On 2 August around 150 people filled the Flinders Civic Centre for a community meeting to hear about the impacts of the shire’s cuts to performing arts funding and decision to rescind the Climate Emergency Declaration and Action Plan. The environmental and arts advocates chose to combine their causes, finding common ground, despite differing challenges. The arts community is facing a considerable cut in funding from historically high levels, and climate groups the removal of the action plan that provided structure for the peninsula’s approach to climate change mitigation. The audience included shire mayor Cr Anthony Marsh, shire CEO Mark…
Browsing: Arts Funding
By Tracee Hutchison* SOME of the peninsula’s highest profile artists, actors, musicians, film-makers, writers, creative producers and festival directors have joined forces urging Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors to rethink their recent decision to slash arts and culture funding in the upcoming budget. Over a hundred local creatives gathered at the Pig & Whistle’s Shed Theatre in response to proposed cuts to the arts and culture allocation in council’s Community Investment Fund in the FY25/26 budget, including Performing Arts Development grants and Creative Fund grants, to zero. Among those calling on council to reverse the decision is peninsula-based art writer and…