Kate Croll

Short History of the Newcastle Community Arts Centre

Established in August 1983 the Community Arts & Adult Education Centre has had a long and illustrious history. In the early years much of the Company’s energy was directed towards securing a permanent home.  

In 1988 Newcastle City Council (NCC) purchased the old St Aloysius Catholic Girls School building in Parry Street, as a bicentennial gift for the community to utilise as a Community Arts Centre.  

Following repairs to damage caused by the 1989 earthquake, the Centre grew to provide studio space for 32 arts organisation and maintained facilities including the Black Box Theatre, a darkroom and casual access space.  

Following my appointment as Director of the NCAC in 1996 we expanded the NCAC’s activities to include management of an extensive regional cultural development program Arts Hunter.  

Our 1997 programming included employment of Literature Officer, Lucy Dougan, the establishment of the Hunter Region Writers Centre, the Coal River Young Writers Festival (a forerunner of the National Young Writers Festival) and the revival of The Newcastle Poetry Prize. This $10,000 prize, Australia’s richest literary award for a single poem, was supported by NCC and its anthology ‘Night Jar’ was published bby the NCAC’s own imprint, Coal River Press. 

Funding was secured from the Arts NSW for refurbishment of the Black Box Theatre and NCC to appoint an Indigenous Theatre Officer, Donna Morris.  Donne re-established Ngoroe-Kah Indigenous Theatre Company and commenced a series of workshops in writing, acting and theatre production skills with Leah Purcell and Scott Rankin. Ngoroe-Kah's launch, during the 1998 NAIDOC Week, showcased the work of local Indigenous writers Ray Kelly Snr, Rod Smith and the Ngoroe-Kah Women’s Group.  

Other Indigenous programming included: The Bruise, a Koori vs Cops competition held as part of Surfest at Newcastle Beach and The Koala’s Birthday Picnic, a family day held in collaboration with Awabakal Aboriginal Cooperative at Blackbutt Reserve designed to showcase our region’s rich Indigenous culture.  

Arts Hunter was contracted by the Department of Education to coordinate the NSW Youth Arts & Skills Festival, Hunter Region ARTstart and employed Youth Officer Amanda Roff.  

 ARTstart was the single most effective program in encouraging collaboration between youth, government agencies, educational and training institutions and non-government organisations in NSW. 

Under Amanda’s guidance and with the support of her Regional Youth Advisory Committee, over 70 projects involving 3,300 young people received funding. Notable recipients included: Mousemoon and High Tea with Mrs Woo. 

Funding from Festivals Australia for FORGE enabled emerging artists to work with established professionals to prepare exhibition and performance materials for inclusion in Newcastle’s three major annual festivals: 

Mattara – Festival of Newcastle (Community Arts Day), the newly established Newcastle Fringe Festival and the Coal River Young Writers Festival.  

* During Mattara tenants and members of the NCAC took over Newcastle’s Foreshore Park with stalls, demonstrations, workshops and performances on the NCC Stage, including 13 young musicians from the Smokestack CD, produced by NCAC tenant Hugh Gordon Studios and Local Anaesthetic.  

* Newcastle Fringe (a forerunner of TINA) ran for 9 days and transformed the heart of Newcastle with a celebration of music, drama multimedia, comedy, visual arts, film and writing, all coordinated by NCAC Board Member Andrew Macdonald. 

In 1988 Arts Hunter, in collaboration with the arts community of the Hunter Region, presented a large scale, visually spectacular performance Ribbons of Steel commemorating the 84 years of BHP steelmaking in Newcastle.  Co-directed by David Branson and Brian Joyce, the project included work by students from local and regional schools, local artists and performers, BHP employees and their families. The performance incorporated an 80 strong choir, 28-piece brass band, stilt walking, acrobatics, aerial work and fire sculptures.  

Ribbons of Steel enabled us to hire 91 significant Australian artists including representatives from Stalker, Body Weather, Bad Boy Batucada, Erth and Splinters Theatre Companies to undertake an 18-month skills development program in Newcastle.  

The resulting local troupes formed part of our ongoing heritage with our Stiltwalkers featuring in the Fire Section of the Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony and Repercussion performing as part of the Percussionale Festival.  

Both troupes collaborated with NCAC tenant Braddon Snape to design and perform as part of the Hunter Float in Australia’s Centenary of Federation Parade. 

Special mention should be made of the enormous contribution made by the NCAC’s volunteer Board Members who brought their business, media, arts and event management skills to the NCAC. Many others offered their time, most notable Kerrie Coles who oversaw the establishment of the Newcastle Art Space.  

It is clear from my six short years as Director of the NCAC and Arts Hunter that a well-resourced community facility provides not only a focus for local artists but also a catalyst for collaborative programs and regional cultural development.  

Our legacy includes facilitation of the establishment of: The Men’s Shed (Port Stephens), The Warner’s Bay Performing Arts Centre (Lake Macquarie) and Grooving the Moo (Maitland).