Are you young creative (16-25yrs) with a passion for DIY and the arts? Join this interactive discussion panel to learn how to DO IT YOURSELF in the arts industry!

6pm-9pm, Tuesday 4 April 
@ 107 Projects
107 Redfern St, Redfern NSW 2016

Are you a young artist feeling underwhelmed by the creative opportunities on offer in Sydney? Never fear - we have assembled a panel of skilled DIY experts to help you navigate the arts world with confidence and build your creative resilience!

Artists are always working in challenging environments - whether it be installing onsite in a new venue, or trying to eke out a career amidst funding cuts and dwindling job opportunities. How do we work together to build strong communities in the face of change? How do we remain resilient in this environment? How do we create when faced with high living costs, a competitive job market and limited funding opportunities? How do I get my fantastic project off the ground? An innovative approach to many of these questions is to DO IT YOURSELF!

Our panel of DIY stars will share helpful advice on how to create your own creative opportunities and navigate the obstacles of a creative career. The event will be hosted by Natalie Wadwell of Wadwell Initiatives. Be a part of the conversation and take control of your creative future.

Guest panelists include:

Moderator: Natalie Wadwell
Natalie is a creative instigator and writer with an undeniable passion for the arts and cultural engagement. Growing up in Greater Western Sydney, she developed a strong interest in engaging communities through art whilst creating social impact. She is curious about social enterprises, cultural activation in public and disused spaces, post-suburbanisation and diversity in representation. Natalie is founder and director of Wadwell Initiatives, though which she promotes community partnerships in the arts.
https://wadwellinitiatives.com/

Bastian Fox Phelan
Bastian Fox Phelan is gender fluid writer, zine maker and musician living in Sydney. Bastian has been making zines and contributing to DIY and emerging arts communities for 12 years. Their popular zines include series such as 'How To Be Alone' and 'Ladybeard', which is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and the National Library of Australia. Bastian's memoir writing has been published in The Lifted Brow, Tincture Journal and TRACE Magazine. They are in the process of writing a book about facial hair, gender, and having the courage to be yourself. Bastian is also a talented singer and has been performing and writing music as part of dream pop duo Moonsign for the last four years.
Bastian says: "I write stories about my personal experiences, exploring gender identity, self-understanding and finding meaning. My writing is honest, funny, tender and uplifting. I want to share the process of discovering who I am."
www.bastianfoxphelan.com/

Peter Strong
Peter moved to Australia from the U.K in 1987 and has been involved in many community empowering projects mixing music art and activism in Sydney and beyond. Since the early 90's as well as being a practicing screen printer, painter, mobile sound system designer and electronic music producer he has put energy into collective projects that blended party and protest. From early 90's party and activist crews like Vibe Tribe, Reclaim The Streets and Ohms Not Bombs in the 90's to Earthdream and Channel parties in the naughties to the current uprising against Westconnex, Peter has rolled deep with counter cultural initiatives. From 2013-16 he produced the documentary film 'Do It Ourselves Culture' that draws a timeline with footage and interviews to create a snap shot of party meets protest. As a self-employed artist operating out of artists run initiative, Tortuga Studios, Peter has continued to practice a blend of different artistic pursuits, work with and co-create community events and continue to expand his wheelie bin sound system business called Sunny Bins.
http://vectorpunk.com/

Kelly Doley
Born in Melbourne, raised in the Northern Rivers and based in Sydney, Kelly Doley is an independent artist, curator and arts worker. Doley's artistic practice encompasses individual and collaborative projects that take the form of performance, video, painting, publication and curatorial projects. She is driven by an unwavering belief in the importance of diverse artistic expression, creating the right conditions for artists to do what they do and engaging art with new audiences. She has been self-initiating artistic projects, exhibitions and festivals for over 9 years as an active member of the Sydney artistic community including JANIS, Cosmic Battle For Your Heart and as a Firstdraft Gallery Director. She is the Co-Director of her own arts collaboration, Barbara Cleveland (formally Brown Council) that recently launched the 2016 Contemporary Commission for the Art Gallery of NSW.
After working at Arts NSW in Visual Arts project management and policy, Kelly currently works at City of Sydney, Pine Street Creative Arts Centre. She is part of the Australia Council Arts Leaders Program cohort and currently researching Asia Pacific feminist practice.
www.kellydoley.com

Rebecca Conroy
Rebecca Conroy is an interdisciplinary creature working across site, community engagement, and performative interventions through artist led activity. Her work is bound up in mimetic strategies and the playful occupation of non-art fields such as urban planning, economics, and housing, particularly where it concerns the behaviour of cities and the rise of the creative entrepreneur within finance capitalism.
She has previously worked in the role of Festival Director (Gang Festival), Associate Director (Performance Space); Provocateur (Splendid Arts Lab) and has been the co-founder and co-director of two artist run spaces in Sydney, The Wedding Circle and Bill+George. From 2011 - 2014 she was conductor of The Yurt Empire, a rogue housing project and encounter in the inner city of Sydney. Ongoing is a project involving radical archiving with a network of artist run libraries. She recently built a bike-book-machine and is currently devising plans for an alternative economy in the shape of A Very Beautiful Laundromat for 2017. She is also the conductor of The Drip Feed an online curated platform of critical nutrition for the small to medium arts sector, and in 2015 spent 3 months going on a series of dates with economists in Europe and North America, for an audio piece called Dating an Economist produced by Radio National (June 2016). Her most recent commission from PADA/Vital Satistix is Iron Lady, a performative intervention into the finance district by an artist armed with an ironing board, premiering in Adelaide in November 2016.
www.bekconroy.com

For more information about Pine Street Creative Arts Centre please visit: http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/explore/arts-and-culture/pine-street-creative-arts/workshops/youth

This is a FREE event for young people aged 16-25yrs. Bookings are ESSENTIAL as seats are limited. Book your ticket NOW!