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The ExtravagANT month of March at CAN WA!

Well, this month we officially said goodbye to our amazing Communications Officer Bec Speidel, who moved on from CAN WA and into the realm of national radio. I hope everyone will join us in wishing Bec the best of luck (not that she needs it).

With the loss of one, comes the gaining of two more. In March CAN WA has grown yet again, with Jaimee Davis, the new Administration and Training Support Officer, and Emma Fletcher, the new Communications and Marketing Coordinator joining the team.

But that's not all! The month got even bigger, with the Respect Yourself Respect Your Culture Keela Dreaming Cultural Festival exploding into Kellerberrin on Saturday 12 March, featuring CAN WA's Wheat Beats showcase and ExtravagANTza.

Read on for more, including updates on CAN WA in the Southern Wheatbelt - and a reminder to get your Catalyst drafts in for feedback, well before the closing date on 30 March!

Signing off as the temporary stand-in,

Nicola, Project Coordinator @ CAN WA

Submit your news, events and opportunities for the April edition of Around the Campfire by Thursday, 31 March 2011 to Emma (new) Communications and Marketing Coordinator @ CAN WA

Image | The giant Keela Ant | photo credit Toni Wilkinson

Traditional Noongar dance groups, a giant illuminated ant sculpture, an aerial acrobat suspended from a crane, dozens of young ‘Keela’ ant performers and C&W star Troy Cassar-Daley were just some of the highlights of the 2011 Respect Yourself Respect Your Culture Keela Dreaming Cultural Festival.

More than two thousand people attended the biennial Noongar arts and culture festival in the wheatbelt town of Kellerberrin, about 200km east of Perth on Saturday the 12th of March. The event was produced by the Kellerberrin Aboriginal Progress Association, the Shire of Kellerberrin and CAN WA.

In the lead up to the festival, CAN WA ran a variety of workshops in Kellerberrin and Quairading, to create hip hop and traditional dances, glowing ant costumes and stars, puppets, short films and a giant Keela-ant, all to form the CAN WA ExtravagANTza for the festival.

CAN WA also presented a Wheat Beats showcase, hosted by Optamus, with performances of each song created in the Voices of the Wheatbelt: Wheat Beats workshops (more information below).

For the full story, and some amazing photos, head on over to the CAN WA website.

If you want to hear what Troy Cassar-Daley thought of the Festival, make sure you tune in to 100.9fm Noongar Radio this Saturday 26th at 6pm.

Troy is a special guest on Mechelle Wilson's Indigenous Beats program. He talks about his upcoming tour, new music, the floods in Queensland and what an INCREDIBLE time he had in Kellerberrin.

If you're not in Perth, you can stream it live on the web @ www.noongarradio.com

Image | Troy Cassar-Daley performing at the Keela Dreaming Cultural Festival | photo credit Toni Wilkinson

The third phase of CAN WA's Voices of the Wheatbelt is finally here! Voices of the Wheatbelt: Wheat Beats took place over the past twelve months, in the Eastern Wheatbelt towns of Quairading and Kellerberrin, and the Southern Wheatbelt towns of Brookton and Narrogin. Young people aged 11 to 15 from schools and the wider community participated in workshops learning the history and skills of Australian hip-hop, Aboriginal cultural dance and music video filmmaking as a contemporary avenue to express their connection to their community. 

The outcome was four original hip-hop songs, written by the four groups, and accompanying music video film clips designed and directed by the participants. The CD and DVD of the songs (including a behind the scenes documentary) have been put together in a snazzy DVD package, with photos, lyrics, and the story of the workshops.

