Art Resides Here

Created by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), this publication is the final stage of ‘Art Resides Here’ which has focussed on the role arts and culture plays in building vibrant, healthy and sustainable communities. Five Victorian communities (Rupanyup, Cavendish, Crossley, Nathalia and Strathewen) participated, reflecting on their experiences delivering arts and cultural activities and engaging in a process of documentation led by Julie Millowick and Lindy Allen.

Case studies were developed and presented at Artlands, the 2018 Regional Arts Australia (RAA) Conference, along with an overview of FRRR’s history of funding arts and culture in regional Australia over the last 17 years. Communities were identified by FRRR, taking into account different types of projects and outcomes sought – for example, from the purely artistic/aesthetic to supporting better social outcomes for target cohorts, supporting disaster recovery or stimulating economic development.

Presenting at the Conference gave participating communities an opportunity to share their experiences in a high-profile national forum, helping to build their capacity, and strengthen the profile of the arts and its contribution to rural and regional communities. The Art Resides Here project directly responds to the following objectives:

• Increase community capacity to develop creative solutions to local issues
• Strengthen social capital, inclusion and connectedness
• Increase health and well-being outcomes in remote, rural and regional communities
• Increase volunteerism/community partnerships
• Increase debate and shared knowledge about the role the arts can play in building vibrant, healthy and sustainable communities

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