Youth Arts Queensland secures funding for national young artists mentoring program

The Australia Council for the Arts yesterday announced Queensland’s peak body for youth arts and cultural development, Youth Arts Queensland (YAQ) as the successful recipient of funding for the national mentoring program for young and emerging artists.

Over the next four years, YAQ will receive $2.35 million dollars to deliver JUMP, the new national mentoring program which is part of the Australia Council’s young and emerging artists initiative.

JUMP introduces a new model to the Australian arts mentoring landscape providing career development opportunities to 30 young Australian arts practitioners from all arts backgrounds aged up to 30.

Youth Arts Queensland will be the home base for JUMP to deliver the national program and work with key partners in all states and territories to develop state based mentoring programs that respond to the needs of local artists.

Artists participating in JUMP will further their professional skills, develop their artistic practices and build networks in the national arts industry. Participants will also receive project funding, arts business training and the opportunity to showcase their work at local, state and national levels.

Winning the tender for this new national program is a testament to Youth Arts Queensland’s successful delivery of mentoring programs for young and emerging artists over the past ten years. A significant 90% of artists that participated in the Queensland based Young Artist Mentoring Program (YAMP) and the Australia Council’s SPARK national mentoring program gained employment in the arts and creative industries.

Youth Arts Queensland’s Chief Executive Officer Cate Farrar says that this recognises Youth Arts Queensland as a leading innovator of mentoring that consistently stretches art form practice, with a wealth of experience within the organisation to deliver quality programs.

“The model builds on current arts mentoring research and draws upon strong, established relationships across the nation with a vision for developing and strengthening new partnerships that will have an impact on the artistic progression of young and emerging artists.”

“It is a privilege for Youth Arts Queensland to manage this important initiative and significantly contribute to Australia’s artistic and cultural landscape.”

A call for applications for JUMP 2010 will be distributed in September. For more information, email us or phone the Youth Arts Queensland office on (07) 3252 5115.

JUMP is one of three mentoring programs, along with ‘Indigenous Picture Book to Performance’ and ‘Producers’ programs, within the Australia Council’s Young and Emerging Artists Initiatives. More information can be found at www.australiacouncil.gov.au.