Four emerging Blue Mountains artists have been selected to take part in a new project that will help them hone their craft.
The Propel Projects Emerging Performers Residency (PROPEL) will see the artists access professional space to create, rehearse and perform as well as connect with a team of mentors and support to help them propel their art practice to the next level.
The four residents are:
- YALIA, a collaboration between singer-songwriter and producer Alia Sharp and dancer and physical performer Emily Yali. Together they plan to use the residency to develop an audio-visual performance project.
- Jerrah Patston is a 25-year-old musician from Springwood who works in Parramatta at the Club Weld studio for neurodiverse musicians. Together with his collaborator, Sam Worrad, Patston hopes his residency will help him create a professional show for his upcoming album release - Going Places - and that he can then take the show on tour.
- Katya Petetskaya is a visual artist who is intending to use her residency to develop a performance art piece called Morphism for a theatre environment.
- Maizy Coombes is violinist and singer/songwriter who uses a loop pedal to experiment with sound and performance. She is aiming for her residency to result in an immersive performance of her original music and she can then tour the performance.
Cultural Development Co-ordinator for Blue Mountains City Council, Katrina Noorbergen, said: "We are thrilled to introduce our first ever Propel residents and that we have such a diverse range of artists. What connects them is their desire to develop their performance practice and explore all opportunities. We're excited to follow their creative journey and see what they present at their showcase at the end of their residencies."
Co-ordinated by the Blue Mountains City Council's Cultural Development department in partnership with the Blue Mountains Theatre, and with generous support from the City of the Arts Trust and MTNS MADE, Propel is an initiative created to help support emerging performing arts practice in the region.
There will be two residencies between August 2022 to January 2023 and two between February and July 2023. Residents will access time and space within council facilities to develop new work or rehearse existing works, alongside a suite of additional support and networking opportunities such as an artist stipend, industry mentorships, technical and production support, and most excitingly, the opportunity to perform a showcase at the end of their residency.
Critical to the residency will be the mentorship offered to residents. Residents will be matched with industry professionals depending on their art form, professional needs and goals for the residency and together they will map out goals, exchange feedback and ideas.
Details for the showcases will be announced at the end of 2022.
