Services

Workshops
Strategic Planning
Public Art
Master Planning
Curatorial Services
Marketing and Communications
Stakeholder Engagement
Policy Development
Museum Advisory
Project Management
Grant Management and Assessment
Collection Management
Collection Photography
Fine Art Reproduction

Projects

 
 

AlburyCity
Urban & Public Art Strategy

In 2009, AlburyCity had adopted an Urban & Public Art Policy. The next step for the Council was to develop a strategy to implement the policy. Vanessa Keenan was contracted to develop a strategy that incorporated not only public art but also the management of the City’s 128 monuments, heritage sites & memorials. 

At the time, the City had only 9 public art works across the local government area with no formal process for commissioning new works. A strategy was developed that identified the existing collections and themes as well as strategies and actions to grow the collection in line with curatorial themes that had a strong focus on community involvement and capacity building for local and regional artists. 

The Strategy identified the need for a dedicated Public Art officer, employed on a 3 year contract in line with a triennial public art program. 

Many of the recommendations have subsequently been implemented across the city.

Indigo Shire Council
Arts Policy

Indigo Shire Council engaged the services of Acorn Creative Group in 2019 to develop an Arts Policy that would assist Council to support arts and cultural groups across the Shire. As the Council no longer employs a dedicated Arts Officer it was paramount that the policy developed was achievable and allowed the vibrant arts and cultural community across the Shire to continue to develop with a clear understanding of Council’s role.

The stakeholder engagement interviews were an opportunity to reinforce this message to key stakeholders and help identify how Council could support their development rather than lead it. 

The stakeholder and community response to the engagement process was positive with a high participation rate. 

The policy will provide a platform for Council to identify key needs and areas of support for communities across the Shire. 

Wyndham City Council
Mother Language Signature Public Art Commission

In late 2021 Acorn Creative Group completed a major public art development project for Wyndham City Council. 

More than 40% of Wyndham residents are born overseas and 35% speak a language other than English at home. Acorn undertook an engagement program involving over 200 people from more than 20 countries to develop a business case and artist brief for a $400,000 signature public art project for the city that acknowledges and celebrates the importance of mother language to retaining culture and how it contributes to the community’s identity. 

Gunditjmara Artist Dr Vicki Couzens is the lead artist for the Public Art Project that will be installed in Tarneit. Voice of the Land, Voice of the People, Voice of our Heart – Mother Tongue is the proposed artwork that will inspire and inform the creative design and development of the new sculptural work.

The Mother Language Public Art Project is a response to the struggle for the recognition of language that ties in deeply with the Bangladeshi community in Wyndham. It has been developed through a shared vision to build a diverse and inclusive community.

Read more about this project here.

Lake Macquarie City Council
Rathmines Catalina Hangar Interpretation Centre Business Case Review

Lake Macquarie City Council engaged Acorn Creative Group to undertake a review of the Rathmines Catalina Hangar Interpretation Centre Business Case in 2020/21.

Acorn undertook a review of the proposed business plan and provided advice to Council on the proposal’s viability in regards to tourism attractiveness; financial, governance, operational and programming capability; feasibility of the listed capital and operating costs and revenue/visitation figures and assumptions; major risks and suggested alternate options within the proposed Business Plan.

Western Riverina Arts Strategic Plan

As part of the organisation’s triennial state funding application process, Vanessa Keenan was engaged by Western Riverina Arts to develop a three strategic plan for the organisation. The plan was developed to guide the organisation through a planned growth period and focused on developing Aboriginal Arts and responding to community need.

Significant stakeholder consultation occurred through workshops, interviews and an online survey. The resulting strategic plan is a blueprint for the organisation to further develop arts and culture across the Western Riverina and plan strategic projects with key partners in local government and other funding bodies.

The document is reflective of industry best practice strategic planning as identified by the Australia Council. 

Feedback from Arts NSW indicated the plan was one of the highest ranking amongst the state’s 14 regional arts boards.  

Griffith City Council
Regional Gallery & Regional Theatre Strategic Plans

In 2016, Acorn Creative Group was engaged by Griffith City Council to develop a strategic plan for the city’s theatre and art gallery. The plan identified a number of strategies including a significant capital works program to revitalise the 32 year old theatre. As a result of the plan Council were successful in gaining a $1.2M grant to construct a new amenities facility including accessible toilet, family room and an upgrade of existing bathroom facilities on the first floor.

