New residency program to support Ballarat creatives

The City of Ballarat’s Creative City team is partnering with arts organisation Punctum to deliver Seedpod, a renowned regional live arts and contemporary performance residency program. 

Seedpod residencies help to develop new performances that celebrate the complex aspects of Ballarat and the people who make this city their home. 

At the end of each residency, artists share their new works in progress and audiences share their experiences of each work. It’s an adventurous step together that builds regional vitality and innovation in live performance.

Following the success of Punctum’s past Seedpod residencies, the City of Ballarat is excited to support the 2025 Seedpod artists – Izzy Roberts-Orr and Gemma Cavoli. 

Both artists live and work in the region and are gearing up to present their new works.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Tracey Hargreaves said the new program was another example of Council supporting emerging artists in line with the Creative City Strategy.

“Ballarat continues to thrive as a hub for creative talent, and programs like Seedpod give our local artists the space to experiment, connect and shine,” she said.

“We’re proud to support Izzy and Gemma as they develop bold new works that reflect the depth and diversity of our region.”

Audiences can expect artistic adventure within Ballarat venues. The recently activated Ballarat Performing Arts Community Neill Street Hall and the

Ballaarat Mechanics Institute are this year’s Seedpod 2025 venue partners.

Gemma Cavoli's 'Oubliette'. Picture: Jennie Courtney.

Meet the artists:

Izzy Roberts-Orr is a poet, writer, and performance maker. Her debut poetry collection, Raw Salt (Vagabond Press, 2024), was shortlisted for the Colorado Prize for Poetry. A recipient of the BR Whiting Residency (Rome, 2026), ASAL Fellowship (2025) and Varuna’s Pitch Me! Fellowship (2024), she also works as Creative Producer at Red Room Poetry.

In Izzy’s ‘Medusa is a Modern Woman’, audiences will experience the reimagining of Medusa as contemporary figure and explore how myth, memory and voice shape survival.

Gemma Cavoli is a performer, performance maker, dramaturg and drama teacher. She is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, a recipient of an Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant, and has performed and toured with creative collaborators in Australia and internationally.
Guided by Punctum’s Artistic Director and creative team, Izzy and Gemma’s residencies will lead to two new performances in progress.

Gemma’s residency presentation takes its cue from the French verb oublier – to forget. In Oubliette, Gemma will reveal stories of hidden occupancies and silenced voices from marginal spaces. With Gemma, audiences as ‘proof readers’ will examine, revive and conjure up traces of the past into a presence.

Tickets are free for both presentations, but spots are very limited. Bookings are recommended.

Medusa is a Modern Woman by Izzy Roberts-Orr
When: Friday 2 May, 6pm and Sunday 4 May, 2pm and 4pm.
Where: Ballarat Performing Arts Community (Hall) 501 – 503 Neill St, Soldiers Hill, Ballarat.
Bookings: visit the Trybooking page to secure your tickets.
 
Oubliette by Gemma Cavoli
When: Friday 10 May, 6pm and Saturday 11 May, 2pm.
Where: Ballaarat Mechanics Institute – 117-119 Sturt St, Ballarat.
Bookings: visit the Trybooking page to secure your tickets.

For more details on the program and Punctum, contact Punctum’s Artistic Director Jude Anderson by emailing hq@punctum.com.au or calling 0439 319 307.