Back to Impact Stories

Regional Arts Victoria

  • Project: Creative Recovery Grants Program: 2021 Storms
  • Amount: $50,000
  • Year(s) Funded: 2021

Enabling artists to rebuild after natural disaster

In June 2021, extreme weather wreaked havoc with catastrophic rain and wind damage in Gippsland and the Yarra Ranges. With an HMSTrust Response & Recovery grant, Regional Arts Victoria was able to offer quick turn-around support for artists who, already suffering from the impacts of COVID19 on their ability to practice and earn an income, were further impacted by the natural disaster.

Fromwhereistand-Gulsen-Ozer22-crop.jpg
Gülşen Özer, Interdisciplinary Artist. With grant funds, artists Gülşen Özer and Gretel Taylor undertook research into the development of a new work titled ‘From where I stand’ that was artist-led and site-specific.
“

“Our process has proven to be impactful for our storm affected community, with one resident living in Kalorama noting that the research we undertook together was profound and assisted her in working through the trauma of the storms.”

GULZEN OZER, INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST

”

Program Snapshot

The use of the arts as a recovery tool following natural disaster such as fire and flood is well documented. For artists and arts organisations living in the affected areas, it is important that they are supported to help their community recover.

  • HMS-illustration-victoria-flat-01

    RAV’s Creative Recovery Quick Response program is a practical program which enables recipients to re-build their capacity following the disaster.

  • HMS-illustration-daisy-01

    Rather than being prescriptive, it offers recipients a flexible recovery path, specific to their individual needs, and will assist them to get back on their feet and resume their practice as quickly as possible.

  • HMS-illustration-cloud-02

    26 small grants of $1,500 were awarded in a competitive application process for artists and arts groups to sustain their creative practice after the impacts of the June Storms, reaching over 170 practitioners.

  • HMS-illustration-pouring-02

    In a targeted approach, the Gumboot Collective, a creative arts organisation in the Wellington Shire, was awarded $6,000 to stage a community event engaging with local artists. The funding will support bringing the community together for a creative outcome, as well as encouraging tourists to the region, which was hit hard by the storms with the aftermath affecting people’s lives and livelihoods for many weeks.

rav.net.au