Yarra City Council is seeking Expressions of Interest for a six-week artist wellbeing professional development workshop hosted by Leah Manaema Avene.
Delivered weekly between late May/June 2026 by Leah Manaema Avene of CoCulture, these workshops seek to build the capacity of artists through:
- Building a sustainable practice that is driven and empowered by the artists own
values, communities and relationships;
- Valuing small artistic gestures as part of larger cultural impact;
- Normalising the process over product; and
- Establish peer support networks.
The Responsive Project - Play in Residence highlights artists’ unique capacity to create meaningful experiences and relationships that benefit themselves and have ripple effects for the city and community.
Eligibility:
This opportunity is open to artists of any discipline, including visual arts, performing arts, writing and publishing, experimental arts, community arts etc.
Artists in all stages of their career and working in a variety of media are encouraged to apply. In addition, artists:
- must currently live, work, study or practice in Victoria.
- must not be a current employee of Yarra City Council.
Application close Tuesday 12 May 2026.
Criteria:
All submissions will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Timeliness of the opportunity
- Benefit to artist practice
- Community and artistic alignment
- Ability to share experiences and learnings
- Evidence of practice (we are not looking at the quality of the work, rather your motivation/desire in making work)
Video/audio Submissions
We are also accepting applications as a video or audio file to increase accessibility.
Please follow these instructions if you prefer to submit your application via video/audio file:
- Fill out Section 2 (Applicant Information) online as per this form.
- Ensure each question in Section 3 (Response to Questions) is answered - this can be online or in your video/audio submission. (If answering these questions via your video/audio submission, please type 'See video/audio’ as your answer.)
- Upload your video to YouTube, Vimeo or Google Drive (this can be done as a private video) and attach your link in your Smarty Grants submission. (Video submissions should be no longer than 5 minutes.)
Queries
If you have any questions about the workshop and/or the application process, please contact:
Celina Lei, Arts Officer, celina.lei@yarracity.vic.gov.au
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