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Introducing new research resources on art and young people

Watch Tandi Palmer Williams from Patternmakers present for the FUSE Youth Arts Summit as she discusses the National Youth Arts Connections Program - a new research resource in development with ATYP.

What if more people knew about the benefits of the arts for children and young people?

That is the question we’re asking as we develop a new research resource for the National Youth Arts Connections program. The resource will share a set of key messages about the value of the arts for young people - backed up with quality, relevant research.

It emerged from conversations about the need for stronger connections, advocacy, and discussion with governments and funders about what youth performing arts programs can deliver.

Read on to find out what exactly we’re doing, why, and how you can contribute to fulfilling its potential. We’d love your help!

Why develop a new resource?

There’s a growing body of evidence about the value of the arts for children and young people, but much of it is not well known. It’s buried in journals, conference papers and websites all over the country, and the world.

It’s not always in language that the average person can understand, or in a format that can be used and shared.

Many arts workers in the youth arts sector lack the time and resources to read journal articles or engage in research and/or advocacy.

What we’re doing

As a part of the National Youth Arts Connections program, supported by the Ian Potter Foundation, ATYP and Patternmakers identified an opportunity for the knowledge base to be consolidated and shared.

The goal of the project is to curate, design and share a set of evidence-based key messages - i.e. statements about youth arts that can be backed up with infographic, research citations, case studies, and links to further resources.

Presentation: Parables of Value: Introducing the NYAC Research Resources

Watch Tandi Palmer Williams from Patternmakers present for the FUSE Youth Arts Summit as she discusses the new research resource, in development with ATYP.

She provides an overview of some of the challenges and limitations, and calls for input and feedback to strengthen the draft messages.

For your convenience, you can download the presentation slides here.

We’d love your feedback!

Please take a few moments to answer the questions below about NYAC Key Messages. With your help, we can make this resource as useful as possible for all involved.

Thanks to all of those involved so far, including the Australian Theatre for Young People and stakeholders in the National Youth Arts Connections program.

Stay tuned for the final resource in September 2022!

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Tandi Palmer Williams
Managing Director

Tandi is Founder and Managing Director of Patternmakers. She’s an arts research specialist and leader of the agency’s research projects.

 

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A Time for True Leadership to Shine

Earlier this week I spent two days at ADAPT: Queensland’s Performing Arts Conference, at the invitation of arTour and Stage Queensland, to share insights about audience trends since the onset of the pandemic.

Earlier this week I spent two days at ADAPT: Queensland’s Performing Arts Conference. It was great to be in a room full of performing arts colleagues after so long.

I was there at the invitation of arTour and Stage Queensland to share insights about audience trends since the onset of the pandemic.

It was also a chance for me to connect with colleagues: artists and producers readying new works for touring and presenters planning artistic programs to bring audiences back to arts centres and festivals.

What struck me the most, as I listened to other speakers share their learnings, was that the pandemic has forced us to become more responsive, more innovative and collaborative—and that these attributes could actually be the keys to tackling some of our sector's long-standing challenges.

The session that made this most clear was 'Lessons from 2020,' a discussion among leaders from our country’s three largest arts centres. The speakers were unanimous in observing a need to focus on people and relationships. They suggested that collaboration across departments and externally with the independent sector might enable us to not just recover the old ways, but build a more vibrant, equitable and sustainable culture sector in future.

Sydney Opera House

Fiona Winning at Sydney Opera House reflected on the heightened communication and innovation in response to the uncertainty and anxiety brought about by the pandemic.

Already poised to invest in their role as a digital broadcaster pre-pandemic (and with the excellent Stuart Buchanan newly appointed to the role of Head of Digital), SOH ultimately streamed 50 events and performances during the pandemic period. Fiona shared that what they learned over COVID equalled what they expected to learn and achieve over two years of their digital strategy.

Interestingly, construction in concert hall continued—since the building industry wasn’t as affected as the arts. SOH also fundraised $1.5m for a commissioning programme to invest in artists—money they wouldn’t have had if it were not for COVID.

Arts Centre Melbourne

We also heard from Melanie Smith at Arts Centre Melbourne, where the city's population was enduring another lockdown following an outbreak of the virus. She remembered back to when they first decided to close ACM on 16 March 2020. Their team was faced with cancelling 500 events—and ultimately lost $50 million in revenue (a quarter of a year’s trading) —but moving through the experience they had come together to support each other: 'There’s a lot more trust between us, we grew as a team.’

She said she has learned to focus on really looking after people and acknowledge that everyone is having a different experience.

QPAC

John Kotzas at QPAC said it has been the most challenging time of his career. He reflected that the only precedent they had to work with was an extreme weather event, which unlike the pandemic had a clear beginning and an end.

He shared that apart from having to reschedule events and communicate with audiences, there was confusion with promoters, ultimately creating extreme pressure on the team. At QPAC they went from having a board meeting every 2 months to having one every 2 days, working more closely than ever before.

