Wollongong City Council has more than $66,000 in arts funding up for grabs but is having trouble finding artists keen to spend it, councillor Leigh Colacino says.
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An artist and part of the selection committee, Cr Colacino wants painters, musicians, playwrights, sculptors and any other artists apply.
“This is really special that we’ve got this in our city, but I don’t think people have realised it’s available,” he said. “Maybe they have a play centred on the area, about coal mining or fishing, maybe something to do with music or sculpture – whatever people can come up with.”
To entice more applicants and encourage a better geographic spread, Cr Colacino said the council recently changed the name of its grants to the Ward Based Arts Grants.
Each ward has $22,500 available for artists and arts groups, with applicants able to apply for all or part of the funding within each area.
“We’re not taking a high-brow attitude – it could just be a temporary pop-up thing, and you can be 15 or 115 years old,” Cr Colacino said.
“We just want to capture the culture of 2016 right now – like a time capsule for the arts in Wollongong right now.”
The closing date for application has been extended until December 14, with details of the policy available on the council’s website.