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Gattenhof, Sandra& Hadley, Bree (2011) Creating Queensland: Creative communities partnership - Brisbane Fes- tival and Australia Council for the Arts 2010. Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
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Executive Summary
In March 2010, Brisbane Festival The Final Report finds that the Creating commissioned a Research Team, led by Queensland events concentrate on Dr Bree Hadley and Dr Sandra Gattenhof, developing specific experiences for those Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland involved – usually associated with University of Technology, to conduct an storytelling, showcasing, and the evaluation of the Creating Queensland valorisation or re-valorisation of program, a new Creative Communities neglected or forgotten cultural forms – in partnership between Brisbane Festival order to give communities a voice. It and the Australia Council for the Arts. finds that the events prioritise accessibility – usually associated with This Final Report reviews and reports on allowing specific local communities or the effectiveness of the program local artists to present material that is gathered during three phases throughout meaningful to them – and inclusivity – 2010: Phase 1, in which the research team usually associated with using connections analysed Brisbane Festival’s pre-existing with producing partners (such as the data on the Creating Queensland events in Multicultural Development Association) 2009; Phase 2, in which the research to bring more and more people into the team designed a new suite of program. It finds that the events have a instruments to gather data from capacity-building effect, which allows producers, producing partners, artists local communities to increase their and attendees involved in the Creating capacity to launch their own ideas, Queensland events in 2010; and Phase 3, initiatives or events, allows individuals to in which the research team used content increase their employability, or allows analysis of the narratives emerging in the communities and individuals to increase data to establish how Brisbane Festival their visibility within mainstream cultural has adopted processes, activities or practices and infrastructure. The Final engagement protocols to operate as Report further finds that Brisbane catalysts that produce experiences with Festival has, throughout its years of specific impacts on individuals and commitment to community communities. programming, developed specific techniques to enable events in the Creating Queensland program to have these effects, that these can be tracked,
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and, as a result, deployed or redeployed excellence relate to Brisbane Festival’s both by Brisbane Festival and other longstanding commitment to community community arts organisations in the arts, and active community participation development of effective community arts in the arts, as well as its ability to create programs. well-known and loved programs that use effective techniques to have a positive The data demonstrates that Creating impact on communities. Areas for Queensland is, by and large, having the improvement relate to Brisbane Festival’s desired effect on communities – people potential to benefit from the following: are actually participating, presenting clarifying relationships between work, and increasing their personal, community participants and professional and social skills in various professionals; increasing mentoring ways, and this is valued by all relationships between these groups; stakeholders. consolidating the discourses it uses to describe event aims across strategic, The data also demonstrates that, as production, and publicity documents would be expected with any community across the years; and re-considering the arts program – particularly programs of number of small events inside the larger this size and complexity – there are areas Creating Queensland program. in which Creating Queensland is functioning exceptionally well and areas in which continuous improvement processes should be continued. Areas of
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Table of Contents Abbreviations ...... 6 1.0 The Creating Queensland Evaluation ...... 7 1.1 The Creating Queensland Evaluation ...... 7 1.2 The Creating Queensland Evaluation Framework ...... 7 1.3 The Creating Queensland Evaluation – Phases, Timelines and Deliverables ...... 8 1.4 The Creating Queensland Final Report ...... 9 2.0 The Creating Queensland Evaluation – Final Report ...... 10 3.0 Results & Recommendations ...... 12 3.1 The Aims and Agendas of Creating Queensland ...... 12 3.2 The Enablers of Impact in Creating Queensland Events ...... 14 3.3 Recommendations for Improvement of Creating Queensland Events ...... 16 4.0 The Creating Queensland Evaluation – Phase 1 ...... 19 5.0 The Creating Queensland Evaluation – Phase 2 ...... 22 5.1 Transferability of Data Collection Instruments ...... 25 6.0 The Creating Queensland Program - Aims and Agendas ...... 27 6.1 History ...... 27 6.2 Artistic Director Narratives ...... 28 6.3 Conclusions ...... 32 7.0 West End … Live ...... 33 7.1 History, Aims & Activities ...... 33 7.2 Activities Presented, Participation & Partnerships ...... 33 7.3 Producer, Producing Partner and Artist Narratives ...... 36 7.4 Attendee Narratives ...... 39 7.5 Conclusions ...... 44 8.0 Into Africa ...... 45 8.1 History, Aims & Activities ...... 45 8.2 Activities Presented, Participation & Partnerships ...... 46 8.3 Producer, Producing Partner and Artist Narratives ...... 48 8.4 Attendee Narratives ...... 52 8.5 Conclusions ...... 56 9.0 Barambah to Boundary (The Next Stage of The Cherbourg Walk) ...... 58 9.1 History, Aims & Activities ...... 58 9.2 Activities Presented, Participation & Partnerships ...... 59 9.3 Producer, Producing Partner and Artist Narratives ...... 60 9.4 Attendee Narratives ...... 67 9.5 Conclusions ...... 71 10.0 ‘Where We From’ … Banners Project ...... 72 10.1 History, Aims & Activities ...... 72 10.2 Activities Presented, Participation & Partnerships ...... 72 10.3 Producer, Producing Partner and Artist Narratives ...... 74 10.4 Attendee Narratives ...... 78 10.5 Conclusions ...... 81
