With pieces moving and clicking into place in a new strategy puzzle since July this year, the NSW Government has released its integrated Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Policy – titled ‘Creative Communities’ – within days of organisations closing up for the Christmas break.
Such timing usually raises alarm bells – taking advantage of sector burnout and glazed attention spans in the mad last-week rush. However, this new policy is largely glowing. And, indeed, Arts Minister John Graham leads with a cross-government recalibration in how we think about – and value – culture and creativity. It is less siloed, more holistic and wildly ambitious.