As well as creating their own songs and music clips, participants were also invited to perform their songs at the Respect Yourself Respect Your Culture Keela Dreaming Cultural Festival on Saturday, 12 March 2011 in Kellerberrin. Hosted by hip-hop outfit Optamus - headed by Scott Griffiths, the Wheat Beats showcase featured performances by Karlee Barr and Quairading District High School dancers (Quairading), Daniel Watkins (Brookton), Raymond Storey, Juwan Storey, Chiara Bolton, Shinea Bruckner, Hope Turvey and Megan Turvey (Narrogin), and Marshall Nelson and Rhys Height of the Part Time Royalz Narrogin dance group as they danced and sung their way through their original hip-hop songs.

Stay tuned for the launch of Voices of the Wheatbelt: Wheat Beats, and your chance to watch a screening of the music clips and see behind the scenes!

CAN WA would like to send out a big congratulations to Mat de Koning, who on the weekend received the award for WA Young Filmmaker of the Year, at the 2011 WA Screen Awards.

Mat has been working with CAN WA on the Voices of the Wheatbelt: Wheat Beats project, creating the four music video clips and behind the scenes documentary, and is now part of CAN WA's Gosnells hip-hop and music video workshops. He has also worked on many other community art projects, including a residency with the Awesome Arts Festival in 2008.

Keep an eye out for Mat's work, sure to be in a cinema near you soon!

Image | Mat de Koning with Wheat Beats participants - Kellerberrin

CAN WA has had yet another new addition to the team, with Jaimee Davis joining the ever-growing CAN WA family in the Administration and Training Officer role.

Jaimee has previously worked at Western Power illustrating branch material, and before that worked for two years with Melbourne games developer Infinite Interactive.

She is a graphics whiz and coordinating hero - having studied Graphic Design, Illustration and Event Coordination, and also used to organise all ages music events in Rockingham (while still working as a freelance illustrator/artist)...phew!

Jaimee will be working as administrative support in the CAN WA office, while also assisting Monica Kane (Training and Business Development Manager) with CAN WA's training programs.

Also joining CAN WA this month is Emma Fletcher, the new Communications and Marketing Coordinator.

Emma hails from across the pond, recently moving to Australia from New Zealand, where she worked for four years managing a creative space for artists with intellectual disabilities.

With a Masters in Arts Management, specialising in the development of creative spaces and community arts, and a Bachelor of Graphic Design, Emma is also a practising Graphic Designer (the more the merrier here at CAN WA!).

As the Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Emma will be the first port of call for all things promotional, including managing the website, e-news, design, and all CAN WA promotions.

With the closing date of 30 March fast approaching, CAN WA encourages organisations and individuals with community arts projects to contact us to discuss your ideas.

Catalyst Community Arts Fund supports WA community art projects, where people are able to participate, learn together and express their local culture and identity.

The next round of Catalyst funding closes 30 March for projects starting after 1 July 2011.

CAN WA encourages those interested to discuss their project ideas with CAN WA staff and submit drafts for feedback. Sooner rather than later!

For details of the Catalyst fund, and to download guidelines and applications forms, visit www.canwa.com.au

To discuss your ideas email admin@canwa.com.au or call 9226 2422

CAN WA manages the Catalyst Community Arts Fund on behalf of the State of Western Australia through the Department of Culture and the Arts.

Our Narrogin office has been busy busy, with many new and exciting projects being developed. Read below to find out more...

Gnarojin Creek Totem poles

Planning has begun for CAN WA's next project along the Narrogin Creek. A series of totem poles were erected on the creek bank as part of the Gnarojin Creek Noongar Revival project from 1992-1994, representing 'Ochre in Uneven Ground', but since then have been subject to a bit of weathering...So as part of the creek revitilisation effort, CAN WA will be holding workshops in Narrogin during April, to create new designs telling the story of the poles, and bring them back to life! For more information contact Ross Storey at the CAN WA Narrogin office on 9881 5400.

Doll Making Project

DOCUMENTARY

As part of the Film and Television Institute's (FTI) Indigenous Community Stories program, CAN WA was given the opportunity to film archival footage, and an eventual documentary on the Southern Wheatbelt doll making project!

