BIG BOOST FOR THE ARTS IN ACT BUDGET

The arts have received an important boost in the Budget, with a $1 million allocation for public art and support for proposed new arts facilities, Chief Minister and Minister for the Arts Jon Stanhope has announced.

“The arts make a tremendous contribution to our quality of life, and the ACT Government wants to make sure that all Canberrans have access to high-quality cultural experiences. Important avenues for achieving that goal are to invest in public art and to plan and construct cultural facilities in the places where people live, work and congregate.  

“Over the next two years $1 million will be used to acquire one or more sculptures for the community, pieces of the highest calibre that will be enjoyed and admired by generations of Canberrans. The works will help fulfil the vision, set out in the Government’s Canberra Plan, for a culturally stimulating and vibrant city.

Mr Stanhope said the Budget also included significant new investment in arts infrastructure, including in the town centres.

“We have allocated $500,000 for the completion of a final design for the Belconnen Arts and Cultural Centre on the shores of Lake Ginninderra,” Mr Stanhope said.

“The Government has worked closely with the Belconnen Arts and Cultural Centre Community Advisory Group to ensure that this proposed cultural centre will give Belconnen residents the cultural facilities they most require.

“Preliminary planning has explored such potential inclusions as a 200-250 seat theatre, workshops, a dance studio, a gallery space, meeting and administration rooms, a café and multi-use spaces.

“The design will also extend to landscaping of the nearby Lake Ginninderra shore, to connect the centre to its lakeside location and to better allow for activities to flow from the centre to the outdoors.

The funding comes on top of recently announced funding that will allow Belconnen Community Services to employ a full-time community cultural development worker to develop cultural activity in the region while the new centre is being planned and constructed.

An additional $150,000 has been allocated to further planning for a major ACT performing arts centre in Civic’s City West precinct, and for a cost-benefit analysis for a National Choreographic Centre.
 
“This Budget delivers on the Government’s election commitments to better engage the whole Canberra community in the artistic and cultural life of the city,” Mr Stanhope said.

“Canberra is already home to some of the finest national cultural collections and examples of public art, as well as significant and high-quality local collections and facilities. We want to build on this heritage and to ensure that all Canberrans, no matter where they live, have access to quality cultural experiences.”
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