He also spoke about some financial learnings. Working towards a business case for a fifth venue in QLD pre-pandemic, QPAC had reduced reliance on their base grant to 15%, relying on earning 85%—a model which proved to put the organisation under stress during Covid. Previously thinking $10m+ in reserves would put the organisation in a great place, he realised that those funds could be spent in 3 months with no other income. The organisation is now exploring new business models for digital work.

Leadership lessons

Stephen Foster from Cairns Performing Arts Centre said it was a time where true leadership would really shine—and I would suggest that this time is far from over. As we tackle the task of rebuilding, there are positive signs, with many presenters reporting strong sales (albeit with reduced capacities and fewer events). However, data from the Audience Outlook Monitor suggests that it's still early days in the recovery process, and we will need to work hard to not just bring back all segments of our past audience, but look to further grow and expand access so that more Australians have the opportunity to participate in arts and culture.

In opening the conference Minister Leeanne Enoch spoke about moving out of ‘survival’ mode and into ‘sustainability,’ and I think her words were spot on. She said she’s observed greater collaboration in the sector—and that if we work together, giving and telling stories, culture has the power to heal everything. She said ‘through the arts we see ways to deal with what’s going on around us’; it is fundamental to our recovery and helps focus on adaptation and agility.

Thank you to the organisers of Adapt QLD. It has helped many of us start to process the events of the past year and look at how we can tackle the challenges ahead through more collaboration, braver innovation and greater responsiveness than ever before.

 
 
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Tandi Palmer Williams
Managing Director

Tandi is Founder and Managing Director of Patternmakers. She’s an arts research specialist and leader of the agency’s research projects.

 

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Exploring the future of touring in Victoria

Throughout April 2018, our team will be travelling across Victoria to conduct consultations as a part of Creative Victoria's Review of Touring and Engagement.

This month, our team will be travelling across Victoria to conduct consultations as a part of Creative Victoria's Review of Touring and Engagement.

I’m delighted that Patternmakers has been commissioned to conduct the Review, with advisor Professor Peter Matthews. 

Throughout April and May, we will be conducting fieldwork across Victoria, including inner and outer metropolitan Melbourne, and six regional locations. I'm looking forward to seeing how tours are helping regional communities enjoy music, theatre, dance, visual art, heritage collections, multi-arts and heritage collections that they may not otherwise have access to. 

The Review presents an exciting opportunity to take a fresh look at the touring environment and identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness, inclusiveness and viability of touring across the State.

As a national research agency with our base in Sydney, I hope we will bring a fresh perspective. Our team is looking forward to building on our past projects related to regional Victorian arts & culture, including the Road Work Intrinsic Impact Study for Performing Lines, and Audience Development Planning for The Cube, Wodonga.

Those who have worked with us will know that our team has a collaborative style, combining rigorous research techniques with creative thinking to identify solutions. Some key features of our approach to this Review are:

  • Working collaboratively with the Creative Victoria Steering Group to co-design the Review

  • Combining both qualitative and quantitative research techniques to ensure future models are evidence-based

  • Inviting stakeholders to participate either face to face via a series of open forums, or by submitting written response to an online survey.

A major focus for this review will be exploring options for new touring and funding investment models. If you have ideas about the future of touring in Victoria, please head over to the Creative Victoria website to find out more about how you can participate in the Review.

We are also committed to hearing from people of all backgrounds, and those with access requirements. For any questions, please contact info@thepatternmakers.com.au or Sue Doyle, Manager, Regional Partnerships Arts Sector Investment via sue.doyle@ecodev.vic.gov.au.

Image: David LaChappelle, The Last Supper (Ballarat International Foto Biennale

About the Author

Tandi Williams
Managing Director

Patternmakers’ Founder and Managing Director Tandi Williams is an experienced consultant and arts and culture research specialist. 

 

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The reality of touring contemporary performances in regional Australia

Between 2015 and 2017, Performing Lines worked with Patternmakers, Wolf Brown and presenters across Australia to explore the audience response to three touring theatre productions. Evidence collected in this study confirms the value of contemporary Australian performance for regional audiences.

There is a complex touring ecology in Australia, which works hard to bring contemporary Australian performances to regional communities. However, if ticket sales are anything to go by, these works often fail to resonate with market. Or do they? Our research is shedding new light on this important issue.
 

About this project

For the past three years, we've worked with Performing Lines, Wolf Brown and presenters across Australia to explore the audience response to three touring theatre productions. The productions were part of the Australia Council’s Road Work initiative, designed to enable regional audiences to engage with contemporary, original thought-provoking new Australian work. 

Although regional presenters found each of the three productions challenging to market to their communities (and many reported disappointing ticket sales), people who did attend experienced a wide range of positive impacts, like captivation, emotional resonance and importantly, aesthetic growth.