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11.0 A Close Knit ...... 82 11.1 History, Aims & Activities ...... 82 11.2 Activities Presented, Participation & Partnerships ...... 82 11.3 Producer, Producing Partner and Artist Narratives ...... 83 11.4 Attendee Narratives ...... 87 11.5 Conclusions ...... 88 12.0 Art from the Margins ...... 89 12.1 History, Aims & Activities ...... 89 12.2 Activities Presented, Participation & Partnerships ...... 89 12.3 Producer, Producing Partner and Artist Narratives ...... 90 12.4 Attendee Narratives ...... 93 12.5 Conclusions ...... 95 13.0 Conclusion ...... 97 14.0 List of Source Documents ...... 98 15.0 Research Team Contacts ...... 100
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Abbreviations The following abbreviations are used in the document to identify events:
ACK – A Close Knit
AFTM – Art from the Margins
B2B – Barambah to Boundary
Banners - Where We From … Banners
CQ – Creating Queensland
IA – Into Africa
WEL – West End … Live.
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The Creating Queensland Evaluation
1.1 The Creating Queensland 1.2 The Creating Queensland Evaluation Evaluation Framework
In March 2010, Brisbane Festival The evaluation of the Creating commissioned a Research Team led by Dr Queensland program was designed to Bree Hadley and Dr Sandra Gattenhof, establish the impact of eight events, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland exhibitions and activities Brisbane University of Technology, to conduct an Festival is producing under the Creating evaluation of the Creating Queensland Queensland banner in 2009 and 2010, the program, a new Creative Communities communities they engage, and more partnership between Brisbane Festival specifically the way the processes, and the Australia Council for the Arts. activities and engagement protocols adopted by Brisbane Festival function as The Creating Queensland program is a two enablers of this impact. year program designed to respond to the changing culture of communities in The eight programs addressed in the Queensland’s suburbs, regional and rural evaluation included West End … Live, Into centres. In particular, the Creating Africa, The Cherbourg Walk, Barambah to Queensland program is designed to Boundary (The Next Stage of the support the development of the Cherbourg Walk), “where we from” – communities it engages by enabling Banners Project, A Close Knit and Art from people to participate in events which the Margins. embody the culture of the local area, in the local area, and enable people to The evaluation operated within a access arts of excellence, and access community cultural development opportunities to produce their own art of paradigm, and was holistic insofar as it excellence, in their local area. Brisbane captured quantitative, qualitative and Festival is committed to tracking and performative data on the aesthetic, social recording its impact on communities. and cultural impact of the Creating Queensland program. The evaluation provided data on who is participating in
the programs, and the geographic, demographic, psychographic and
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behavioural profile of participants participants’ experience of the Creating (including artists, artsworkers, Queensland program in 2010. The community participants and audiences). Research Team coded the data collected Moreover, it provided data on the way via these methods according to the participation in the programs has been established categories of impact. The effective in starting to create changes in research team then conducted a content the communities engaged by and textual analysis of the data to consolidating existing intra- or inter- identify the way specific processes, group relationships, creating new intra- activities or engagement protocols that or inter-group relations, leveraging Brisbane Festival has embedded in the relationships to build cultural capital for Creating Queensland program function as individuals and communities. Examples enablers of each category of impact. include starting to create new These categories include the way specific opportunities to access, experience or activities enable people to: access participate in arts of excellence, express cultural programs; experience cultural cultural identity, be creative, connect programs; participate in cultural with others in the community, and programs; express themselves via cultivate new skills and capacities. cultural programs; connect to themselves, their community or their culture via cultural programs; envisage 1.3 The Creating Queensland new possibilities for themselves or their Evaluation – Phases, community via cultural programs; or Timelines and Deliverables establish new skills / capacity for themselves or their community via The evaluation of the Creating cultural programs. Queensland program was designed to unfold in three phases – Phase 3: (November-December 2010) The research team evaluated and Phase 1: (March-May 2010) reported on the performance of the In Phase 1, the Research Team analysed Creating Queensland program. The Brisbane Festival’s existing quantitative evaluation reported on the anticipated data on who is participating in the and actual impact of the Creating Creating Queensland cultural programs, Queensland program in relation to the when, and how. established categories, including a summary of which processes, activities or Phase 2: Part A (June-July 2010) engagement protocols had been the In Phase 2: Part A, the Research Team most effective catalysts for specific types team consulted with stakeholders – of impact. It also reported on how impact including Brisbane Festival, artists, relates to past, present and intended artsworkers, and community groups – to future participation in the Creating establish categories of impact, and create Queensland program amongst target instruments to be used to collect data on groups such as young people, indigenous the categories of impact. communities and culturally diverse communities. In doing so, the evaluation Phase 2: Part B (August-September- provided evidence of the significance of October 2010) the Creating Queensland program in In Phase 2: Part B, the Research Team aesthetic, social and cultural terms for used instruments, including observations, communities in South-East Queensland. surveys, focus groups and still and moving images, to collect quantitative,
qualitative and performative data on the
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1.4 The Creating Queensland Final Report
The Creating Queensland Final Report draws on all data gathered across the three phases of the Evaluation to provide comprehensive data on the program, the catalysts for individual and community impact embedded in the program, strengths, issues, and areas for ongoing improvement.
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The Creating Queensland Evaluation – Final Report
As indicated, this Final Report provides It then provides (Part 5) a summary of information on the actions the Research the overall aims, agendas and Team has taken in gathering, analysing approaches that characterise the Creating and articulating the significance of data Queensland program, from the point of on the Creating Queensland program view of current Artistic Director Noel throughout 2010. Staunton and immediate past Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini. This Final Report is presented in four main parts. It begins (Part 1) with a It then provides (Parts 6-12) a summary of summary of the purpose and processes data gathered on each event in the of the Creating Queensland evaluation. It Creating Queensland program – West End then (Part 2) provides a summary of the … Live, Into Africa, The Cherbourg Walk, contents of the Creating Queensland Barambah to Boundary (The Next Stage of evaluation Final Report, and the methods the Cherbourg Walk), “where we from” – used to develop the Final Report. Banners Project, A Close Knit and Art from the Margins – during Phase 2 of the It then moves to the main data on the project, completed in January 2011. Phase Creating Queensland program. It provides 2 concentrated on collecting, collating (Part 3) a summary of data gathered and analysing direct research data from during Phase 1 of the project, completed artists, artsworkers, partners and in July 2010, which concentrated on audiences participating in the events, collecting, collating and analysing exhibitions and activities operating as Brisbane Festival’s existing data on the part of the Creating Queensland program events, exhibitions and activities in 2010. The summary emphasises operating as part of the Creating information that emerged from a content Queensland program in 2009. It highlights analysis of the artists’, artsworkers’, the issues identified with the existing partners’ and audiences’ narratives about data, the development of research the Creating Queensland program. In measurement instruments to gather data particular, the content analysis enabled in 2010, and implementation of these the summaries for each event to instruments as part of Phase 2 (Part 4). highlight the way specific processes, activities or engagement protocols that Brisbane Festival has embedded in the
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Creating Queensland program function as enablers of impact, and thus – in the view of the stakeholders – enhance the aesthetic, the accessibility, the inclusivity, or the capacity-building outcomes of the Creating Queensland program. In doing so, it not only provided evidence of the impact of the Creating Queensland program, but important new information on the processes, activities or engagement protocols that are the most effective catalysts for specific types of impact in a community arts context – information of interest to Brisbane Festival, and other arts organisations.
The Final Report concludes with commendations, affirmations and recommendations for the Creating Queensland program itself, and recommendations for Brisbane Festival about the processes, protocols and timelines likely to be most effective in continuing to evaluate the impact of the Creating Queensland program in the future.
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Results &