Chair Gail Kovatseff delivered the 2014 Annual Report for Arts Industry Council of SA at the AGM on 26 May 2015.
Download the full report.
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Annual Report 2014
Presented at AICSA AGM, 26 May 2015
By Gail Kovatseff (Chair) & Michelle Wigg (Executive Officer)
During 2014, AICSA embarked on the bold mission of developing a 40 Year Vision for the Arts in South Australia in liaison with the arts industry. Another key project has been commissioning a report called Creative Boom, focussing in on the economic benefits of a sample of the arts sector. More details of these projects follow below.
Advocacy activities continued to be supported by an Executive Officer working one day per week for the organisation. Megan Rainey held this position until February 2014, with Michelle Wigg joining the organisation from March 2014.
We would like to offer special thanks to each member of the Committee for their contribution during the year: Gail Kovatseff (Chair), Rob Brookman (Treasurer), Andy Packer, Chris Drummond, Christie Anthoney, David Grice, Louise Dunn, Penny Griggs and Sandy Verschoor. We would also like to acknowledge the hard work of Phil Callaghan (Chair until May) and Gordon Andersen (Treasurer until May), who stepped down at the previous AGM.
It is the time and expertise voluntarily provided by all of the committee members that ensures an independent voice for the arts exists in South Australia.
During 2014, AICSA:
- Released the Creative Futures report and website in on 28 January 2014. This project aimed to effectively capture the essential skilling and workforce needs of the Arts, Creative and Cultural Industries in SA to enable better decision making by the South Australian government and industry.
- Focused on creating a 40 Year Vision for the Arts in SA in liaison with arts industry. A 2-day open space forum was held on 5-6 November with facilitator Nick Sweeting. This was attended by 170 artists and arts workers, participating in nearly 70 discussion sessions. The discussion notes were distributed to all participants, and have since been summarised into themes to assist in creating a coherent vision. The project will continue into 2015, with further consultation of arts industry and the creation of a vision document to help inform arts policy in SA.
- Engaged Brecknock Consulting to research and compile a report called Creative Boom, focusing in on the economic impacts of four arts areas: Festivals, Theatre for Young People, Film, and Crafts. The purpose of the Creative Boom review is to identify the strengths and opportunities for economic and workforce development across four specialisations within South Australia’s creative industries. The report will be delivered in 2015 and will provide a snapshot of the key products and services, main enterprises, stakeholders and value-chains of these creative industries, identifying the current and future market potential along with strategic policy opportunities to develop.
- Worked with Adelaide City Council to offer exclusive access to arts industry for a Digital Enterprise Program by Enterprise Adelaide. The course ran with five weekly sessions on Mondays from 28 April with 20 places, providing skills in using digital tools and technologies for small businesses. While the content was general to all small businesses, AICSA sourced an additional speaker to provide a perspective on digital technologies in an arts industry context. AICSA member Sam Jozeps, Digital Marketing Executive at Adelaide Festival, was the arts speaker at the final session.
- Met with arts industry contacts including:
- Tamara Winikoff, Executive Officer of the National Association for the Visual Arts, to discuss priorities of visual arts sector and ArtsPeak (April)
- James Boyd, Creative Partnerships Australia, to talk about avenues for South Australian sector participation in philanthropic opportunities and professional development (June)
- Alex Reid and Jennifer Layther from Arts SA to discuss AICSA’s priorities and to get an update on Arts SA’s activities (July)
- Arts Minister, Hon. Jack Snelling, to introduce him to AICSA’s work, the 40 Year Vision activity and industry gathering (August)
- Held a fundraising Quiz Night on 29 May at Nexus Multicultural Arts, hosted by Jude Henshall and Nathan O’Keefe and with questions organised by Gordon Andersen. The event had 110 attendees with $5100 raised through ticket prices, auctions, games and door prizes.
- Conducted a campaign in the lead-up to the Davenport by-election occurring in January 2015, asking arts lovers in the electorate to write to candidates asking what their vision is for arts and culture in South Australia, with a pro-forma letter provided. Renowned actress Miriam Margolyes OBE also encouraged constituents to consider the arts when voting, with a letter distributed to relevant State Theatre Company of SA subscribers.
- Attended a consultation by Training & Skills Commission to ensure that the arts is represented in school curricula.
- Provided comment to ArtsHub on issues including on venue issues for the small-medium sector, the proposed merge of Adelaide Festival and Adelaide Festival Centre’s boards, and the 40 Year Vision forum.
- Utilised Arts Projects Australia, State Theatre Company and Slingsby Theatre offices for committee meetings. Special thanks to these generous organisations for providing their spaces free of charge.
AICSA continues to express the views of its members to the government, arts funding agencies and political parties, through a variety of means such as fora, newsletters, submissions, reports, representations and consultations. An active membership combined with the efforts of the committee give significance to the role of the AICSA as an independent voice for the arts.
Gail Kovasteff (Chair)
Rob Brookman (Treasurer)
Andy Packer
Chris Drummond
Christie Anthoney
Louise Dunn
David Grice (from May 2014)
Penny Griggs (from May 2014)
Sandy Verschoor (from May 2014)
Phil Callaghan (Chair, until May 2014)
Gordon Andersen (Treasurer, until May 2014)
Anne-Marie Kohn (until January 2014)