Creative Public Spaces Small Grants

The three Creative Projects selected include:

Hoppers (3-4 January) – Set on a sandbar within the Brunswick Heads River, Hoppers is a vibrant intervention of synchronised swimmers by local choreographer Kelly O’Meara, featuring bright orange space hoppers, beach games, and choreography celebrating the female body and connection to place.

Understory Wonder Trail (February to March) – A creative exploration of the Mullumbimby Arboretum at Heritage Park led by children’s theatre practitioner Valley Lipcer and Visual Ecologist Aviva Reed, including workshops, a QR-activated soundscape and illustrated booklet that brings to life the park’s diverse plant and animal life and experiments with creative responses including drawing, sound, sculpture, and movement.

Drive-In Cinema at the Cavanbah Centre (April) – A one-night-only event in April curated by Andreas Stamatakakos, transforming the southern car park into a pop-up cinema showcasing indie films and light installations by local artists.

Keep an eye on our What’s On webpage for further details, dates and times

Recipients of the 2024-2025 Creative Public Spaces Grants were: 

• Remedial Transmissions - Public Palace - Creative Development Phase ($5,000): Funding will support the research and development phase of a site responsive, participatory public artwork in Byron Shire. Artists Grace Dewar and Laurie Oxenford will engage community to develop recordings that will activate selected public spaces using a hidden, sensor-activated audio system.
• Bulaan Dalang Galii Naa Gan Ngaa Leen Duu - The Returning in collaboration with Arts Northern Rivers - Mural and Artists Residency ($5,000): Bulaan Dalang Galii Naa Gan Ngaa Leen Duu is a mentoring program supporting emerging Indigenous creative practitioners. Artists will be mentored over a 12-month period by established artists and cultural leaders through professional learning sessions, time for self-directed artistic exploration and cultural workshops. A mural installation in the Byron CBD will be a public outcome of the project.
• We are all Riverkeepers - Bruns Riverkeepers Alliance auspiced by Mullum SEED ($5,000): This project is a creative showcase about connecting to, caring for and celebrating the Brunswick River. The project will utilise multimedia arts formats including poetry, photography and video, personal biography as well as imagery to document stories of diverse ‘riverkeepers’ of the Bruns River - from Indigenous custodians to artists and creatives, fishers, farmers, boaters, ecologists, bush regenerators, and diverse landowners along the river. The intention is to inspire and link our communities to ways in which they can connect with, care for and celebrate our river.