Having worked on the previous Narrogin Soundscape, CAN WA invited Catherine Simmonds - Director of the Brunswick Women's Theatre in Melbourne, back to Narrogin to be the interviewer. Filming took place from March 1 - 4, with both individual interviews, and two days of doll making workshops being captured.

History was revealed, and amazing stories told, as participants from the original and new workshops discussed what the dolls and the workshops mean to them. The documentary will be screened at the exhibition of the dolls, taking place from September 2011 at the WA Museum, after a local exhibition in Narrogin. Keep an eye out for more details as they arise!

PINGELLY/BROOKTON WORKSHOPS

The Southern Wheatbelt doll making workshops have now extended to the town of Pingelly, and will also include participants from the nearby town of Brookton. Nalda Searles and Cecile Williams, along with participants from the Narrogin workshops, taught the art of doll making and storytelling last Thursday and Friday at the Pingelly community centre. The dolls created through the Pingelly workshops will hopefully join the Narrogin dolls, in being exhibited at the WA Museum in September.

CALL OUT FOR MATERIALS

Do you have any old clothing, scraps of material, wool, rags, buttons, stuffing, or string that you don't need? Don't throw it out!

Whatever it is, the doll makers can use it! If you have anything you wish to donate, please contact either Geri Hayden of the CAN WA Narrogin office on geri@canwa.com.au or 9881 5400, or Nicola Davison of the CAN WA Head office on nicola@canwa.com.au or 9226 2422 and they will arrange a way to get it to the workshops, and it can live a new life as a unique doll!

Image | Lizzie Riley and Joan Dinah at the filming of the doll-making workshops | photo credit Nicola Davison

Would you like to tell other artists about your art and the work you've been doing with communities?

We are inviting experienced and emerging arts workers from various art forms to submit an expression of interest in presenting at our first artist networking session for 2011

Please contact Sian Brown with some information about yourself and your arts practise and we will get back to you.

There are only three places so get in early and if you don't make the list for this session we will add you to a waiting list to present for the next networking session.

Presentation from artists 4:30pm - 5:30pm

There are three presentation slots of 15 minutes, consisting of a 10 minute talk, slide show, interactive session etc (it's up to you!), followed by 5 minutes of questions.

Drinks, nibbles and conversations 5:30pm - 6:30pm

...continue your conversations around the corner at Tiger Tiger bar and cafe.

What: Hear about what other artists are doing for Inspiration! Meet other artists and enjoy Networking!
When: May 4:30pm - 6:30pm
Where: King St Arts Centre, Level 1, Large Meeting Room

Contact Sian Brown to register your interest in attending or presenting via email on sian@canwa.com.au or phone 9226 2422

Image | Lanterns by Karen Hethey for the Strong Culture Strong Community launch | photo by Bo Wong

'Straight Shootin' premiere's on NITV

NITV will premiere the first episode on 'Straight Shootin'' on Sunday 27 March at 4:30pm (7:30pm EST). Hosted by the Queen of the Kimberley, Mary G, the show features a panel of five Indigenous women who aren't afraid to call a spade a spade.

Straight Shootin' is a candid, lively and unapologetic look at Indigenous life, offering up helpful hints and opinions that will both shock the senses and tickle the funny bone!

For those who have no access to NITV via Foxtel, whole episodes can be viewed online immediately after the broadcast at www.straightshootin.tv

image | Mary G | photo by Bo Wong

Australian Copyright Council Perth Seminars

Issues of copyright affect nearly every business, institution and government organisation in Australia today. The Copyright Council's user-friendly seminars provide expert advice on how to work with and keep up-to-date with copyright in the digital age.

Topics include:

• Creators & Users of Copyright Material
• Educational Institutes
• Libraries & Copyright
• Government & Copyright

When: 23 to 26 May 2011
Where: State Library of WA
More info: For bookings or further information on seminar sessions, dates and venues please visit the website.

Barking Gecko Theatre Company School Holiday Workshops

Characters and storytelling - Create your own superhero!

