Arts Incubator officially opens

A living, breathing, creative arts hub in the heart of the CBD is further cementing Ballarat’s reputation as a Creative City.

The Ballarat Arts Incubator at 36 Camp Street was officially opened on Friday, the culmination of years of work to establish a space for experimentation for the creative industry.

The Incubator includes rehearsal spaces for music, dedicated zones for young people, theatre development spaces for writing and workshopping, quiet zones for administration, and film studios for production.

With distinct studio spaces, the Incubator is home to five different organisations – each licensing the spaces and providing access to the public. The organisations include:

QCTV: the creators of LaNCE TV, Ballarat’s signature LGBTIQA+ weekly variety and talk show will be filming and producing from the Arts Incubator film studios. LaNCE TV is known as the show behind the career of Gabriella Labucci who is currently starring on Ru Paul’s Drag Race Downunder. The film studios will be available to book by community members and the private sector.  

Outlet Productions: offering a much-needed rehearsal space and music workshop, Outlet has been recently founded by musicians Sarah Spaven and Zerene Jaadwa Webster. The space will be bookable by those looking to become performance ready.

The Rat Lab: developing new theatre and performance works, The Rat Lab is a project initiated by Emma Mary Hall. Currently offering workshops and networking, as well as a dedicated writing room. The space is bookable for workshop and rehearsal.  

Ballarat Evolve: delivering successful activations of underutilised commercial spaces across the city, Ballarat Evolve will now use an office space to interview candidates and run mentoring, as well as providing support spaces for the Ballarat Arts Foundation.  

Youth Services: the City of Ballarat Youth Services team are accessing much-needed safe spaces for young people. Open to public access, young people are encouraged to join programs and take part in creative initiatives.  

Creative Victoria contributed $75,000 to the project in 2020, with the City of Ballarat’s Creative City team gradually establishing the facility in recent years.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the Arts Incubator was born out of a need to build Ballarat’s arts and culture infrastructure.

“As the arts and cultural sector in Ballarat matures, there is a clear need for the City of Ballarat to adapt its role in line with global and local trends,” he said.

“In order to invest in these creative thinkers, we need to provide the infrastructure to allow them to thrive.

“Having a dedicated space will clearly benefit not only the creative people and groups, but also the entire city.

“We have seen the data that shows how quickly the arts sector is growing and facilities like this will allow that growth to continue.”

Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison MP said she was excited to see the work produce by local creatives out of the facility.

“The Andrews Labor Government is proud to support The Ballarat Arts Incubator in Camp Street,” she said.

“Through our $75,000 grant the Ballarat Arts Incubator will provide spaces and opportunities for creatives to produce new work. Further, it will inspire others and continue to strengthen the already diverse and vibrant artistic fabric of our community”.

The City of Ballarat Creative City Strategy 2019-2030 outlines a goal to achieve 3,000 jobs in creative industries (excluding arts and culture) by 2030, with the Arts Incubator to play a major role in reaching that target.

According to the 2021 Census there are currently 1,245 full time creative industries jobs in Ballarat, and many more micro-enterprises and sole traders.

The development of the Arts Incubator also closely aligns Objective 5.7 of the Council Plan 2021-2025: Facilitate the growth of the creative sector and actively promote Ballarat as a Creative City.

The Arts Incubator is open to the public through connecting with the different organisations directly. Information on opening hours and background on the groups can be found at the Creative Ballarat website.