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UNLOCKED Summer

KEY DATES:

  • Applications Open 9am Monday 4 November 2024 AEST
  • Applications Close 5pm Sunday 17 November 2024 AEST
  • Professional development outcomes to be completed by June 2025
  • Grant Acquittals Due July 2025

 

Murray Arts is pleased to announce our much-loved micro-grant program UNLOCKED is back this Summer 2025, just in time for all those creative development endeavours that we know you are dreaming up over the break!

The Summer 2025 round of UNLOCKED will offer 10 grants of $1,500 each to support professional creative development.

UNLOCKED was an initiative developed as a response to the massive disruption that COVID-19 Pandemic caused across the creative industry, and tailored to artists in the Murray Arts footprint. Since UNLOCKED was launched in June 2020, we have given a total of $103,315 in funding, across 8 rounds, supporting 129 Individual grant recipients and 22 collectives.

Our footprint borders the Indigenous Nations of Dhuduroha, Yaithmathang, Bangarang, Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta & Wavaroo and encompasses the local government areas of Albury City, Greater Hume, Federation, City of Wodonga, Indigo and Towong. Independent artists and creatives who live, work and or connect in an ongoing way with the Murray Arts footprint are welcome to apply.

 

Recipients might use the funds to:

  • Develop existing work
  • Develop/refine their creative business and seek advice
  • Fund a residency
  • Purchase material or equipment to develop creative work
  • Attend a professional development opportunity, event or conference
  • Collaborate with another creative or mentor

 

DETAILS:

UNLOCKED Summer 2025 opens Monday 4 November and closes Sunday 17 November at 5pm.

Successful applicants will be notified by Monday 2 December 2024 and all payments will be made by January 31 2025.

The aim is for successful applicants to complete their funded UNLOCKED creative development project by mid-2025.

After the activity is completed, successful artists will be required to submit an image, short video or audio accompanied by a brief summary about their UNLOCKED funded creative development.

Successful applicants will be invited to attend a UNLOCKED ZOOM networking meeting, in early 2025, for connection and sharing.

 

ASSESSMENT

Applications are evaluated by a panel including Murray Arts Staff, Board and LGA Representatives. Every applicant will be informed of their outcome.

When assessing the applications, the panel will consider the impact of the proposed activity or purchase on the artist’s creative practice, wellbeing, or business.

 

ELIGIBILITY

  1. The UNLOCKED – Summer of 2025 program is open to artists who live, work, and connect with the Murray Arts local government areas of Albury City, Greater Hume, Federation Shire, City of Wodonga, Indigo Shire and Towong Shires.
  2. Our definition of an independent professional creative artist is someone who earns an income (primary or supplementary) from their creative practice. You will need to have an active ABN.
  3. Applications are welcomed from artists practicing in all mediums, including visual art, performance, circus, dance, design, music, film, sculpture, digital, creative education, and writing.
  4. Applicants are encouraged to the Murray Arts Creatives Directory
  5. If successful, you will need to invoice Murray Arts for the agreed fee. The amount listed does not include GST.
  6. No insurance, superannuation and or workers compensation is offered as part of the UNLOCKED program, it is the responsibility of the successful applicants to ensure they are meeting their own personal/business requirements for these considerations.

 

HOW TO APPLY:

Apply via the UNLOCKED application online form.

If the online form does not meet your access needs, please contact Murray Arts for a word document version.

Applications close on Sunday 17 November 2024 at 5pm.

For more information and assistance with your application contact:

Julien Bonnel
Executive Support & Grants Officer
jbonnel@murrayarts.org.au
0455 466 903

 

 

Private: UNLOCKED

UPDATE:

The July Round of UNLOCKED is now allocated. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application in early July. 

Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter and social media to be notified of future rounds of UNLOCKED

 

 

UNLOCKED JULY 2020- CLOSED

Murray Arts in partnership with the Cultural Round Table of the Border North East are very excited to announce our second round of UNLOCKED, open. UNLOCKED is a micro-funding round designed to acknowledge, support and encourage the independent creative industry practitioners, who live work and connect with the Murray Arts footprint during the age of COVID-19; AlburyCity, Greater Hume & Federation shires in NSW and City of Wodonga, Indigo & Towong shires in Victoria.

