History of Visible Ink Valley

In 2001, Brisbane City Council developed a Youth Strategy to better support young people across the city. When developing the strategy, Council asked young people about what they wanted from Council. Young people said that they wanted space in the cbd that they could use for no cost to host events, workshops, meetings, rehearsals, develop projects, look for work, meet like minded people and generally get active in Brisbane doing the things that were important to them.

Young people told Council that it wasn’t practical to always meet in coffee shops, that rehearsal space in the city was too expensive, that they couldn’t have groups of people around Mum and Dads lounge room to plan events and that it was impossible to book a community space without being over 18 yrs of age. The result of these comments led Council to build a Visible Ink space in order to limit the barriers for young people to be active in Brisbane.

Council worked with young people to build a well resourced, well supported and connected, accessible, safe space at Constance St Fortitude Valley. The Visible Ink Valley (VIV) space was opened in 2002 and the two storey building featured a meeting room, computer lab, kitchen, art garage and an upstairs rehearsal space with two offices. The facility also housed Brisbane’s only ongoing independent zine library.

For four years, VIV supported more than 40000 young people to initiate and participate in their own projects, events, workshops, meetings, film nights, festivals, dance and theatre rehearsals, businesses, environmental groups and exhibitions. The name ‘visible ink’ reflected a self initiating attitude of all those who frequented the space. The concept was simple…resource young people to become more visible in Brisbane and the result will be that the broader community will take notice (and share this notice through ink based press such as local media).

In 2004, Visible Ink received an influx of interest from around the country. National Conferences added tours of Visible Ink to their itinerary. The Australian wide Vibewire Youth Services also visited and after being impressed by VIV, they successfully lobbied Sydney City Council for a similar space. Representatives from the Solomon Islands visited in late 20054, seeking ideas for creative approaches to youth issues.

In 2005, VIV relocated to a new venue to make way for Council’s 3 storey, 5 star energy efficient ‘Green Square’ office block. While staff were hesitant about the move, consultations with young people resulted in the location of VIV’s new home: a two storey building in Berwick St Fortitude Valley – twice the size of the previous building.

Officially opened by the Hon. Lord Mayor Campbell Newman in National Youth Week 2006, the larger site offered 10 office spaces for young people’s business and community initiatives. VIV now also offered a rehearsal space twice the size of the previous space, with ground floor location improving access for prams, wheelchairs and scooters. Finally, a training room provided additional space for community groups seeking a safe and friendly environment for delivering training to young people.

Since 2006, VIV has evolved to offer an inclusive program of services that continue to meet the needs of over 16000 young visitors a year. From young businesses, to environmental groups, to innovative theatre and dance performances, VIV is a thriving hub of activity. It’s not uncommon to drop by and see a university student discussing local events and opportunities with someone connected to the local homelessness service…but they probably don’t know this about eachother. They are both here to connect. To learn. To have fun. To be themselves.

VIV has evolved to offer an inclusive program of services that continue to meet the needs of over 16000 young visitors a year. You check out our current projects by clicking here.