During AWESOME Arts week, creativity and the Not For Profit sector fall into the spotlight and how in particular it can change lives. A vital part of the NFP landscape, creativity may sometimes be seen as an add-on when it actually has a key role to play in mental health, education and well-being, all factors which resonate across the rich collection of services offered by the sector as a whole.
AWESOME Arts CEO and Artistic Director Jenny Simpson believes that the arts and cultural sector has a strong and broad value proposition for the corporate sector.
“Our creative learning programs prepare students for their future workplaces,” she says. “Students use creativity and teamwork to learn new skills, gain knowledge and build capacity. Our programs also provide unique opportunities for disadvantaged, disengaged and marginalised youth populations to participate in healthy non-competitive activities.”
By teaching young people to create, plan, deliver and evaluate their own projects, organisations like AWESOME Arts actively support, promote and teach the fundamentals of effective decision-making, and in doing so, empower young people to make good decisions about their own lives.
Since 1996, when the first AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things launched in Subiaco, the vision from the creative team at Barking Gecko Theatre Company was to bring creative work to the young audiences of WA. Over the years, the offering has evolved and changed, with a renewed focus on a pre-teen audience as well as the under-fives, lining up to match the October schools holiday timeslot for maximum exposure of young minds to the creative offerings each year.
As such, it’s a festival which has reached young minds in innovative and memorable ways, while remaining true to its founding principles, says Ms Simpson. In addition to being appealing to its young end users, there is also the ongoing requirement for the organisation to return investment from its corporate partners.
“The AWESOME International Arts Festival is quite different in its value proposition to corporate supporters. This event has access and inclusion at its heart and, as such, proactively removes barriers to cultural participation for West Australian families, ensuring that they can participate in and experience high quality performances and activities such as ballet, music, dance, theatre, visual art, literature and film,” said Ms Simpson.
RAWA School Kunawarritji - Charlotte and Kero O'Shea
“Our corporate partners subsidise the cost of these experiences for local families with over half of the festival program delivered free to the public and the ticketed shows offered at very affordable prices.”
Working closely with corporate partners delivers in many ways, including returning significant value in the AWESOME Festival in terms of the inclusive hospitality opportunities it offers to their workforce.
“Corporate boxes at the footy and golf days are great, but they take workers away from their families. An AWESOME Day Out for their workers proactively supports work life balance and is inclusive of families.”
The reality is that introducing a young person to the power of creativity has long-term effects which are often overlooked and yet there are literally hundreds of examples of how the impact of creativity has immensely positive impacts on young lives every day.
An excerpt from a letter Ms Simpson received from the deputy principal of a regional school in WA perhaps expresses this impact best.
“Two professional artists worked in the school for a couple of weeks, supported by our principal partner, BHP and Healthway,” said Ms Simpson. “Here’s what the deputy head wrote:
“The artists gained trust and respect from the students, who have engaged beyond our expectations . . . Several of our students at extreme risk have made such a connection, that they have come to school every day and participated in projects that are meaningful to them.
One student identified that she would like to make wearable art for the upcoming ball (the first in six years). This student has PTSD, passive suicidal ideation, had experienced domestic violence and has significant anger issues.
Through their creative mentorship, she has started working on the most amazing bodice and importantly, she has left school every day with a smile on her face.
Another student with complex health issues, including ASD and Diabetes, who is disengaged from school, has come every day to work on his steam punk jewellery and sculptures and the artists are talking to him about post school options and how we can possibly help as a Y13 student.
I am so grateful this opportunity has been afforded to the students.”
Encouraging corporate bodies to invest in programs like AWESOME Arts’ Creative Challenge programs and other initiatives is as important as ensuring families are able to access food, housing and a secure home environment.
“Creativity feeds innovation, and supports effective problem solving,” said Ms Simpson. “It is impossible for any company to develop a forward vision without using their imagination. After all, if you can’t imagine, you can’t see.”
Visit awesomearts.com for more information.
