By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
Geelong’s Courthouse Youth Arts (CHYA) has lost its federal funding, leaving the organisation reeling.
CHYA was one of 10 youth performing arts companies across Australia to have been hit by Federal Government funding cuts.
The cuts by the Australia Council for the Arts have sent shockwaves through the arts sector. Only three organisations were given funding.
The cuts hit a wide variety of visual arts, dance and theatre organisations on Friday 13 May, which is now being called Black Friday around the arts sector.
CHYA applied for 2016 project funding in the September grant round.
The cuts followed the cancellation of funding rounds earlier in the year, with chaos in arts funding caused by the now-cancelled National Program for Excellence in the Arts.
The September round was highly competitive – of almost 1700 applications submitted, only 290 were successful.
Leading arts industry site ArtsHub said companies were previously supported through the Australia Council Theatre Board’s Youth Program Fund.
But a 2015 restructure saw the Youth Program Fund merged with the wider pool of theatre funding, requiring youth arts companies to compete with the entire theatre sector.
ArtsHub said the loss of $73 million of Australia Council funding to support the Ministry for the Arts’ new Catalyst fund reduced the overall amount of funding available.
A spokesperson for Courthouse Youth Arts said the organisation was supported by both local and state government and would continue to apply for funding from a range of sources.
“Courthouse Youth Arts will continue to offer a quality program,” the spokesperson said.
“We acknowledge disappointment that many arts organisations are facing difficult times.”
Corio MP Richard Marles said he was concerned about the cuts to what was a “great program”.
“This will hit the Courthouse Youth Arts program very hard,” Mr Marles said.
“Young people who gain so much though this program are being denied that opportunity by virtue of these cuts.
“This is a direct result of the arts cuts by the Turnbull government in successive years to Australia Council funding and means there is less money in the system.
“Labor would increase arts funding if we are elected.”
Liberal candidate Richard Lange was unable to reply to Geelong Indy prior to deadline.