The results of the final phase of the study are now available on Issuu, and the results are well worth a read, for anyone involved in regional performing arts.
 

The results

Three quarters (72%) of the 1,640 respondents said they were exposed to a new style of theatre they didn’t know about previously and 77% said show exceeded their expectations. Almost all of those surveyed said they are likely to attend theatre in future (89%), and those that had positive experiences are the most likely to. 

The results show that what happens before and after a show could be important. Across the three tours, factors associated with above average experiences included reading a review or article about the play beforehand, discussing the show ‘intensely’ afterwards and attending a post-show Q&A. The results also suggest a strong association between captivation, overall experience and likelihood to attend in future.
 

Our conclusions

For us, the evidence collected in this study confirmed the value of contemporary Australian performance for regional audiences - and provides some solid leads for strengthening tours.  However, we believe that if such performances are to fulfil their potential in regional Australia, more work needs to be done. Greater investment is needed to help funders, tour coordinators, producers and presenters work together to engage more members of the community and build audiences over the long-term. 

What do you think is needed to help great Australian works reach their potential in regional areas? We'd love to hear your ideas.

 

Want more information?

Head to the full Intrinsic Impact Study to find out more about exploring the intrinsic impacts of Road Work performances on regional audiences.

Please get in touch with us via info@thepatternmakers.com.au for more information about this study, the intrinsic impact tools, or our work in regional Australia. 

Image by Sarah Walker

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Tandi Williams
Managing Director

Patternmakers’ Founder and Managing Director Tandi Williams is an experienced consultant and arts and culture research specialist.  

 
 

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Evaluation Reflections: Performing Lines' Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator

The team recently completed a collaborative three-year project with Performing Lines, to assist them to evaluate their Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator position.

Our Managing Director Tandi Palmer Williams sat down with Karilyn Brown and Narelle Lewis of Performing Lines, to pick their brains about the project.

The team recently completed a collaborative three-year project with Performing Lines, to assist them to evaluate their Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator position.

For those not familiar with Performing Lines, the organisation produces new and transformative performances, and initiates creative and strategic opportunities for diverse contemporary artists whose work pushes boundaries and sparks new conversations. 

They created the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator role to assist presenters to develop closer connections with their local Indigenous communities, build their Indigenous audiences, and broaden the reach of Indigenous theatre and dance work being presented in venues across the country. 

Our Managing Director Tandi Palmer Williams sat down with Karilyn Brown and Narelle Lewis of Performing Lines, to pick their brains about the project.
 

What were the main drivers for Performing Lines to initiate this evaluation?

Karilyn: In 2015 Performing Lines was successful in securing Australia Council funding for an Indigenous community engagement pilot project, to be implemented in association with the Blak Lines tour of Head Full of Love. We were delighted to appoint Denise Wilson, a proud Aboriginal woman from the Kamilaroi Nation (around Walhallow, NSW) as Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator. 

We thought that articulating the benefit and value of this role and the outcomes from the project would be important for the presenters, Performing Lines and the Australia Council. To our knowledge, there was no other program like this in the performing arts in Australia at the time, and we were keen to develop a model that could be applied for future Blak Lines tours, as well as for our non-Indigenous tours in order to continue to build engagement with local Indigenous communities. 

Narelle: We hoped the project may create a blueprint that other organisations may be able to follow in instigating their own community engagement programs, and saw a thorough evaluation as a way of testing this idea.
 

Why did you choose to work with a research agency? 

Karilyn: We wanted professional expertise in the development of the framework for the project's evaluation and report, so that Denise and the team could start collating and compiling relevant information and data from the outset.
 

What is the main thing Performing Lines has taken away from the research?

Karilyn: Following the pilot, we were fortunate to be in a position to continue the ICEC role with Denise on a part time basis. She worked on the 2016 Blak Lines tour of Sugarland, and the 2017 tour of Saltbush, as well as taking on some Associate Producing responsibilities working with Narelle. We set aside resources to create the three evaluations as a suite of case studies for the performing arts sector in Australia. 

Narelle: Denise and I presented insights from the program at the Australian Performing Arts Centres Conference in 2016, and Head Full of Love, the first tour in the study, was also awarded best regional tour of the year. 

The evaluation was also featured in the Australia Council’s Building Audiences research in 2017, as a case study of interest to the wider sector. 

Karilyn: It’s important to have these kinds of evaluations available in a public forum rather than tucked away in the archives as acquittals.

 

For any questions about this work, please contact us at info@thepatternmakers.com.au

You can read more about this project in the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation report. 

Image: Saltbush – photo courtesy of Performing Lines

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Penny Cannan
Business Administrator

Penny has a background in Art and Design, Communications, Brand Identity and Project Management.  Her broad experience brings a fresh perspective to the team and her passion for all things creative meshes with the Patternmakers vibe.

 

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