There is always something new, something exciting and something thought-provoking in the arts calendar of Victoria, our nation’s cultural capital.
Investing in Victoria’s creative sector – quick links
Supporting Victoria’s diverse and evolving arts landscape
Last Friday, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl Free Concert series saw the MSO join forces with the regionally based Find Your Voice Collective. The Music Bowl came alive with a 150-person choir taking the stage for an evening of powerful original music from songwriters and artists with a disability.
Later this month, the team from All the Queens Men will co-host a historic free event at Fed Square, with New Orleans hip hop pioneer Big Freedia performing alongside some of Australia’s most exciting voices across hip hop, rap, DJing, queer culture and dance.
In Melbourne’s west, L2R Dance’s first term of free hip hop classes for young people has just kicked off. In Brunswick, the First Nations led Blak Dot Gallery is showing a new exhibition exploring the lives and experiences of African Australians, and applications are now open for the 2026 residency program at the Indigenous not-for-profit arts and culture organisation InPlace at their stunning Garambi Baanj Cultural Precinct in Eltham.
This diverse collection of activities is bound by a common thread: they’re all led by some of the 10 organisations receiving multi-year investment from the Labor Government, through the Creative Enterprise Program, for the first time.
Putting the Creative State 2028 strategy into action
The decisions made during the latest Creative Enterprise Program funding round reflected a need to be more equitable and more diverse, something we heard loud and clear during consultation for Victoria’s creative industries strategy – Creative State 2028, released last year.
We’re increasing our focus on children and young people, with groups like L2R Dance, Kids’ Own Publishing, Western Edge, Polyglot Theatre and Bendigo’s Arena Theatre among those supported.
We’re investing in regional areas, with 17 organisations receiving funding including the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, Arts Mildura, Punctum in Castlemaine, East Gippsland Art Gallery, Wodonga’s Hothouse Theatre and Ballarat International Foto Biennale.
Among the 81 organisations supported through the program, eight are First Peoples led, including Kaiela Arts in Shepparton, Baluk Arts in Mt Eliza, Koorie Heritage Trust, Blak Dot Gallery, Agency Projects and the Birrarangga Film Festival.
Our vision is for Victoria’s incredible culture, creativity and art to be accessible and present in the lives of every Victorian. For all Victorians to not just be proud of our thriving creative and cultural sector – but proud they’re a part of it.
The Creative Enterprises Program is in high demand, receiving more quality applications than it could support. We know that’s disappointing for those who missed out after putting in so much time and effort.
ArtsHub: Creative Victoria – backing or backing away?
But it’s not all we are doing. Take, for example, our commitment to develop the first ever Victorian Literature Strategy in partnership with the Wheeler Centre, the nation’s only centre for books, writing and ideas, as one of the actions outlined in Creative State 2028.
Our support for The Wheeler Centre and other literature organisations makes us the largest state supporter of literature in the country, despite the claims made by the Liberals’ Victorian Shadow Minister for the Arts David Davis.
We’re proudly backing the Melbourne Writers Festival, the Emerging Writers’ Festival, Express Media – the training ground for some of our country’s best writers – and, for the first time, Kids Own Publishing – a publishing house for work by kids, for kids.
Looking ahead
Across the creative industries, we’ll continue to back organisations through the Creative Enterprises Program, along with investment in our cultural agencies, our flagship performing arts companies, and independent artists and organisations through our grants programs.
We are also developing a Victorian music strategy, establishing a Creative Industries Children and Young People Advisory Council to inform the Victorian Government on initiatives to increase participation and promote the benefits of creativity for young Victorians, and delivering the largest cultural infrastructure project in the country at the Melbourne Arts Precinct.
We are passionate about our creative sector and welcome the equally passionate advocacy for Victoria’s creative sector from so many people. We’ll keep listening and working to grow the sector and improve access for all Victorians.
Our government is, and always will be, dedicated to supporting the arts.
