Queensland Arts Showcase Program round 5 recipients

23 Aug 2024

For Round 5 of the Queensland Arts Showcase Program, 23 applications were approved to receive total project funding of $1,054,641, including $65,918 in Industry Placement funding.

Queensland Arts Showcase Program (QASP) round 5 successful recipients:

• The Child Writes Fund Ltd - $22,641 for The Sound of Picture Books exhibition featuring the work of internationally renowned artist, composer and author Matt Ottley, including original artworks, props and videos from his children’s books and live music performances.
• Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra - $70,000 for a 2025 concert performance of St Matthew’s Passion (Bach) at QPAC in collaboration with the Sydney Philharmonia Choir and Brisbane community choirs. The project also features an education program for young emerging Queensland classical music artists.
• Lincoln Austin - $28,055 for presentation of a new artwork The Weight of Experience at Rockhampton Museum of Art in 2025, as well as mentoring emerging Gold Coast artist Chelsea Jewell.
• Mad About Theatre - $70,000 for the development of Li'l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers - The Musical to premiere at the Brisbane Powerhouse in January 2025, plus $5918 Industry Placement funding.
• Natalia Mann - $12,144 to support Australian Samoan artist Natalia Mann to undertake a residency in Samoa and present two large-scale collaborative cultural projects: SA/MOA, in lutruwita/Tasmania; and SEA CHANGE in Gimuy/Cairns.
• Island Vibe Pty Ltd - $77,000 (including $7000 for new music) to support the 2024 Island Vibe music, arts and culture festival on Minjerribah / North Stradbroke Island.
• Vuong Pham - $13,045 to support the Reborn writing project, an 80-page poetry manuscript, which will delve into intricate themes of war in relation to Vietnamese refugees.
• Jungaji Brady - $38,584 to support the release of a new RnB/soul-infused contemporary music work called Betting on Blak by Gu Gu Yalanji songman Jungaji Brady.
• ARC Circus Co. - $53,900 for the development of a new circus work, Space Show (working title), including trial performances ahead of a planned 2025 premiere at HOTA on the Gold Coast.
• Noosa Regional Council - $70,000 to support the 2025 Floating Land: Escape Making outdoor sculpture program, which will feature commissioned works by 12 artists.
• Embodi Media Pty Ltd - $45,176 to support the development and presentation of AI May, a bilingual sci-fi theatre production addressing grief, loneliness and intergenerational trauma in the age of artificial intelligence from a Chinese migrant mother’s perspective.
• Bribie Island Nature Festival - $7885 to support the Bribie Island Nature Festival finale concert featuring emerging musicians from the Jazz Music Institute.
• Book Links Qld Inc. - $11,056 to support the Book Links StoryArts Brisbane two-day professional development program for writers, illustrators, teachers and teacher-librarians focused on excellence in children’s literature. StoryArts Brisbane will bring interstate authors, illustrators and publishers to Brisbane to run sessions, appear on panels and deliver workshops.
• BlakDance Australia Ltd - $70,000 plus $60,000 Industry Placement funding for the development of Bunyi Bunyi Bumi, a new dance work that will explore Queensland First Nations and Indonesian stories woven from ancient songlines and pre-colonial reimaginings.
• Brisbane Jazz Club Inc. - $65,095 for the Growing Jazz in Queensland initiative, a collaboration with community bands, jazz music teachers and educational institutions to develop the musical talent of secondary and tertiary students and increase jazz appreciation and employment.
• Bianca Tainsh – $25,200 to support the development of Imprinting Empathy, an art+tech research collaboration, led by visual artist Bianca Tainsh, which will use new technologies to explore interspecies entanglement and produce a body of multi-artform works.
• Dr Margi Brown Ash - $72,224 for development and presentation of Wanderings, a new play to explore the opportunities and challenges of shifting identities and family dynamics through the eyes of a transgender adult and his elderly mother recently diagnosed with dementia. Wanderings premieres at Queensland Theatre in November 2024.
• Ipswich District Teacher-Librarian Network - $25,211 to support the StoryArts Festival Ipswich, celebrating story in different forms presented by Queensland-based authors, illustrators and storytellers, including Lucas Proudfoot.
• Jasmin Togo-Brisby - $36,835 to support the development of Copper Archipelago, a new work by Australian South Sea Islander artist Jasmine Togo-Brisby for presentation at the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at QAGOMA from November 2024 - April 2025.
• TheatreiNQ - $27,000 to develop Watersong, a new play by Townsville playwright Shannon Jensen, a proud descendant of the Gunggandji people of Yarrabah, that will be staged by TheatreiNQ in November 2024. The production will feature a wholly First Nations female cast.
• Chloe Wigg - $18,614 for the Oh MG exhibition of artworks showcasing rare disease Myasthenia Gravis (MG) using sculptural assemblage from medication bottles. Oh MG will debut at Logan Art Gallery in May 2025 and then at Warwick Regional Art Gallery in July 2025.
• Angela Murphy - $67,358 for the development of More Than Tea and Scones, a theatre project based on interviews withQueensland Country Women's Association women from Far North, Northern and Western Queensland. Using visual imagery, live music and choreography, this project showcases the diversity, achievements and support QCWA women bring to their communities.
• Phluxus2 Dance Collective - $61,700 for the final creative development and premiere of the new work The Next 14 Seconds, in partnership with QPAC.

Header: Li'l Elvis Jones - The Musical by Mad About Theatre) and Imprinting Empathy by Bianca Tainsh (photo by Josey Ruckli).