A cultural reality for all

Like a biblical David staring down the giant Goliath, a small group of local dreamers with nothing in the coffers but a rock-hard commitment to building a half-million dollar cultural facility from scratch oversaw the creation and success of the Mission Beach Community Arts Centre in just two years.

In January 2013, the hard work and dedication was recognized in the Cassowary Coast Australia Day Awards.

Then MBCAC Inc. President, Lynda Hannah, who led the team since the idea’s inception in 2009, accepted the award.  “For Mission Beach Community Arts Centre – Mission Arts - to be acknowledged in the Cassowary Coast Australia Day Awards is a bonus that recognizes its contribution to the well-being of the community,” Lynda said.

“It says, ‘yes, all the hard work and volunteer hours are more than justified’.  I guess the best thing about Mission Arts is that it provides a centre for a convergence of talent in our region.  We have the infrastructure and can provide the workshop, gallery and shop space for local art to be displayed and sold, where local and visiting tutors can run workshops and pass on their skills and others can come to learn and enhance their art and craft."

“Everyone is welcome and it is heartening to see the cross-section of the public from throughout Cassowary Coast region and further afield who attend the workshops and events here. For example, our post-cyclone Yasi Come Together Program, financed through Contact Inc’s Creative Recovery Program, Qld Alliance for Mental Health and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, has been a huge success and we are grateful to see it continue this year.”

BACKGROUND

What is now a focal centre for Mission Beach and the wider community, drawing people from all walks of life and varied interests in local history and the visual, performing and literary arts, began as a quest to find a home for the Mission Beach Artists group in 2009.   The steering group and inaugural committee representing the wider community interest seized the day and won a Federal Government Jobs Stimulus Package to build the centre and a lease from the Cassowary Coast Regional Council for the site at MARCS Park.  With building under way, the committee begged, borrowed and applied for grants to outfit the centre and prepare for its opening on August 26, 2011.  Support from  businesses and culture lovers, locally and further afield, helped fan the finances.

Despite setbacks, including damage from Cyclone Yasi in February 2011, and the post-cyclone mulch mountains of broken vegetation that blocked access to the building site, Mission Arts opened on time to fanfare and acclaim. The solar powered, environmentally sustainable building is designed for the tropics and does not require air conditioning. Dedicated gallery, shop, meeting and workshop spaces are housed within four connecting ‘pods’ under a skillion roof. A subsequently constructed dedicated pottery shed sits adjacent to the original building and is home to the Mission Arts Pottery Group, or the 'Mudslingers', as they affectionately refer to themselves.

Since Mission Arts’ opening, thousands of art lovers and participants in courses ranging from pottery, jewellery making, silk printing, writing, drawing and painting, singing, public speaking, ukulele and drumming, mosaics, belly dancing, yoga and tai chi to children’s school holiday activities, mastering the wonders of iphone and ipad technology and even learning the art of knitting and beer making, have passed through the centre’s big red door.

Regular exhibitions with free opening events provide interest and social opportunities in this small community.  Tens of thousands of dollars of locally produced artworks have been sold in the gallery and shop, boosting income for local artisans and enriching the experience of visitors and tourists to the region.

Mission Arts is run professionally to a business plan by its dedicated executive management committee which works in with other volunteers staffing the shop and gallery and giving their time to ensure the centre retains its reputation as a vibrant and interesting cultural focus for the citizens and visitors of Mission Beach and surrounds.

THE FUTURE

And now for Stage Two: The committee is raising funds to build a performance, history and meeting facility adjoining the existing centre.  We maintain deductible gift recipient (DGR) status and welcome all financial and other support.