10 grants awarded in 2021 Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust Grants Program

The 2021 Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust Grants Program has awarded more than $81,000 in grants to support the projects of ten local artists and arts workers.

The successful candidates are:

Bus Stop Films Mt Victoria Festival of the Moving Image Space, Time, Light Dark Side of The Blue - The Board Game Big Family Circus Picnic Mountain People Underground Mara! Big Band Young BM Musician Project Of Place / In Place In Case of Fire – Poetry book project

Mayor, Councillor Mark Greenhill said: “The Grants Program increases opportunities for the engagement of local artists and art workers, as well as providing a stimulus for creativity within the City.”

Tahmour Bloomfield is an artist, performer and educator who has been awarded a grant to rehearse and present two afternoons of outdoor family entertainment on a specially developed mobile stage. Performing as The Nickels, Tahmour will present a 50-minute circus show called ‘Big Family Circus Picnic’ that is jam-packed with acrobatics, hula hoops, juggling, slapstick antics and stunts. 

Tahmour said: “The pandemic has seen live performance, and therefore our careers, grind to an abrupt halt. We knew when restrictions began we needed to re-invent the way we offered circus and physical comedy to audiences. This grant enables us to do what we have been envisioning for months – provide an event where our local community can come together in a safe way, celebrate, and laugh with their neighbours. We’re very excited to present this new work to our home town before we take it to the National Circus Festival in Mullumbimby in September.”

Council is the Trustee of the Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust and allocates $50,000 per annum to the Trust to administer the program. Its primary objective is to support and strengthen the arts and cultural fabric of the Blue Mountains by encouraging arts quality and innovation; strengthening the local arts sector; and engaging local communities and visitors in arts and cultural activities as both participants and audiences.

Two grant streams were offered in the 2021 program:

the Small Grants Round: Individuals – for individual artists applying for funding to a maximum amount of $2,000 for their project;  and the annual Grant Round: Individuals and Organisations – for individual artists/creative professionals and not-for-profit organisations who are income tax exempt. Applications were able to apply for a maximum of $10,000 for their projects.

The projects were assessed by the Advisory Committee, which comprises 12 community members possessing a wide range of art form and grant administration expertise. It is chaired by Councillor Don McGregor. 

Proposals are assessed on their merit against the assessment criteria of quality and/or innovation, capacity and community engagement.

Photo: Tahmour Bloomfield and Stuart Christie performing as The Nickels. Photo by Brigitte Grant.