The Ian Potter Foundation believes that the Arts are a reflection who we are as individuals, communities and as a nation. A dynamic and well-resourced Arts sector contributes to our quality of life, both as artists and as audiences.

Support for the Arts has been a feature of the Foundation’s funding since it was established in 1964. Sir Ian Potter was deeply involved in the visual and performing arts, and used his entrepreneurial skills to develop key Arts organisations in Australia.  With Dr H.C "Nugget" Coombs, he established the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. In turn, the Trust created The Australian Ballet and the Australian Opera and gave support to many individuals and organisations working in all aspects of the Arts.

More recently, the Foundation has looked at the role of the Arts as a tool for bringing communities together - bridging cultural, social, generational or socio-economic differences, and contributing to the development of healthy, productive communities.

The Arts is a vibrant, dynamic and exciting sector and we seek to encourage and support its development and improve its accessibility for all Australians.

To learn more about our recent $8 million grant to The Australian Ballet, please click here.

Grants in this program area currently focus on arts education, audience development (particularly in regional areas), and the arts as a vehicle for building a sense of community.

In addition to the above interests, the Foundation makes grants to individuals through The Ian Potter Cultural Trust which is a separate legal entity. Small grants from the Cultural Trust support emerging Australian artists to pursue further studies and nurture their careers in their chosen cultural fields.

FUNDING OBJECTIVES

• to support cultural institutions and organisations in Australia, which are distinctive in performance, imagination and innovation, and through them to encourage, in particular, young people of talent.
• to support the linking of education and the arts.
• to extend cultural opportunities to regional centres, and encourage the development of arts programs at a local level.

EXCLUSIONS

The Foundation does not support performances, exhibitions or festivals unless there is a special educational focus.

APPLICATIONS

For funding round closing dates, application forms and further information please see How to Apply.

Alice Springs Youth Aerosol Art Mentoring Project 2009

Grant: $10,000

Can graffiti be a good thing?  Does it have a place in our artistic landscape?  Is it a legitimate tool for youth inclusion?  

The team at InCite believes it is.  They developed a positive, targeted and supportive program to harness the talents and skills of the young ‘perpetrators' and to turn this nuisance crime into a constructive activity.  

By providing mentors, an internationally-renowned guest artist, skills development program and approved spaces in which to work, as well as stringent health and safety measures, InCite successfully delivered a dynamic program that has drawn positive feedback from residents, the wider community, partner organizations, the police and the young people themselves.

The project evaluation reported enhanced self-esteem and confidence in the participants, and a change in the negative perception of graffiti in the community.  Anecdotally, there was also a reduction in the incidence of illegal/unwanted graffiti.  Peer influence was a key factor in the latter outcome, lowering the prestige of unwanted graffiti, disparaging its perpetrators and spreading this opinion through the youth community.  In addition, positive outcomes relating to prevention of substance abuse, crime prevention, and other health and wellbeing issues were reported.

InCite plans to further develop this program and expand its evaluation and documentation of the key learnings so that this may be shared and adapted by other communities facing similar issues.

www.inciteya.org.au

PLAYWRITING AUSTRALIA, NSW
$26,674 in 2008 for the National Script Workshop - Graduate Program 2008.

In Canberra in July 2008, with the assistance of The Ian Potter Foundation, the National Script Workshop offered a program for recent director, playwright and dramatist graduates.

The program provided a bridge for the participants between professional training institutions and the industry itself. The twelve graduate playwrights selected, proposed a new play to be developed during the week-long program and initially spent a day working with the graduate dramatists. The graduate directors then joined them to continue to analyse the new play script. For three days they worked with the company of experienced, professional National Script Workshop actors, getting the play up on the rehearsal room floor.

The play was presented to the assembled National Script Workshop company, followed by the offer of mentoring by the assembled professional directors and dramatists, overseen by PlayWriting Australia Artistic Director Chris Mead.

CAIRNS REGIONAL GALLERY, QLD
$13,852 in 2007 for The Transience Travelling Schools Exhibition 2008.

Falling rates in student attendance at the Gallery due to the prohibitive costs of hiring buses to transport them led to the development of this program. Students were given the opportunity to experience in their school environment an exhibition of artworks selected from the Transience exhibition from The Upholstery collective – an artists’ organisation – and hosted by the Cairns Regional Gallery during February and March 2007.

Transience focused on the transient and ever-changing nature of living and working in Far North Queensland. Travelling the works to various local schools further examined this theme in a practical sense. An education package was developed and practical workshops – facilitated by exhibiting artists – were offered. Students were also given hands-on experience in acting as curators and hanging the exhibition, with assistance from the Gallery’s staff. Up to 4,000 students accessed the program, and 450 of them participated in the workshops.