The Cultural Services Unit of the Liverpool City Council has increased substantially over the last 2 years as has the number of artists employed by them.
Located in Melbourne Victoria, the City of Fitzroy was given $1m by the federal government in 1992 for capital works. One project funded was the commissioning of 16 pieces of public art from 11 artists to build on that heart of cafe culture Brunswick St.
A recurring feature of recent initiatives is to be self-funded or to operate with a minimum level of government funding and frequently to begin with a limited time frame in mind. The social side of such organisations cannot be underestimated and is probably as important as any art that eventuates.
The time is post-recession, the economic climate is uncertain, Australian designers and consumers inhabit the suburbs but are cut off from each other, and someone decided to do something about it in the City of Caulfield, Victoria.
As an organisation, Arts + Industry is fundamentally concerned with economics and income generation. Assisting artists and designers to either find employment with industry or create opportunities as self-employed designer/makers is integral to their goals.
Operating both as an industry training ground and as a space for creative experimentation, low budget film and video production must be thought of as an economic and a cultural investment.