ($802,400), Port Fairy Spring Music ($400,000), Shepparton Arts ($400,000) and Wangaratta Festival of Jazz ($112,500).

Bringing the strategy’s ‘First Peoples First’ principle to life were Songlines Aboriginal Music Corporation ($800,000) and Wantok Musik Foundation ($90,000) and three arts groups.

First time funding went to five First Nations groups covering dance, circus, fashion and support for past and present prison inmates.

Youth music initiative The Push got $400,000.

Last month, The Push’s 2020-2021 report revealed its all-ages events drew over 13,ooo while its training program was attended by 2,429. Its events provided work for 155 industry practitioners and distributed $304,395 in income to local artists.

Experimental music organisations were also covered.

Liquid Architecture Sound ($453,538), Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio ($400,000), Australian Art Orchestra ($400,000) and Experimenta Media Arts ($112,500).

Music and arts venues that can program with certainty over the next four years included Footscray Community Arts Centre ($1.62 million), The Substation in Newport ($918,644), the 16-acre Abbotsford Convent ($800,000), Melbourne Digital Concert Hall ($200,000) to develop a hybrid live/online model, and Victorian Association of Performing Arts Centres ($90,000).

Pearson said Victoria is home to dynamic organisations that fuel its creative economy, provide career pathways and jobs, and deliver a “stunning” range of creative experiences.

“From internationally acclaimed companies to grassroots collectives, social enterprises, fashion labels and festivals, we’re making sure Victoria’s outstanding arts practitioners have the support they need,” the minister said on Friday.