Arts and culture in the Inner West 

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Arts and Culture in the Inner West 

The Greens acknowledge the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation as the custodians of this land, and the unique role of First Nations people in the artistic and cultural life of the inner west and will ensure that all our programs embed this.

One in ten residents of the inner west work in the creative and cultural sector. We are committed to ensuring that diverse artists, arts organisations and art forms survive and thrive in the Inner West, and that the arts and cultural activities are accessible to everyone, every day. 

The arts and creative industries have suffered significantly from the economic impacts of COVID-19, including lockdowns. As Sydney re-opens, we must make sure that the creative arts industries have the support they need, and that artists are supported whether they are emerging, mid-career or already established. 

The Greens will:

  • ensure that  practice, performance and exhibition spaces are available for diverse art and cultural practices, including visual arts, live music, performance, theatre, dance, poetry, storytelling, radio, sound and podcasts, craft, traditional and community arts, public and street art, new media, and the digital arts. 
  • provide access to affordable spaces for the community arts and theatre sectors and experimental/innovative projects, either in council buildings or through accommodation grants.
  • build amphitheatres in public spaces and encourage the use of existing bandstands/rotundas, to increase opportunities for outdoor entertainment and for emerging and community groups to involve the community, access audiences for their performances and perfect their acts.
  • support  a range of residency programs  which enable collaboration and innovation. 
  • prioritise stable residencies for artists from groups who experience marginalisation and oppression including First Nations, people with a culturally and linguistically diverse background, people with a disability, and LGBTQI+ people.
  • support the Refugee Art Project continuing at Thirning Villa Ashfield with a stable tenancy.
  • ensure through planning controls and the Inner West Council Land and Property Strategy that we protect and expand space for arts and culture in council facilities and privately run  studio and exhibition spaces. 
  • provide exhibition space in pools, community centres and libraries.
  • support the repurposing and restoring of existing Inner West Council properties for occupation and use by the creative industries and arts sector where and as appropriate. 
  • establish a maintenance fund to ensure Inner West Council art initiatives like Perfect Match, and locally celebrated public artworks are well maintained. 
  • expand the Perfect Match program to allow the Inner West Council to proactively initiate works in identified graffiti hotspots, sites of significance and village centres that would benefit from the aesthetics offered by the program. 
  • celebrate and promote the inner west’s artist-run initiatives, especially collaborative projects.  
  • support the inner west’s libraries’ ability to continually adapt to changing population needs and provide high-quality engagement with the community. 
  • support workshops and access to technology (including computers, software, cameras, printers, scanners and microphones) in libraries and community centres.
  • work with local artists to develop public art programs that maximise access  to exciting and innovative art in the public realm, so that art and culture can be enjoyed as an everyday experience 
    • promote and support a vibrant street art scene in the Inner West and its contribution to urban culture
    • commission shopfront gallery windows, such as mix and match murals, in empty shops, reused former shops, and businesses
    • support more public sculptures and establish a public sculpture fund, to which the public can donate, to provide grants for works in public places, with a commission of around $300,000 every three years
    • establish an annual Arts Incubator with gallery and performance space, teaching space, and studios 
    • recognise dance in all its diverse forms and establish an Inner West Dance Festival to showcase this.
  • encourage the acquisition by Council of works by living, culturally and gender diverse artists, in particular works by First Nations  artists. 
  • promote and support youth arts through outreach to local schools, including Dulwich Hill Visual Arts High School, and a partnership with Sydney College of the Arts. 
  • encourage queer arts practice by resourcing LGBTIQ+  arts projects. 
  • increase access to, participation in and attendance at arts spaces and events, particularly for marginalised  groups and those living with disability. 
  • support major events that celebrate the diverse cultures and audiences of the Inner West, including developing a calendar of events in conjunction with community organisations.

Nurture live music and live music venues. 

The Greens will: 

  • recognise and protect the Inner West’s existing live music venues through planning scheme provisions. 
  • work with the State government to support a vibrant  and economically viable local live music scene in the inner west through the removal of barriers which affect a venue’s ability to host live music. 
  • support the local live music industry and the night time economy by ensuring that conflicts with residential uses are minimised through planning scheme  provisions.

A well-funded arts sector

The Greens will: 

  • ensure that arts funding is accessible to a range of artists and arts organisations of all practices, cultures and backgrounds. 
  • advocate to increase the number and size of creative grants available in recognition of the number of artists and arts organisations in the inner west, the increasing costs of developing and producing work, and the need to support larger scale projects.   
  • ensure that arts funding targets creative development as well as final presentation of works. 
  • support safe, non-exploitative working conditions and fair pay in the arts industries.  
  • support the inner west’s arts organisations to practice and operate in an economically and environmentally  sustainable way. 
  • ensure that arts programming is free from political interference and censorship. 
  • ensure that grant application processes are simple to access, independently evaluated and free from political  interference. 

Advocacy for the arts

The Greens will:

  • advocate for the crucial role of artists and small to medium arts organisations in the Australian arts landscape. 
  • speak out against Federal and State funding cuts to the small-to-medium sector in particular. 
  • advocate for an arts-led recovery from the COVID recession that embraces creative sectors as a site for economic and social restoration. 
  • work with the State and Federal Government to ensure that exciting, new and challenging work is developed and presented in the inner west.