Project Alchemy

A community arts and cultural development project offering employment for regional artists to lead community engagement arts projects.

September 2022-March 2024

Project Alchemy, spanned five Local Government Areas (LGAs) across three States and Territories including the ACT, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, Bega Valley Shire, Eurobodalla Shire and East Gippsland. Project Alchemy consisted of a series of innovative, inclusive and cross-disciplinary arts programs, building community connection and wellbeing across regions of south-east Australia affected by the Black Summer Bushfires.

The project consists of three phases:

Phase 1: Playback Theatre tour

The project began with a Playback Theatre tour to each LGA to engage with locals in interactive creative story sharing. The Rebus Playback Theatre Ensemble performed nine shows across NSW, Victoria and the ACT reaching 322 new audience members. The show entitled ‘At The End of Our Street’ was an interactive performance encouraging audience members to explore stories and experiences that celebrate what it means to live where they live. Project Alchemy began with a tour of a Playback Theatre show entitled ‘At The End Of Our Street’ across NSW, Victoria and the ACT reaching 322 new audience members. The show asked audiences for stories about what they loved about living where they live, which were then improvised back to the audience by the team of actors and musicians. Attendance to the show was free or by donation raising $904.22. These funds were distributed to various recovery organisations identified by stakeholders in each LGA as having provided key support during the Bushfires including The Red Cross, The Braidwood Life Centre and the Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast. Audience members who participated in post-show surveys overwhelmingly loved the performance and were deeply appreciative of the work coming to their regional area.

9 shows

322 audience members

14 Rebus Employees

Phase 2: Artist Selection and Residencies

In August 2022 Rebus advertised that applications were open for artists from the 5 Each artist received funding and project budget for the development and delivery of community arts projects in their bushfire affected hometown regions. 39 applications were submitted and 15 artists, working across a range of art forms, were selected to take part (three from each LGA). The artists came together with Rebus staff over two weeklong residencies to network, skill share and receive training in trauma informed practice and arts led community recovery projects. The residencies occurred in November 2022 (Eurobodalla) and February 2023 (East Gippsland). The effect of these residencies was profound on the artists and Rebus staff alike. It was clear to us all that this project had the capacity to make deep impacts in the communities that were still struggling two years after the fires.

15 Project Alchemy artists

11 Rebus employees

Phase 3: Community Projects

Each artist received funding and a project budget for the development and delivery of community arts projects in their communities. Many artists decided to collaborate across regions with their colleagues. The artists reported great benefit from the resources and structured support from Rebus and ‘Project Alchemy’ in assisting them to create community art programs, events and performances.

As they delivered their programs, the artists built networks and developed new partnerships to attract future funding and ongoing investment by community stakeholders beyond the life of the project.

Project Alchemy artists facilitated 125 workshops offering art-making experiences to 1196 participants. These occurred in many different formats and in many different environments. Some were held in nature that was re-generating from the fires, others in church halls or arts spaces.

As a result of these art-making process activities there were 7 exhibitions created which included artworks by 98 participants and were visited by approximately 682 people. The workshops involved many different arts disciplines including music, costume and lantern making, printmaking, painting, embroidery, dance and movement. Three artists provided music workshops engaging children and adults. ‘The Val Moogz School of Joy’ ran 18 Beginner Music Workshops’ in Batemans Bay and Narooma for adults for kids and teens.

Project Alchemy artists also held 12 performances with a total of 11,997 audience members across the 5 LGAs. Performances included poetry, community theatre, cosplay dance tree planting events, a light lantern festival, roaming entertainment and a community collaboration with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.

Project Alchemy wrapped up with a final residency and exhibition showcasing work from all the projects in Canberra and Queanbeyan in March 2024.

15 artists employed

63 local subcontractors

125 workshops

12 performances

7 Exhibitions

1196 workshop participants

682 Exhibition attendees

11997 audience members

15 Rebus employees

Meet our project alchemy artists here.

There are too many people to thank for all the work that went into this project, but we definitely need to thank the three Project Managers who worked tirelessly to oversee operations over the two years: Ali Clinch, Jen Seyderhelm and Helen Ferguson.