Key Elements
- The Government is investing $4.0 million over four years to guide ethical commerce in the Indigenous visual arts sector by assisting Indigenous artists with professional development, business skills training and access to the commercial marketplace.
- Art provides a mechanism for Indigenous people to engage with the mainstream economy. In many remote communities, art sales are the main source of non-Government income.
- The measure will continue from 2010-11 and will benefit over 80 Indigenous-owned arts centres that directly support over 5,000 Indigenous artists, the majority based in remote communities.
Background
- The 2007 Senate Inquiry Indigenous Art - Securing the Future found that participation in the visual arts plays a vital role in supporting the maintenance and transmission of culture, intergenerational learning, and improved levels of community cohesion, health and wellbeing.
- The Business Skills for Visual Artists initiative will be delivered as part of the National Arts and Crafts Industry Support program which aims to support the Indigenous visual arts sector by strengthening the structures that underpin Indigenous artists’ professional development and capacity to access the commercial marketplace.
Implementation
- The Business Skills for Visual Artists initiative will continue to provide services to strengthen the Indigenous arts sector.
Total Government Funding
- $4.0 million over four years from 2010-11 to 2013-14.
Content Updated: 23 May 2012