Further works planned will involve construction of an open air amphitheatre complete with seating and a performance stage on the eastern side of the building.

An identified priority for the gallery was activating of the gallery shop which now a significant revenue earner for the gallery as well as an identified strategic vision for the iconic cultural facility. 

Eastern Riverina Arts
Curator - Arbour Festival

Conceived in 2019 as an ephemeral arts festival over two weekends, highlighting the natural beauty and diverse creative talent of the region, Arbour Festival dramatically evolved after the entire region was directly impacted by the Dunns Road Bushfire during Black Summer. 

Originally intented as a driver for cultural tourism to the area, Arbour shifted to focus on creative recovery and commemoration of the one year anniversary of the fire over fifty days. 

From the initial concept to delivery, Vanessa Keenan has lead the project and ensured community buy-in alongside government partnerships with involvement from several state government agencies. 

This model has resulted in a festival that has resonated with locals and tourists alike with the majority of events and activites selling out. 

Greater Hume Shire Council Greater Museums film project

With lockdowns the new norm and regional tourism on hold, Acorn Creative conceived and sourced funding for a short film project to assist six community run museums across Greater Hume Shire to bring locals back to explore their own history through a series of short films.

Theatremaker Alyson Evans alongside Helen Newman of Nomad Films were engaged to develop and produce these short films for use by the museums on their websites and social media pages as well by the Council as part of their collateral for promoting tourism within the area.

Acorn gained further funding on behalf of Council to enable a TV and social media campaign to run for six months in the Albury and Wagga markets on completion of the films.

View the films here.

City of Wodonga Public Art Strategy, Master Plan and Policy

Wodonga Council invited Vanessa Keenan to submit a proposal through a selective tender process for the development of a public art policy, strategy and master plan in conjunction with the revitalisation of the city.

The role of public art in public spaces is critical to fostering community identity and creating a sense of place.

Wodonga’s CBA revitalisation is the catalyst for renewal across the local government area. The public art locations and themes identified in the strategy represent the connectedness of the community.

The strategy and master plan outline a framework for commissioning public art in Wodonga that will support and enhance the City’s identified social, cultural and economic goals.

The policy, strategy and master plan were adopted by Council in June 2015 with its recommendations are currently being implemented.

Griffith City Council
Regional Museum Strategic Master Plan

When looking to develop a strategic and master plan for the city’s pioneer park museum in late 2019, Griffith City Council again engaged Acorn Creative Group. 

Partnering with architectural firm Regional Design Service, Acorn developed a strategy and master plan that will shift the museum focus from celebrating not just the pioneer story but sharing and telling the stories of the most cultural diverse city in regional NSW. 

The strategic plan is focussed on developing a strong collection policy and implementing a long term de-accessioning program. A number of legacy issues such as volunteer succession planning, re-engaging local audiences and building a strong education program are also included in a suite of actions aimed at the sustainable growth of the precinct. 

Albury City
Murray Region Digitisation Hub

Obtained $250,000 to establish a digitisation workshop space and studio at Albury Library Museum that provides digitisation capability to seven community museums and collecting organisations in the Murray region including Culcairn Station Masters House Museum; Flying Fruit Fly Circus; Headlie Taylor Header Museum; Holbrook Submarine Museum; Jindera Pioneer Museum; Woolpack Inn Museum; and Wymah School House Museum. Specialised digitisation equipment and professional training programs are being implemented by a specialist project officer to build and maintain the skills and capacity of individual museums, facilitating the digitisation of at least 400 objects. Council and partners including Acorn Creative Group will continue to offer regular digitisation training, a collection database and equipment availability to each organisation into the future.

NSW Regional Arts Network
Regional Futures

The NSW Regional Arts Network represents 15 member organisations that support and promote artists and creative practice across regional NSW.

Regional Futures is a two-year program of commissioning and conversations that places artists at the centre of a dialogue exploring a future vision for the place where they live and create.

Managed by the NSW Regional Arts Network and funded by Create NSW, this is an opportunity for artists to participate in a statewide project, capturing a sense of celebration of regional creative practice and diversity of perspectives. Vanessa Keenan from Acorn Creative Group has been engaged to project manage Regional Futures on behalf of the NSW Regional Arts Network.

Read more about Regional Futures here.