Meet our COMMITTEE Members
100 Story Building
100 Story Building is a unique organisation for young writers in Footscray, Melbourne. We use storytelling as a tool to foster imagination, creativity and confidence in children and young people. We believe that every child should have the opportunities to build the literacy skills, confidence and sense of belonging that are fundamental to future success. Our programs encourage children and young people to expand their imaginations, amplify their voices and become the hero of their own stories.
Arts Gen
Arts Gen is a space for learning, sharing and artmaking based at Footscray Community Arts in Melbourne’s inner west. Through socially engaged creative practice, we promote self-representation and platforms that support the creative potential of communities from Melbourne’s West and North. Our work aims to address the social and cultural determinants of health, including ongoing colonisation, racism and other forms of structural discrimination have direct negative impacts on wellbeing. We believe that when communities have the power and access to the arts, to develop and determine health and wellbeing initiatives, it leads to truly representative culture making. Arts Gen is proudly supported by COHEALTH
Footscray Community Arts
Footscray Community Arts is Australia’s leading & longest running community-led, contemporary arts centre. We collaborate with artists, communities & organisations to build capacity, create opportunities and drive social change. We curate unique and imaginative creative workshops, present immersive art experiences and provide professional development and mentoring to the next generation of community leaders.
L2r Dance
L2R Dance moves physically, socially, and culturally providing free dance programs, arts leadership opportunities and employment pathways for newly arrived, refugee and diverse young people unable to access creative opportunities due to social and or financial barriers (perceived or real). We break down barriers to participation and ensure that community has easy access to our programs irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, and ability. L2R draws from a history of Hip- hop culture to empower and critique social issues that affect young people in Melbourne’s West and beyond.
Louis Joel Arts & Community
Louis Joel Arts & Community is a not-for-profit registered charity, located on the site of the former Altona Hospital, built by the community and Dr. Louis Joel in the 1930s. The centre hosts the Louis Joel Gallery (3-week seasons throughout the year), Emerging Artist Gallery (monthly rotation) and seasonal foyer exhibitions with partners. Our programming promotes wellbeing and social inclusion through creative practices including visual and performing arts, music, literature, and craft. Art and activity rooms and other spaces are available for hire, suitable for workshops, meetings, and celebrations.
Snuff Puppets
Snuff Puppets is a big, anarchic puppet troupe for everybody. Unashamedly handmade and experimental in a world fixated on perfection and mass-production, Snuff Puppets make visceral performance that breaks down the distance between audience & performer. For 25 years Snuff Puppets have been unleashing their giant puppet spectacles on millions of people worldwide and created more than 25 new works in partnership with communities through their People’s Puppet Projects.
The Substation
The Substation champions contemporary and experimental arts. Housed inside a former industrial building steeped in the rich history of Melbourne’s inner west, The Substation is an arts destination unlike any other in Australia. From our local community in Newport to our national and global network of collaborators and cultural partners, we celebrate artists and ideas that encourage transformative conversations between wide-ranging audiences. Through our ever-evolving program and artist-led initiatives, we support the development of ambitious and inclusive works that defy simple categorisation.
Trocodero Projects
Trocadero Projects is an artist-run initiative presenting a diverse and experimental program of exhibitions and programs, operating by volunteer committee in Footscray since 2005. It strives to provide a safe and supportive environment in which artists can develop and present their practices, while contributing to and engaging the local community. Trocadero will soon be moving into its new home in central Footscray, marking a new era for the organisation.
Western Edge
Western Edge is a performing arts company creating a thriving community of next generation artistic and cultural leaders borne from Melbourne’s West. Our goal is to revolutionise the creative industry through our participant-driven and collaborative practice, by facilitating culturally safe creative spaces for young artists to learn, grow and lead. Our practice is embedded in community; we focus on developing long-term relationships with partner organisations, artists and participants, and providing sustainable career pathways into the creative industries for artists in the West.
Women’s Circus
Women's Circus is a not-for-profit feminist arts organisation offering a year-round circus and performance training program and producing socially engaged arts projects. Along-side their renowned training and membership programs Women's Circus deliver social circus workshops to all genders, ages and ability levels – with a particular focus on community groups and organisations that support marginalised communities.
*Women’s Circus welcomes anyone to the organisation who belongs to a marginalised gender.
Amie Batalibasi
Amie Batalibasi is an Australian-Solomon Islander writer, director, producer and founder of the creative arts platform Colour Box Studio. Her award-winning films, exploring issues of social justice, human rights and cultural diversity include the short narrative films BLACKBIRD, KA PUTA KO AU, DOCKED; documentaries TIDE OF CHANGE and AEASI; and comedy web series FRESH! She’s also directed episodes of children’s television for ABC’s MUSTANGS FC and THALU. Amie has also produced dozens of short films by first-time filmmakers through collaborative community film projects. Amie founded Colour Box Studio in Footscray, Naarm in 2012 as a multidisciplinary community creative hub offering a range of innovative arts programs. Colour Box Studio maintains a deep commitment to collaboration and social impact, continuing to push boundaries and inspire positive change within our creative community and beyond.
Kate Robinson
Kate Robinson is an Iranian Australian, podcaster, family violence lawyer and artist. Based in Naarm, Kate's practice includes painting, colourful craft and murals. She has held solo exhibitions at ArtsGen and as part of the Groundwork exhibition program in Melton. She was the inaugural Feminist in Residence at Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, where she curated the community craftivist exhibition ‘Make a Fuss’. Kate has been an artist in residence at ArtsBox, and is part Wyndham City Council ‘Artist as Curator’ program. For Kate, craft is a place to delve into the her own family's history, where stories are woven from fragments of memories, gossip between sisters and filled with sparkles.
Kate runs craft workshops, moderates panel discussions and has given guest lectures at the University of Melbourne and Deakin University. She serves on the boards of NextWave and QVWC Trust, and is a member of the Arts West Committee.
Alongside Maria Birch-Morunga, Kate co-creates the podcast Being Biracial. The podcast began through a residency at Footscray Community Arts. The pair are part of the current cohort of Museums Victoria’s Culture Makers program, where they have created an immersive digital film, Threads, to be exhibited at Melbourne Museum and the Immigration Museum.