Are you aged 7 - 10 years, and want to learn how to play a character, develop your storytelling, or even create your own superhero? Then join Barking Gecko over four action-packed days, and learn how to develop a back-story, an arch nemesis and a trusty sidekick for your hero! See how your superhero fares in their own comic book adventure using role-play and improvisation.

Character transformations - A toolbox for creating characters

If you are aged 11 - 13 years, come along and create eight characters in four day! Can it be done? Learn key improvisation techniques to transform between characters on stage.

Acting Intensive Monologue Development and Acting for Camera

An intensive workshop for 14 - 17 year olds, who are serious young actors preparing for their original solo performance or drama school auditions. Explore creative approaches to monologue development, as well as an introduction to performing for camera.

When: Wednesday 27 - Saturday 30 April, 10am - 4pm
Where: Subiaco Arts Centre
Further details: gecko@barkinggecko.com.au or 9380 3080

Enrolment forms available through the website

KickstART Youth Markets

Propel is excited to announce their latest project - the KickstART Youth Markets. The flagship event for Own It! National Youth Week 2011, the markets are going to be a day not to be missed! You can be sure to expect: market stalls with hand-made products by local artists and designers, live performances, art trail, interactive art works, collectable limited edition magnets, and lots more!

When: Saturday 2 April 2011, 10am - 4pm
Where: Perth Cultural Centre
How much: Free!

So, how can you get involved?

• OWN YOUR CREATIVITY - Help transform the Perth Cultural Centre with Retro Rocket Ship Workshops or help create the final touches to the market space with the Ephemeral Art Making Workshops. RSVP your attendance to Alice Farley on alice@propel.org.au

Narrogin Photography Workshop

ReachOut.com and RDA Wheatbelt are looking for young men from the Wheatbelt aged 16-25 who are interested in photography!

Renowned young photojournalist Conor Ashleigh will be facilitating the workshop, where participants will learn how to create photo based digital stories. Workshop numbers will be small, with a maximum of 6-8 participants - so make sure you get in quick!

When: Wednesday 13 April, 5:30pm - 9pm
How much: FREE! All you need to bring is a digital camera of any kind - even a mobile phone camera will be fine. If you already have any of your own photographs bring them along too.

To register your interest in the workshops please email your name, age, town, phone number, email, and a paragraph about yourself and why you want to do this workshop to rachael.cassells@inspire.org.au with WHEATBELT WORKSHOP in the subject line.

To find out more about Conor Asheigh, visit his website

Deadline for applications is 31 March 2011, 5pm

Calling all Aboriginal people who want to paint! Certificate III in Arts & Contemporary Crafts

Do you know any Aboriginal people (17 years old and over) who would love to learn how to improve their painting techniques and/or how to make more money from their painting?

The Kidogo Art Institute in Fremantle run an accredited course 'Cert III in Visual Arts & Contemporary Crafts' - a course that has been tailored especially for Aboriginal people, with input for Aboriginal artists, Aboriginal art students and the arts community.

The course runs for 6 months on Mondays and Tuesdays (10am - 3pm) plus Wednesdays (10am - 1pm)

From 1 March 2011 (they also take late enrolments)

If you know any Aboriginal people who would like to join the course, please ask them to:

• Call by the Kidogo Arthouse - it's the old, stone building on the beach between the Fishing Boat Harbour and the mouth of the Swan River in Fremantle.
• Or they can ring Joanna Robertson at Kidogo Arthouse on 9335 9636
• Or Rod Collard would be happy to come and speak with you, your colleagues, and your clients, and fill you in on the program.

Image | 2010 Kidogo Art Students at the Kidogo Aboriginal Student Exhibition | photo by Roel Loopers

Job Opportunity: Director, Victoria Park Centre for the Arts

Victoria Park Centre for the Arts has a vacancy for a Director to join their team.

