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In November, I was lucky enough to visit Government House in Adelaide, to interview Her Excellency The Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia! Her Excellency is a huge supporter of South Australia's creative community, and is a patron of numerous arts organisations. She's also a passionate supporter of creative arts for young people, which made for some very good discussion. We talked about lesser known arts opportunities for youth in SA, including local government-run arts programs, and their benefits for promoting community involvement. And, Her Excellency came up with some awesome advice for young artists wanting to expand their creativity and get involved in the arts! Not only did we speak about local youth arts, but we had some great conversations around our arts community overall, and what the arts mean for South Australia. Keep an eye out for our interview on BTS with Jess on community channels.
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It was lovely to interview First Nations visual artist Jackie Saunders, at Tutti Arts in Brighton SA! Jackie is a contemporary Ngarrindjeri and Wirangu artist who describes herself as ‘the daughter of a saltwater woman and a desert dwelling man’. Jackie's work incorporates themes of family and culture, while reflecting her connections to both the human and natural world, exploring different weathers, land, light and water. We discussed Jackie's journey into the arts, and how she went from starting out to having her own solo exhibitions and displaying some of her work at the Adelaide Airport. Tutti Arts is a South Australian not-for-profit organisation empowering artists with disabilities. Programs are offered in visual art, dance, music, and screen for youth, kids and adults. In September, I dressed up and hit the red carpet for the Australian Film Diversity and Inclusion Foundation Festival in Adelaide, to watch a range of films and interview young filmmakers. AFDIF is all about providing a platform for creators from diverse backgrounds, empowering them to succeed in the industry and share their stories with the community. This made for a terrific story for BTS with Jess, featuring a variety of diverse voices from the film industry, and I can't wait for it to be broadcast! Congratulations to everyone whose film was screened and who received an award! Every year, the Adelaide Youth Orchestras runs an event in Rundle Mall called Sidewalk Symphonies, not only as a fundraiser for the orchestras, but to put on a spectacular show for the public to enjoy. This year, I MC'd Sidewalk Symphonies and featured it on BTS with Jess! Over $13,000 was raised to support the young musicians with training and equipment, and the performance was incredible! Watch out for the story airing on community TV channels! I recently paid a visit to the Payneham Youth Centre to film one of their performance gymnastics and team gym classes, and speak with young people who are learning how to be gymnastics coaches. The Payneham Youth Centre teaches gymnastics in a non-competitive environment, focussing on friendships and community in a safe and caring environment. Looking forward to the episode airing on TV! CircoBats is an Adelaide based circus school providing a fun learning environment for children and adults wanting to learn, develop and enhance their skills in the circus arts. For this episode of BTS with Jess, I chatted with some young people who are learning at CircoBats, and caught up with Patrick, who began his journey at CircoBats classes before becoming a coach. There's so many different activities and skills taught at CircoBats, and it was great to learn about them, and feature them on the show. Several times a year, the Northern Sound System runs a school holiday program for youth who want to be part of a band. The Northern Sound System is the City of Playford's youth music and creative industries facility, hosting a range of programs throughout the year designed to empower creative young people. The School Holiday Bands program ran for a week, and participants were grouped with bandmates, rehearsed together with the help of facilitators, and concluded with a live gig at the end which was broadcasted live by ThreeD Radio. It was amazing to film this journey, conduct interviews with the program members and witness the benefits of this workshop for local youth. I hope everyone enjoys the episode when it airs! Built in 1897 in North Adelaide, Carclew is Australia's largest multi-art form cultural institution for children and youth. In the July school holidays, Carclew House runs a variety of arts programs for young people, and this year, I was lucky enough to include some of them on the show, as well as an interview with Carclew's CEO Mimi Crowe. Carclew hosted workshops including a collaborative mural activity, dance, and songwriting, giving young people the opportunity to explore their creative side. I'm excited for the episode to broadcast on TV, and hopefully encourage more young people in South Australia to visit Carclew House! This July school holidays, I ran some art workshops at the Gawler Youth Space, where the Gawler Council offers a variety of activities and programs for young people in a fun and safe environment. We worked on several art projects, creating pieces that will be displayed around the community. I also filmed one of the sessions for the TV show, including interviews with the young people, and I’m excited to share it with everyone when it airs! Following their live performance at the Gov, I caught up with pop punk band Take Me, Time Machine at their studio for interviews. We filmed some of their music recording process, and had discussions about their journeys as musicians, the importance of music and arts for young people, and their advice for others wanting to start a band. Watch out for the interviews on TV along with the band's live performance! |
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