Cairns Regional Council is developing a website to map arts and cultural facilities and features.
The project is a bid to gain recognition as the Arts and Culture Capital of Northern Australia.
Mayor Bob Manning said the website would act as an online tool to geographically map and promote the region’s cultural assets.
“It will include a compilation of arts facilities and spaces, major festivals, public art locations, creative industries, arts organisations, places of historical significance and artworks held by Council.
“We will soon be inviting everyone in the Cairns arts and cultural sector to create a free listing to promote their services.”
The website is a key element of a proposed five-year Strategy for Culture and the Arts 2022.
“This strategy sets out the key steps that we need to take to uncover the true cultural potential of our city.
“It identifies opportunities that exist and the actions we can take to grow and advance our city’s cultural identity – including where further investment is needed.”
The draft plan identifies the completion of the Cairns Performing Arts Centre and the future Cairns Courthouse Arts Precinct as key milestones, along with the presentation of the upcoming Festival 2018 as part of Cairns’ role as a GC2018 Commonwealth Games Event City.
Other priority initiatives include actions to improve access to cultural experiences, increase youth engagement in the arts, and invest in the development of the region’s Indigenous performing arts sector.
In addition, a State of the Arts research project is proposed to be undertaken in partnership with James Cook University and Central Queensland University.
“This has the potential to be a ground-breaking collaboration, providing insight into the value of culture and the arts to our community both in social terms and economically.
