Objective

The aim of the Arts OutWest Country Arts Support Program (CASP) is to support arts and cultural development in the NSW Central West through small grants.

CASP IN NSW

CASP is an annual small grants program devolved from the NSW Government through Create NSW.

It is guided by the NSW Government’s Arts Cultural Funding Program’s three major objectives:

• Grow creative leadership and programming excellence in NSW
• Strengthen NSW arts and cultural activity that drives community and social benefits
• Showcase NSW as a leader for strategic arts and cultural governance and strong financial management.

The fund is delivered in partnership with the 14 Regional Arts Development Organisations.

GOALS OF ARTS OUTWEST CASP 2024

• Generating arts,* heritage or creative activities that have exciting creative outcomes
• Employment opportunities for artists and arts workers
• Opportunities for people across our region to access a diverse range of arts and cultural activity
• Enable locally determined arts and cultural activity
• Enable communities, collectives or artists to explore and express their cultural identities
• Bring social and economic benefits to communities through training, employment and new experiences
• Increase the sustainability and resilience of regionally based community arts organisations, businesses and creatives.

Eligible ACTIVITIES:

Activities occurring in the Arts OutWest service area, the LGAs of: Bathurst Region, Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra, Forbes, Lachlan, Lithgow, Mid-Western, Oberon, Orange, Parkes and Weddin.

Examples of eligible activities include (but are not limited to): Arts or heritage based workshops, classes, performances, installations, exhibitions, screen/film making, writing or composition, development of new work, tours or talks, artist-in-residence programs, recordings or podcasts, new arts activities attached to festivals or events – as long as they have some element of public outcome**.

In addition:

• CASP funding must be primarily used for the payment of artists’ or arts workers’ fees and expenses.
• If the activity in the application is part of a festival or other larger event, the CASP funded activity must be a defined, separate, stand-alone element.
• Activities with Aboriginal cultural elements must include either a letter of support or a reference contact from a suitable Aboriginal organisation, group or business. Refer to the Create NSW Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Protocol
• Commercial entities, arts business and those applying as individuals will need to show in the outline of their application that their proposed activity meets the essential criteria including “having a positive impact (cultural, social or economic) either on a regional community or on regional artists”, beyond the immediate financial benefit to their business or self.
• Activities must be covered by public liability insurance of the organisation, business or individual applying (see the FAQs for more info).
• Occur in the timeframe: 1 February 2024 – 31 December 2024.

Ineligible ACTIVITIES:

• Activities that have previously been funded through CASP
• Activities not occurring in the Arts OutWest region
• Activities in which the core activity does not benefit communities or artists in the Arts OutWest region
• Activities that are not primarily arts or cultural activities
• Competitions, prizes and adjudication fees
• General sponsorship of events
• Core administration costs of an organisation
• Activities that are part of the curriculum of schools
• Capital works
• Completed activities or activities that have already commenced

Eligible APPLICANTS:

• People or organisations whose residence or main place of practice is within one of the 12 council areas that make up the Arts OutWest region: Bathurst Region, Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra, Forbes, Lachlan, Lithgow, Mid-Western, Oberon, Orange, Parkes and Weddin.
• Not-for-profit organisations; ***Groups (including collectives); A local government authority; Arts-based businesses; Individuals.
• Applicants are required to discuss their proposal with Arts OutWest staff before applying.

Ineligible APPLICANTS:

• Based outside of the Arts OutWest region
• Organisations and bodies that are part of state or federal government
• Schools
• Applicants with overdue CASP or Create NSW funding acquittals (not including projects still to be completed)
• Applicants who have not discussed their application with Arts OutWest staff

*Arts

’Arts’ includes all art forms and also activities with a history and heritage focus.

**Public outcomes

Public outcomes might include: workshops, classes, performances, public readings, screenings, parades, festivals, talks, exhibitions, demonstrations, installations, publications, events, radio broadcasts, podcasts, recordings, show-and-tell or similar.

The public outcome doesn’t need to be the full activity eg: an activity around script development or composing music might conclude with a short public reading or showing. An activity itself need not be ‘open to the public’ to have a public outcome eg: a workshop could be tailored to a targeted group of participants.

***Groups

For this application a group is two or more individuals working together on a project or program. Groups may be legally constituted or an informal working collaboration. They may be an entity that exists long-term, or a project specific association. It is recommended that a group have at least a simple formal agreement between members. Note that Public Liability insurance is required, and this may influence what type of entity you apply as. See the FAQ section from more information.