Our Vision

Our vision is for healthy, vibrant, dynamic, tolerant, creative and socially connected communities especially culturally diverse communities and those in public housing

Our Mission

To provide leadership and support for quality collaborative art making and community cultural development through partnership with artists and with culturally and socially diverse communities.

The Arts and Culture Program at North Richmond Community Health Centre produces highly respected and award winning artistic work ranging over many artforms including festivals, visual arts, performance and multimedia. The strength of work produced is intrinsically linked to the Program's sustained and innovative cross-cultural approach in which leading and often highly specialised collaborative artists work with communities including those from public housing, Vietnamese, Timorese and Chinese-speaking backgrounds.

Audiences for the work range from intimate community-based audiences to arts based and mainstream audiences. Like many of the community members involved in the collaborative art making process, many of those involved as audiences have little other direct contact with art. The Program has established a number of highly successful models including the annual Moon Lantern Festival, benefitting the communities involved while also engaging a broader audience.

Since the Program's early origins in the 1980s community cultural development practice at the Centre has developed from a series of successful community arts projects to a strategic program which combines quality collaborative artistic work with skills and leadership development for community members, and support for community-driven initiatives.

The Program has attracted awards for its work in festivals and film and is recognised as a Key Organisation by the federal arts funding and advisory body the Australia Council. It works in partnership with other programs at the centre and other organizations including METAC (Melbourne East Timorese Activities Centre) and the Vietnamese Community in Australia (Victorian Chapter). The Program relies on funding and support from local, state and federal government through both arts and non-arts sources, as well as philanthropic support and some private sponsorship.

For more information and photos of the Program's work visit publicartpublichousing.com.au. or contact Program Manager Jane Price on 9420 1315

For a free copy of DOCUMENTARY VIDEO My Name is Thanh,

colour booklet MOON LANTERN FESTIVAL: A Celebration

or the book PUBLIC ART PUBLIC HOUSING written by Graham Pitts

email: maryq@nrchc.com.au


Up coming event:

Moon Lantern Festival Saturday, 13th September 2008