Innovative Grants Fund Supports Victorian Creatives

The Andrews Labor Government is backing the creative workers who power Victoria’s creative industries with the largest ever round of the ground-breaking Creators Fund.

Totalling almost $2.7 million, the innovative new grants are supporting 70 individuals and small collectives across a broad spectrum of creative specialisations.

Part of the Labor Government’s Creative State strategy, the Creators Fund provides local creatives with a stable income base of up to $50,000 for up to six months, enabling them to undertake research and development, explore new ideas and hone their craft.

Recipients of the 2022 Creators Fund span all creative disciplines and include:

• Boon Wurrung, Mutti Mutti, Taungerung and Palawa Elder and writer Talgium Edwards who will work on a second autobiography, detailing the later part of his life as a member of the Stolen Generation.
• Author Maxine Beneba Clarke who will develop a book of poetry for children.
• Filmmaker Audrey Lam who will undertake research into community radio stations for a film project.
• Artist and experimental designer Jessie French who will collaborate with art conservators Care of Studios on research into sustainable materials for sculpture and architectural applications.
• Sculptor Laura Woodward who will research alternative ways of working with plastics to reduce waste.
• Multi-disciplinary artist and lighting designer Katie Sfetkidis who will explore the nature of protest movements, older women and the digital realm.

Since its launch in 2017, the Creators Fund has invested almost $6 million directly into the careers of Victorian creatives – from fashion designers, composers and game developers to writers, visual artists and theatre-makers.

Supporting creatives for a sustained period of up to six months, the Creators Fund provides the time and funds required for the delivery of innovative and ground-breaking new research, methods and works.

The Creators Fund was established as part of the Government’s first Creative State strategy and was extended in the Victorian Budget 2021/22. This latest round includes dedicated streams for First Peoples creatives and creatives who identify as deaf or disabled.

To find out more about the Creators Fund, recipients and their exciting projects, visit creative.vic.gov.au.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson

“Artists are the lifeblood of our Creative Industries and that’s why we’re backing the people whose skill, imagination and ideas power the sector and make Victoria the nation’s cultural heartland.”

“The Creators Fund gives Victorian creatives financial means and the time they need to pursue new ideas and realise their potential. Congratulations to the latest crop of creators – our largest to date.”