Sponsorship

The Friends of the Arts Foundation Gift Fund was established to help talented, young artists achieve higher levels of skill in their chosen disciplines.

Through our Gift Fund we endeavour to help young, local artists achieve their goals in their chosen disciplines. We aim to help raise them up so that they can reach their full potential. The Gift Fund is intended to assist talented artists who could benefit from additional training but are unable to afford the costs involved.

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Gold Coast Eisteddfod

The Gold Coast Eisteddfod began in 1982 as part of ‘Tropicarnival’, Gold Coast City’s first ever Festival. It attracted some 600 competitors in the first year and whilst the festival ceased in 2000, the Eisteddfod has continued to grow. It is now the largest competition of its kind in the country staged in August and September each year.

Entries are received from the south-east Queensland region and indeed from all States of Australia. Apart from individual entrants, around 141 Primary and Secondary Schools and more than 66 Dance Studios participate in sections which include Solo & Group Dance, Piano, Strings, Brass & Wind, Instrumental Groups, Bands, Orchestras, Vocal, Choral and Young People with Disabilities. In 2019, over 66,000 competitors took to the stage in 541 sections over 7 weeks.

The Friends of the Arts Foundation are very pleased to assist and give to the
Gold Coast Eisteddfod.

Gold Coast
Music Awards

Launched in 2015 by the team behind the Gold Coast’s own award-winning independent media platform, Blank Street Press, the Gold Coast Music Awards have grown into a recognisable, stand-alone brand representing Gold Coast music to a national audience.

The event has sold-out every year since launch and with 2020 bringing COVID-19, the awards made a quick pivot to a digital format, which has enjoyed over 29,000 views. From humble beginnings, the awards have grown from being hosted in an empty warehouse in Burleigh’s industrial precinct, to see organisers close the main street of Surfers Paradise, build a festival sized stage at the end of Cavill Mall and celebrate the successes of local musicians with a ticketed awards ceremony in a marquee on the beach as well as a mini-festival of the city’s best talent. 11,000 people attended in the year that Amy Shark headlined (2017) and other years saw up to 8,000 people come along for the free live music.

The Gold Coast Music Awards are also much more than just a kick-ass event. The Awards are the home of Gold Coast music and the culmination of an annual program of activities developed to build a thriving and resilient, live, original music scene on the Gold Coast. At the heart of the Gold Coast Music Awards is recognition of the value of artists, and the ecosystem that supports them, and the important contribution they make to our society and our own quality of life.

This year we are sponsoring Gold Coast Music Prize and the finalist are Chloe Styler, EUCA, Girl and Girl, Harry J Hart, Liv Heyer, Pure Milk, Selve and Talia Rose.

The Friends of the Arts Foundation are very pleased to assist and give to the
Gold Coast Music Awards.

Gold Palm
Theatre Awards

Inaugurated in 2009 as the Gold Coast Area Theatre Awards and now regarded as the highlight of the performance year in S.E. Queensland and Northern NSW, the Awards acknowledge the huge contribution made to the area’s entertainment life, by awarding participants in shows staged by local community theatre groups and high schools and colleges during the year.

A panel of judges visits dozens of musicals and plays staged by local companies in a catchment area encompassing Redcliffe in the north, Ballina in the south and Toowoomba and Ipswich in the west – and awards winners in categories covering set, costume, lighting and sound design, music and show direction, leads and support actors and actresses and many others.

Well-known Gold Coast arts benefactors Beverly and Jock McIlWain were the inaugural and continuing sponsors of the Gold Coast Area Theatre Awards’ Presentation Night. Sadly, both have now passed away. However, we have devoted part of a legacy left to us by the McIlwains to fund a Bursary which will continue the Beverly and Jock McIlwain Encouragement Award, presented to a young person who in the judges’ view has potential to develop into a professional performer.

The Friends of the Arts Foundation are very pleased to assist and give to the Gold Palm Theatre Awards.

Gold Coast Film Festival

The Gold Coast Film Festival’s purpose is to bring film to life in a distinctly Gold Coast way for local and visiting audiences and to help grow and support Queensland’s screen industry.

The Gold Coast Film Festival is an annual 12-day film festival in April with more than 100 film, panels, parties, pop-up cinemas and special events right across the Gold Coast.

The festival was established in 2002 and in 2014 shifted from a fantasy and sci-fi focus to a broader, international direction. From 2015-2018 the festival delivered a sharp increase in attendance, reputation and support.

The festival gained recognition nationally for the introduction of innovative initiatives to support gender equality in the screen industry in 2016 and was the venue for the launch of WIFT (Women in Film TV) Australia in 2018.

In 2017, with the support of Screen Queensland, the Gold Coast Film Festival became an AACTA-Award qualifying festival for feature films, one of only seven in Australia.

The Gold Coast Film Festival brings diverse Australian and International films, filmmakers and film events to the Gold Coast, enhancing the city’s cultural reputation, driving tourism and delivering economic impact to the region.

The Friends of the Arts Foundation are very pleased to assist and give to
the Gold Coast Film Festival.

Swell
Sculpture Festival

SWELL Sculpture Festival (SWELL) is a multifaceted arts organisation that connects people, art, and place, based in Currumbin, Gold Coast, Queensland. Since 2003 SWELL has exhibited 873 Sculptures in the main exhibition on Currumbin Beach with a portfolio value worth $15.5M.

SWELL has captured the hearts and minds of large and diverse audiences. SWELL makes arts, culture, and creativity accessible to people from all walks of life, inviting everyone to immerse themselves. Reimagining natural landscapes into outdoor, large-scale sculpture galleries and popping up within existing galleries and art spaces. With a strong focus on sculpture, SWELL’s sensory capabilities offer a symphony of experiences that ingrain memories and embed a connection to place. SWELL produces meaningful experiences for intergenerational audiences to share. SWELL is for everyone.

SWELL educates audiences to value arts, culture and creativity by inviting everyone to come and see for themselves. SWELL builds and maintain relationships and forms collaborations with fellow arts organisations with the sector to support, sustain, grow and thrive as we create together.

Significantly contributing to Queensland’s supercharged arts, culture, creative past and exciting future, SWELL is driven by values including excellence, experiential, inclusivity, and collaboration while promoting artist and provoking public engagement with art and community.

Being a platform for emerging, mid-career and professional artists alike, together forming a strong local, national and international community of artists, with relationships made and supporting each other for years into the future as they forge forward in their careers within the arts. SWELL strongly supports First Nations Arts, encouraging sharing of stories through visual arts and performing arts.

Friends of the Arts Foundation Educational Grants

The Friends of the Arts Foundation’s Gift Fund was established to help talented artists with limited finances to achieve higher levels of skill in their chosen disciplines. The definition of “artist” is broad and includes visual and performing arts and some crafts. Applications are accepted from any young, local artists residing on the Gold Coast.

Baylie Smith is a young, Gold Coast ballet dancer and winner of one of our 2022 Educational Grants. Since receiving her grant, Baylie has made the big move to Canada to commence her training with Canada’s National Ballet School. She is currently working towards the Assemblée Internationale s an Olympic-calibre gathering of pre-professional dancers and artistic directors from training schools and organisations around the world.

Please take a look at our past and present Educational Grant winners.

Baylie Smith – Previous Grant Winner (pictured)