A one-day professional development intensive facilitated by director & dramaturg Xanthe Beesley, delivered in partnership with Geelong Arts Centre, November 2024. Photo Benjamin Hoffman.
WRITHE PEER GROUP
A holding space for G21 artists striving to grow their performing arts practice and seed new works.
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The artists who will most benefit sense themselves as part of a knowledge-seeking-and-sharing ecology, whereby they actively contribute to regional growth alongside individual outcomes.
VISION​
Clear pathways and support for independent performance makers looking to become semi-professional or professional in the G21 region.
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MISSION​
WRITHE aims to support performance artists who profoundly respond to opportunities that raise the calibre of their artistic output and, by extension, that of the region.
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PRACTICE​
WRITHE aims to deliver capacity-building and process exploration on par with what is offered in city centres. Our initial model takes two approaches to providing tangible growth: 1) first identify what learnings can be shared and facilitated by internal members, then 2) invest in external expertise to bolster the knowledge gaps. This learner-led model is an inversion of the tertiary model, whereby voracious students gather themselves, choose their most needed coursework, and find teachers for hire.
When we refer to artists in our practice (and in our language here), our definition includes artists across various disciplines looking to develop their own projects while tapping into a peer group for reciprocal support, learning, and critique. These artists can include (but is not limited to) actors, dancers, choreographers, musicians, producers, directors, composers, writers, visual artists, sound and lighting designers, multimedia artists and creative technologists.​​
The Surf Coast Speed Friending event was a unique research project on the Surf Coast's performing arts sector, delivered by WRITHE, November 2025, at GROW Anglesea. Supported by the 2025 DEVELOP Artist and Creatives Grant, Surf Coast Shire. Photo Melinda Chapman.
PARTICIPANTS
​​PEER GROUP
WRITHE is a peer group of whom we term nurturers: those already embedded in regional arts, including arts workers, teachers, and experienced knowledge-sharers. They often make and consume arts intra-state, nationally, and even internationally. They can easily identify the support, processes, and expertise available in city centres that are entirely missing in the G21 region. Many currently travel to Melbourne for capacity-building but recognise that it’s not sustainable for themselves—or even accessible for most others.​
EXTERNAL WORKSHOP ATTENDEES
Throughout the year, WRITHE delivers open-access workshops and social events. The workshops are designed to deliver capacity-building and process exploration on par with what is offered in city centres. When we refer to artists here, our definition includes those across various disciplines looking to intersect and potentially collaborate through hybrid performing arts.
This cohort tends to be prolific and creative, but they face geographical challenges in accessing skills-building. This circle has expressed a desire to forge collaborative networks while being exposed to new methodologies, tools, and contacts for making new, regionally-made arts.
RATIONALE
WRITHE's core creatives are a cohort of arts industry-connected peers who see the global boom in cross-sector collaboration in contemporary arts, which bridges artists across different art forms and even across science, research, and technology. The trend toward innovative collaborations is transforming Australian performance-making as well as audience experiences, where the arts contribute valuable offerings for the public to engage with critical ideas from other sectors.
While there will always be regional audiences for traditional theatre, the G21 demographics are shifting as well as growing their expectations of a thriving hub of opportunities and innovative artforms. Many in the G21 arts community do not want our region left behind.
WRITHE encourages conversation, connection, and knowledge-sharing across our region's artform communities, with 'growth' as the priority outcome, because tangible artistic growth enhances all other outcomes in the Arts, from presentation outcomes to financial, participation, attendance, and cross-sector outcomes.
WRITHE peer group is grateful for venue support from Platform Arts (Geelong).
WRITHE is grateful for project and venue support from Geelong Arts Centre's Creative Engine program
The Surf Coast Speed Friending event was supported by the 2025 DEVELOP Artist and Creatives Grant, Surf Coast Shire
