Inaugural BREC Artist Residency held at Donnelly River

From 15 to 17 November, selected artists from WA’s South-West and Great Southern regions took up residency at Donnelly River Village for the BREC Artist Residency to introduce, interrogate and begin to build a new project from the ground up.

Drawing on the very effective hothouse model created by our Tasmania Performs colleague Annette Downs, artists come together for a weekend intensive, breaking into small groups to dive deep into their project idea and really rigorously explore and explode the concept.

They are assisted in this mission by mentors drawn from across the country to both complement and challenge their respective practices. This year’s mentors were: stage design legend Zoe Atkinson; Theatre Director Matt Edgerton; circus director Mike Finch; dancemaker, curator and educator Julie-Anne Long; and our mentor-at-large was acclaimed actor and director Lynette Narkle.

They were joined by several industry observers who generously shared their industry experience, including Perth Festival’s Executive Producer Anna Reece and Country Arts SA’s Louisa Norman.

Performing Lines partnered with Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre to produce the residency, the third and final of our 2019 residencies. We have produced this series of residencies as part of our Regional Presenter Strategy, an integrated approach to developing capacity in regional areas that supports artists, presenters and audiences alike.

We will be announcing 2020 residencies and partners in the new year.