Council gets artistic

The City of Melbourne (CoM) has pledged to work with the State Government to help bring more artists into Southbank’s Arts Precinct as part of its Arts Strategy 2014-17.

The strategy was endorsed at the draft stage by council in March and is now on display for public comment.

After the initial engagement process, the strategy reports that the CoM acknowledged the need to enhance and build on art clusters such as Southbank’s Arts Precinct. Interestingly though, it also warned against focusing all art institutions on one region of the city.

The report states that there: “Was the view that precincts were stifling and led to a regrettable lack of diversity in the whole municipality.”

The strategy focused heavily on artists themselves, with Lord Mayor Robert Doyle saying the council wanted to hear from those who were affected by arts strategies.

“This Draft Arts Strategy 2014-17 is the produce of collaboration between the City of Melbourne and the people who it will directly affect: artists, arts organisations, audiences and participants,” Cr Doyle said.

Cr Rohan Leppert said the council was committed to continuing Melbourne’s reputation as a leader in the arts.

“Melbourne’s arts scene continues to attract artists of all backgrounds and practices. We want that to continue to flourish in the years to come, cementing Melbourne as a creative capital and an appealing city for creative individuals and organisations,” Cr Leppert explained.