South East Arts puts on the Headland Writers Festival at Tathra every year. Photo: Angi High.
There has been a changing of the guard at South East Arts. After 16 years at the helm, executive director Andrew Gray passed the torch to Kate Bradbury six months ago.
Since then, Ms Bradbury has been listening to people and enjoying getting to know the different pockets of the communities and how they interact with each other.
Her vision as executive director is to become a trusted connector, advocate and enabler of arts and culture across the region that spans the Snowy Monaro, Bega Valley and Eurobodalla.
That reflects her upbringing, growing up in Vanuatu with her community-minded parents who were aid workers, as well as her academic studies in community development and public policy.
Her parents were artistic and for them form ran in parallel with function. Ms Bradbury has taken that philosophy – that while something must work, it can also look good – into her career. Everything she does in the community should be done in a way that lifts people’s experience and their sense of wellness.
After attending the local French school in Vanuatu, Ms Bradbury completed her secondary and tertiary education in Queensland. Ms Bradbury studied political science and has a master’s degree in public policy which aligns with her interest in community development.
Ms Bradbury spent several years in the Northern Territory working in arts management and cultural policy. She was also part of the Territory Government’s Closing the Gap team, involved in place-based engagement and regional equity access.
Her last role in the Northern Territory was senior executive director of Garma Festival, hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation. Ms Bradbury said it was an amazing opportunity. “That role definitely blended the policy with the community engagement parts of my brain and community-based arts projects.”
It is a long way from the Northern Territory to southern NSW. That came through her husband’s family who have a long and close relationship with the Sapphire Coast.
The couple bought an inland bush block in the Bega Valley, intending to move there after their children finished school.
They were on holiday in the Bega Valley during the Black Summer bushfires. Her husband, a surgeon, volunteered at the South East Regional Hospital in Bega when any offer of help was gratefully accepted.
So last year, with their eldest son finishing Year 12, the couple decided the time was right to make a change.
Kate Bradbury took over the reins at South East Arts in mid-January. Photo: Emily Sandrussi.
“I saw the South East Arts role advertised and could see an alignment in our values and wanted to work with the organisation,” Ms Bradbury said. “I am really interested in place-based decisions and like to surround myself with interesting people.”
She has spent the past six months identifying the needs of the three regions and what they have in common. That informed her strategic planning for arts and cultural policy and advocacy to government bodies for the region.
Cultural tourism has been a pillar of South East Arts for several years and Ms Bradbury agrees it is a big growth area for the region.
“Cultural tourism is a priority development area for the NSW Government in general,” she said. “It is essential to the regional visitor economy, and I think there is a lot of opportunity for growth.”
She would like to see stronger connections across our arts communities.
“Right now an artist might come to one or two towns and then head straight back to the city. Imagine though if we had a touring network that let them travel right through the whole region.
“I’m exploring ideas like studio trails and more placed-based events. It’s about creating a sense of flow and exchange. Not just for artists but for audiences too.”
Also on her list is developing a series of artist residencies.
“I think they are a nice way to engage the public with artists,” Ms Bradbury said. “We have a lot of holiday homes here. It would be really great to better engage those landowners with residencies.”
From listening to people involved in the region’s arts and cultural scene, she knows they are facing the same challenges as the broader art space, with funding being a big one.
South East Arts has secured multi-year core funding for the next three years. While that will enable staff planning, South East Arts will have to secure project funding externally for events.
“It is an opportunity to re-evaluate,” Ms Bradbury said. “It is a period of reflection and there are definite opportunities.”
