National Youth Week 2012

Would you like experience organising events, or keen to perform as part of Brisbane’s largest National Youth Week event?

As part of National Youth Week, we want your to help program a HUGE showcase, by becoming a member of the Youth Management Team. What the event looks like is up to you, it could be arts, music, dance, craft, flash mobs, animation and everything in between….and we need your help!
On April 13th 2012, we’ll be taking over the Queen St Mall in the city from 3-9pm. The great folks at Brisbane Marketing have kindly given us 3 stages, a massive LED screen and a whole lot of space to showcase the talents and diversity of young people in Brisbane.

SO….
if you are under 26, live in Brisbane and are interested in helping organise the event, we need the following people:
- people to help us find and select young artists, musicians, animators, performers, dancers, and anyone who wants to showcase their skills
- people to help us design and set up the mall
- people to help us promote the event and make sure we get as many people as possible turning up
- people to help on the day looking after bands, artists etc
We’d love you to join our volunteer team and meet every 2 weeks to get this event underway.
If you’re interested, contact Chrissie.Nowland@brisbane.qld.gov.au or contact Chrissie on 34030136

We’ll also be supporting a number of smaller events around the city over Youth Week (April 13-22), so if you’re interested in organising something in your suburb, please get in contact with us.

You can click here to check out past youth week events we’ve run over the last few years.

Creative City: you design art for Southbank

Have you ever looked at part of your city and thought… this could be so much more?
Now is your chance…
On February 4, 11, 25, 26th Smart Artz will be running workshops at Visible Ink Valley to design a major public artwork for installation in the Ernest Street train underpass.
Situated in the heart of Southbank, this underpass is a gateway from West End into South Brisbane.

The workshop will lead you through a creative process and develop your skills for coming up with creative solutions to problems.
This is a design thinking process. The workshop is about involving people like you who understand the area, understand what people like and understand how some amazing art can change the way people feel in a space. During the workshop, you will develop concepts for the underpasses and construct paper scale models of your artwork for presentation to your peers and the project team. It will all be pretty casual and a lot of fun!
The images below give you an idea of the area in Southbank we are talking about. Its a large stretch of wall that runs along both sides of the road. We’re interested in all types of art proposals – not just paint (although this is fine too)….so get creative and come along to the workshop.

You will be awarded a certificate of completion and inducted into the Smart Artz youth team for your participation.
Smart Artz is a not-for-profit creative agency for young people, by young people. Started by Australian entrepreneur, Graeme Wood (the founder of wotif.com) Smart Artz purpose is to engage with young minds and give them the opportunity to work on real projects, learn new skills and develop their creative potential.

Smart Artz are currently leading the development of the Vibrant City Project. Supported by Brisbane Youth Service, Brisbane City Council, Queensland Rail and Southbank Corporation.

There are limited places available – so get in touch quickly to secure your place.
Workshops will be run February 4th, 5th, 25th and 26th
You can attend one or all sessions
All sessions run 9am to 5pm

They’ll be held at Visible Ink, 5 Green Square Close Fortitude Valley….check out our page for all the directions and parking options at the space

To register for the workshops, please click on this link

To find out more or ask any questions, contact
Ben Hamley – QLD Project Manager, Smart Artz
ben.hamley@smartartz.org.au

YOUNG BLOOD COMEDY

Young Blood Comics

i make. you wear it.

This week’s guest post comes from Rachel Burke, creator of “i make. you wear it”. 21-year-old Rachel ‘Rahool’ Burke is an innovative fundraiser who hates idle hands, and loves ideas. She believes in hard work and never underestimates a person’s ability to change the world!

In late April of this year I found myself on a long, solitary walk toward Fortitude Valley. The day saw me outwardly troubled – my strides were not meant to be meeting Brisbane turf. On the contrary, my feet and I were supposed to be in Melbourne studying Musical Theatre.

Madelin Newman wears Rachel’s first trial dress for ‘I Make. You Wear It’

Practicing vocal scales, shuffling about in a leotard, and working on my high kicks, THAT was supposed to be my life. However, as I’d decided (after a year of study at VCA) that ‘jazz hands’ weren’t for me, my now Brisbane-based life was watching me stagger across suburban zebra crossings in pursuit of a bacon and cheese burger from Grill’d, and contemplating what on earth I was going to do this year to fill the void of having run away from school.

Yet, somewhere between Kedron and a Kiwi Slurpee from the Lutwyche 7/11 an idea occurred to me that would solve my dilemma. The concept was to set myself a challenge to make a series of dresses in a few hours, over a number of Saturday nights. An on-and-off sewer from way back, and a big fan of the TV show ‘ready, steady…cook.’ the idea of setting myself some sort of creative, time-constricted endeavor, thoroughly appealed.

After an in depth chat to my best friend it was decided that the idea was indeed well suited to a blog and that I should use the concept to try and raise some money for charity.

The next day saw me trawling the Internet in pursuit of a charity that I wanted to assist. After lengthy searching I finally found NAPCAN, an Australian charity set up to prevent child abuse and neglect in Australia. Having known many people who, as children, were once affected by abuse and/or neglect, the importance of what this charity strives to do greatly appealed to me. After reading their mission statement I gave NAPCAN a call and told them that I wanted to try and raise their charity $25,000. The rest …beginning on August 7…is history!

The website www.imakeyouwearit.com was created by the incredibly internet-talented and time generous Matt Hickey, and was launched earlier this month. Thus far I have received support from BORDERS stores and I will be doing live dressmakings in both their City and Chermside stores to raise donations and awareness for the project. Currently I have been working on trialing my ‘quick sewing skills’, cultivating interest in NAPCAN to outside sources, and getting people interested in following my online and offline journey to raise $25,000.

Whilst ‘i make. you wear it’ is striving to support NAPCAN and raise awareness, the project also hopes to encourage other young people to actively pursue their ideas and help out in their community. It’s crazy just how possible ANYTHING is if you are willing to put the hard work in. And hey, if you’re feeling uninspired, maybe get a slurpee and go for a hefty stroll. It worked for me…

I Make. You Wear It. Begins on August 7 2010 and goes until January 1 2011. Check out the website on www.imakeyouwearit.com and show your support!

For more information or to contact Rachel directly, email her at: rachel@imakeyouwearit.com.