In May 2025, Regional Arts Victoria partnered with the Fletcher Jones Family Foundations to host southwest Victoria’s inaugural Creative Social– a vibrant gathering designed to foster connection, spark new ideas, share insights and celebrate creative talent in southwest Victoria.
The event enabled southwest Victoria’s creatives, changemakers and collaborators to meet supportive networks, hear directly from locals behind successful projects, gain real-world insights on funding and fundraising for big ideas, and win a support package valued at over $2,000.
The event brought together 81 people from across four southwest local government areas alongside Melbourne, NSW and QLD. The room buzzed with energy, representing a diverse cross-section of the creative community, including artists, funding bodies, students, entrepreneurs and organisations programming creative activities.
Highlights included:
- Unforgettable live performances by David Darber from Lian Husi Timor in collaboration with Billy Barker, sharing stories and songs in language
- A “rockstar moment” from ex-Creative Leaders mentee, Jacob Paton-Lee with musician, Tom Richardson
- 3 presentations showcasing inspiring local creative projects, from the artists set to take over the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with the MSO, to Warrnambool’s newest First Nations sculpture and the evolution of the Warnibald Portrait & Art Event
- valuable insights from a funder’s perspective by David Fletcher Jones
- a $1,000 grant and 1:1 mentoring support package being awarded to Katrina Carey for a new creative kids’ magazine, Kelp, with 11 other applicants also offered mentoring to develop their ideas.
The wisdom shared was invaluable.
- Warrnambool College and Leadership Great South Coast advised us to plan and perfect your pitch, but to respond to opportunities, and to ask directly for business sponsorships, discounts and in-kind support.
- Find Your Voice Collective urged us to connect to our heart, gut and head, to build our “scrum” and be “polite pests” when seeking funding!
- Warrnambool Hospice shared how they tapped into extensive artist networks, were strategic in covering expenses, and matched committee skills to required roles.
- David Jones encouraged us to be stewards in our relationships with funders, and to remember that what isn’t measured, isn’t managed.
Attendees gained practical tips on securing grants, negotiating sponsorships, and building meaningful partnerships, alongside diverse ways to reach fundraising targets. A communal resource wall crowd-sourced helpful ideas, and relationships fostered on the night have already led to impactful outcomes.
Attendees said they left “buzzing” (Courtney), calling the night “super, amazing, fun and inspiring” (Colleen), “a huge success” (Daisy) with “really awesome vibe” (Brett).
The event also reinvested almost $8,000 into local creatives and businesses – from engaging local custodians, musicians, presenters, technicians, printers and local caterers to commissioning photography and videography in an iconic creative space.
The event’s success has strengthened sector confidence and interest, grown creative networks and sparked momentum toward future initiatives, with funders keen to support another Creative Social in Moyne Shire.
Impact survey results to come – but early feedback confirms what many felt in the room: that this was more than an event. It was a moment of collective inspiration and energy that has lit a spark across the southwest.
Image: Attendees at southwest Victoria’s inaugural Creative Social, photograph: Greta Punch
Posted 6 June 2025