The key focus of this position will be to coordinate workshops, exhibitions, the gift shop, community arts projects, the Annual Victoria Park Art Award and other cultural events. A strong focus on community cultural development and strategic management is required, with demonstrated experience in applying for and getting grants essential.

The position is 28 hours per week (.75), commencing first week of April 2011.

Please contact Sonja Vujic for a copy of the job description and selection criteria on ph 9470 5520 or email vpcadirector@gmail.com

Applications close: Monday, 28 March 2011

Expression of Interest: Volunteer Gallery Attendants, City of Wanneroo Library & Cultural Centre

The City of Wanneroo Library & Cultural Centre is currently looking for volunteer Gallery Attendants for their Exhibition program intermittent throughout the year.

Further details: If you would like to be involved in the exhibition process please contact

Kelly Cleary on 9405 5953 or email Kelly.Cleary@wanneroo.wa.gov.au or

Murray Stokes on 9405 5914 or email Murray.Stokes@wanneroo.wa.gov.au

AWESOME Arts - Call for Volunteers

Calling all AWESOME volunteers!

This April AWESOME Arts will be partnering with one40william to present free arts workshops and activities over the school holidays for the Bright Young Things of Perth. And what does that mean?...YES, you guessed it! VOLUNTEERS!! They will need volunteers to assist their artists and help facilitate the workshops. They will be running from April 27 - 29 (Wednesday to Friday) and May 2 - 6 (Monday to Friday).

Volunteers are required from 9am to 2:30pm.

If you can spare a day, a week or even the whole fortnight please contact Volunteer Coordinator Ashlee on 9328 9666 or email ashlee@awesomearts.com

It will be a whole lot of AWESOME FUN!!

Volunteers Wanted - The Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC)

Want to get more active on climate change in Perth?

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition has thousands of volunteers working passionately to get climate solutions. Together they have raised awareness in schools, run effective and fun climate campaigns and events, put climate change in the national media and met with politicians, including Julia Gillard.

AYCC has recently started in Perth and there are many great opportunities to volunteer and join exciting new projects, or let the AYCC support you starting your own group.

Some of the projects this year include:

• Switched On Schools – delivering hands-on climate change workshops to high school student groups
• Re-Power – mobilising people using social events and flashmobs, with profits used to re-power local businesses
• Power Shift – a massive youth climate summit, part conference, part festival, later in the year.
• Price on Pollution - engaging Perth youth on the need for a carbon price and using sheer people numbers to influence policy-makers

Click on the projects above to learn more about the positions available.

To apply, fill out their extremely short application form.

Applications close: Tuesday 29 March 2011

City of Armadale - Office Space Available

The Armadale Lotteries House may have an office becoming available in the next month and is seeking expressions of interest from non-profit community organisations in the City of Armadale.

More information regarding the space can be found here.

Enquiries should be forwarded to Lindy Caporn on 9497 4917 or email admin@armadalelotterieshouse.com.au

NAB Schools First Program

Arts based organisations and groups in partnership with primary and/or secondary schools are urged to consider applying for a share in this year's $5million of NAB Schools First awards.

Rewarding schools that partner with communities for improved student outcomes, NAB Schools First has already awarded $10.5million to 195 Australian schools countrywide.

The two types of awards are:

Impact - for established partnerships
Seed Funding - for new or developing partnerships

And persons involved in school-community partnership or interested in applying for a NAB Schools First Award in 2011 are encouraged to attend one of 40 NAB Schools First Partnership Forums across Australia

Forums will be run in Western Australia from 11 - 14 April 2011, in Perth, Joondalup, Bunbury and Broome. To find out more visit the NAB Schools First website

Applications open online at 9:00am (AEST) on Monday 20 June 2011 and close 5:00pm (AEST) on Friday 29 July 2011

Department of Culture and the Arts -  Connect - Community Collections Funding Program 2011

The Department of Culture and the Arts is pleased to announce that applications are now open for Connect - Community Connections Funding Program 2011. Connect is an extension of the pilot program launched in 2008.