For the month of July 2020, we will pay one independent creative practitioner, per day, a fee of $333. That means 30 individual artists, across the month of July 2020 will be a part of this program.

Why $333 per day? Well if you divide $10,000 by the 30 days, you get $333. Murray Arts, Flying Fruit Fly Circus & HotHouse Theatre have reworked our 2020 budgets, shifted things around, had some wins qualifying for government COVID-19 support, cut back where we could and want to inject the funds we can, directly into our region’s creative economy. We researched many different quick response micro-funding programs, analysed your responses from the recent Border North East Independent artist survey and the UNLOCKED program is how we feel we can best support a cross-section of our creative community immediately.

Recipients might use the funds/time to:

  • Work on their skills
  • Create new work
  • Develop existing work
  • Develop/refine their creative business
  • Work on a grant application
  • Work on an Upstream 2021 EOI submission
  • Purchase material or equipment
  • Collaborate
  • Think, breath, pay some rent or purchase some food.

 

Outcomes are welcomed but by no means mandatory. We will ask you to submit an image and/or 10-20seconds max of video or audio, from what you do during your day of funded creativity. This is also not compulsory. The images, audio and video will be edited together to develop a short clip to highlight those who were a part of UNLOCKED 2020. The video may then be circulated via our social media, newsletter subscriber base and featured in our annual reporting. You will get a reminder to follow up from someone from the Murray Arts team, requesting the image of 10-20 seconds of video or audio.

We also are hosting non-compulsory ZOOM networking gatherings for recipients of UNLOCKED July 2020 and as the program grows the UNLOCKED 2020 Alumni will be invited to connect via ZOOM network gatherings also. It is our aim to keep everyone connected, foster support and encourage collaboration amongst our local creative community.

If you have requested additional support, for example, some space to work in, a member from the Murray Arts team will also be in touch about setting this up for you.

Eligibility:

  • Must be an independent professional creative artist who lives, works and or connects with the Murray Arts footprint: AlburyCity, Greater Hume & Federation shires in NSW and City of Wodonga, Indigo & Towong shires in Victoria.
  • Our definition of an independent professional creative artist is someone who earns an income, whether that be your main income and or supplementary income, from your creative practice annually.
  • Murray Arts works with all artforms that come under the creative industries umbrella and therefore we welcome applications from all the various creative practices. These include but are not limited to: visual, performing, circus, dance, and physical theatre artists, as well as designers, musicians, filmmakers, sculptors, arts administrators, producers, creative educators, writers, and technicians.
  • Priority will be given to those who have experienced loss and/or disruption to their practice because of COVID-19 restrictions.
  • If successful you will need to invoice Murray Arts for the fee of $333. If you do not have an active/current ABN, you will be required to complete a Statement by Supplier form.
  • If you treat your creative practice as a hobby, then you are not eligible.
  • No insurance, superannuation and or workers compensation is offered as part of the UNLOCKED program, it is the responsibility of the successful applicants to ensure they are meeting their own personal/business requirements for these elements.
  • If you are a recipient of UNLOCKED June 2020 then you are not eligible to apply for the July 2020 round.
  • If you applied for the June 2020 round of UNLOCKED and were unsuccessful then you do not to re-submit your application, it will automatically carry over to the JULY 2020 UNLOCKED round.

 

 

Assessments:

Every application will be assessed as swiftly as possible. A panel will be formed from the members of the Cultural Round Table of the Border North East. Every applicant will be informed of the outcome of their application and those who are not successful will be given feedback, support and encouraged to submit their application to possible future UNLOCKED rounds.

 

The future of UNLOCKED

We are committed to exploring opportunities for UNLOCKED to continue into August & September 2020 and we are also open to UNLOCKED evolving to better suit the needs of our creative community. We will be seeking donations from other organisations and investigating philanthropic avenues to keep UNLOCKED going. If you are not successful in being an UNLOCKED recipient in the first or second round, then rest assured that we will be doing our best to keep offering the micro-grant program.

 

For more information and to apply contact:

Alyce Fisher

Executive Director

Murray Arts Inc

director@murrayarts.org.au

0407 213 034

Please note that the Murray Arts office & burraja gallery, on Gateway Island, remains closed and the best way to reach out to our team is via phone and email.

 

You can read the report about UNLOCKED June & July here