Connect supports quality public programs and professional development for Western Australian collecting organisations, artists and curators through high quality visitor experiences and increased community engagement.

There are three categories, Engaging Collections, Short Term Artist in Residence and Emerging Curator. Projects supported can include residencies, professional development, marketing and promotion of collections, exhibitions, public programs or events.

Visit the Department of Culture and the Arts website to download the application package.

For further information please email collections@dca.wa.gov.au or contact Linda Tavelli or Carl Gopalkrishan on 9224 7310

The West Australian Music Industry Association Inc. (WAM) - RAMMPAAGE Funding

Planning on staging an all-ages event before 30 April 2011?

WAM has funding of up to $3,000 per event still available for all-ages events in WA, through the RAMMPAAGE Program, supported by Drug Aware.

To find out more, or to download an application package including guidelines and information, visit the WAM website or contact the RAMMPAAGE Program Coordinator Kris Dimitroff on 9227 7962 (WA Regional toll-free 1800 007 962) or email kris@wam.asn.au

Applications close: Friday 25 March 2011

Department of Immigration and Citizenship - Diversity and Social Cohesion Program Funding

The Diversity and Social Cohesion Program (DSCP), incorporating the former Diverse Australia Program and the National Action Plan to Build Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security community grants, provides the additional resources often needed by not-for-profit community organisations to develop their own projects and find their own ways of helping their community build stronger community relations.

There are two aims for the DSCP Funding:

Aim 1: to promote respect, fairness and a sense of belonging for Australians of every race, culture and religion.

Aim 2: Develop the community capacity building skills of specific community groups under significant pressure due to their cultural, religious or racial diversity.

Funding of about $1.8million is available for new grants in 2010-11. Generally funding for individual projects is up to $50,000.

Closing date: 5pm AEDT (Canberra time) Thursday 31 March 2011

Well, our call-out worked, and for March we are having a good chinwag with Sheryl Chant, an artist who often works with creative reuse centre REmida WA.

What inspires you? Playing. People. Ocean. One day per week I volunteer at REmida and at the risk of sounding like a walking advertisement, for me it's like Christmas every week. There are always new materials to explore and interesting people to meet. My passion for art, education, environment and creativity are renewed and sustained. I balance this frenzy with daily ocean adventures.

How do you describe your artistic style? Eclectic. I love to play with clay and primitive firing techniques. As I continue to explore I am gaining confidence to move into combining my clay with other elements, mostly recycling and creatively reusing materials. The ability to combine my other training and skills, such as jewellery making, textiles and teaching, allows me to have more fun while continuing to develop my work.

What would be your dream project? My dream project would be leading an adventure into the discovery of the joys of playing, of using all of the senses to explore and recover creativity.

How do you work with and/or for communities? I work with communities facilitating workshops, coordinating local council school holiday programmes, mural design and painting with community groups, leading primary school art programmes, developing and creating community art projects, demonstrating and sharing my raku firing passion, and designing and assisting with various festival activities. I am always willing to learn more while I work both with, and for, different communities.

What are you most proud of professionally? That I am still here, still having a go, gives me a glow. The REmida Dragon would be one of my favourites. A Loch Ness Monster style dragon, with lots of separate body parts made from paperclay. The process involved each participant getting a dollop of paperclay which they press into the REmida material (clean, non-toxic and unused by-products from industry). Each of these newly made scales were then attached onto the dragon armature. The scales have been made by so many different people in so many different places - from REmida in West Perth, the Mythical Festival in Currambine, Kapinara Primary School, Woodside Springfest, and throughout the city. To see the surprise and joy on people's faces when they touch the clay, make an impression on the clay, and then add their clay scale to the communal art piece, makes my heart sing - as does seeing the dragon on display at REmida every week, knowing that many people helped to bring it to life.

See Sheryl's online profile here

Find out more about REmida WA at www.remidawa.com