PAGE 1

WWW.CREATIVESPACES.NET.AU

PAGE 3

CONTENTS

ABOUT CREATIVE SPACES 4

PROJECTS 5

THE CREATIVE SPACES WEBSITE 10

OBJECTIVES 12

HISTORY 13

CONTACT CREATIVE SPACES 14

PAGE 5

01. ABOUT CREATIVE SPACES

THE CREATIVE SPACES PROGRAM SOURCES, SECURES AND

MANAGES WORK AND EXHIBITION SPACES FOR PEOPLE

IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES. IT PROVIDES KNOWLEDGE,

EXPERTISE AND RESOURCES TO ARTISTS, ARTS

ORGANISATIONS, GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE AND PUBLIC

SECTORS.

Creative Spaces is a program of the City of Melbourne. It partners with

government, philanthropic, private organisations, and educational

institutions to provide a broad range of services around space for arts

and cultural production. The program underwrites cultural production

by brokering, letting, subletting and developing affordable space for the

creative industries. Where space is available Creative Spaces brokers it.

Where space is in short supply, it creates it.

02. PROJECTS

CREATIVE SPACES OPERATES OPPORTUNISTICALLY

AND AT A MINIMAL COST TO THE CITY OF MELBOURNE.

ITS PROJECTS ARE DESIGNED TO BE FINANCIALLY

SUSTAINABLE ONCE OPERATIONAL.

BOYD SCHOOL STUDIOS

The former J.H Boyd Girls’ High School at 207-229 City Rd Southbank

was bought by the City of Melbourne from the State government in

December 2007.

Two significant buildings exist on the .7 hectare property. One is a

heritage building built in 1884-85 with a 1930 extension, and the second,

a 1970s two-storey building.

The 1970s building was Creative Spaces’ demonstration project to

show property owners how a disused building could be refurbished

as temporary affordable artist studios during an interim period of

PAGE 4

PAGE 7

RIVER STUDIOS

A vacant warehouse on the edge of the Maribyrnong River, 41-59 Sims

St West Melbourne has been refurbished by Creative Spaces as 60 artist

studios housing 85 artists. This 3000m2 space provided a new model

of development for the City of Melbourne, leasing the building from the

private sector to provide affordable workspace for artists.

River Studios was developed as a partnership between the City of

Melbourne, Arts Victoria and the owner of the building (Tabilk Nominees).

Each party contributed $100,000 towards the building’s refurbishment,

which included a lift. Building work occurred over a period of 16 weeks.

Adaptive re-use of buildings is a sustainable practice that the City of

Melbourne actively promotes. Council’s 1200 Buildings Program, which

focuses on sustainable retrofits of office buildings, is complimented by

refurbishments of vacant property as creative workspace.

development. Occupied premises generate income for the property

owners through rent as well as providing security for the building and

creating safety for the neighbourhood.

Boyd School Studios in the 1970s building is a temporary space as

the building is slated for demolition. It offers month-to-month licenses

to artists who have contractually agreed to vacate the property

when needed by Council. The space was refurbished for $30,000 in

nine weeks from building application to final inspection. It has been

operational for over three years at full capacity and has housed over 80

artists in 23 studios.

In 2012 the heritage building was refurbished as a library, café, artist

studios, meeting rooms and consulting rooms for parents with small

children. It is a new model of development that explores the relationship

between knowledge, health and culture as drivers for the creation of a

healthy, vibrant and inclusive community. Creative Spaces will manage

the artist studios in Boyd and will serve as the cultural anchor for the

overall site.

PAGE 6

06. GET INVOLVED

THE CREATIVE SPACES WEBSITE IS A FREE RESOURCE

AVAILABLE TO BOTH MANAGERS OF SPACES AND CREATIVE

PRACTITIONERS LOOKING FOR LOCATIONS IN WHICH TO

DEVELOP, EXHIBIT OR PERFORM THEIR WORK. THE SUCCESS

OF THE WEBSITE IS HINGED ON THE CONTRIBUTIONS MADE

BY THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT.

Any property owner or manager, including real estate agents, can list

spaces suitable for creative use, including spaces that might be difficult

to lease to traditional tenants but are appropriate for creative purposes.

Creative practitioners are encouraged to nominate spaces they have

used in the past that are not yet listed on the website. The website

administrator will follow up the spaces to allow other practitioners to

benefit from them too.

Log on to www.creativespaces.net.au and start listing or looking for

space today.

Contact us:

Creative Spaces

info@creativespaces.net.au

PAGE 11

03. CREATIVE SPACES WEBSITE

CREATIVE SPACES WEBSITE THE CREATIVE SPACES WEBSITE

IS A FREE RESOURCE THAT MATCHES CREATIVE PEOPLE

WITH CREATIVE SPACES ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

The Creative Spaces website includes a searchable database, case

studies, resources and a regular newsletter. It also assists managers and

owners of venues to promote their spaces directly to the people who

need them. Festivals, tertiary institutions, governments, philanthropic

and private organisations benefit from the ease of having one central

resource for students, members, applicants and constituents.

The Creative Spaces website has become a centralised resource for

creative spaces across Australia; enabling creative practitioners in all

areas of the country to easily access suitable venues and spaces in their

own areas as well as in areas to which they plan to travel. The website

also assists international practitioners and organisations to assess

creative spaces across Australia for their touring shows or temporary

work spaces.

The website provides a free outlet for venue managers to promote their

spaces to creative people and organisations. It enables each venue

manager to update details of their spaces as changes occur, keeping

information current

– www.creativespaces.net.au

PAGE 10

PAGE 13

04. OBJECTIVES

CREATIVE SPACES IDENTIFIES, SECURES, DEVELOPS AND

MANAGES AFFORDABLE SPACE – IN BOTH THE PRIVATE AND

PUBLIC SECTORS – SPECIFICALLY FOR CREATIVE USE.

Its key objectives are:

• To foster the production of art within the City of Melbourne

• To facilitate artists to live and work in the City of Melbourne

• To encourage arts organisations and creative industries to base

themselves in the City of Melbourne

• To assist the City of Melbourne to achieve its arts and culture

objectives through the creative use of spaces

• To contribute to the activation of Melbourne streets and the

development of lively neighbourhoods

• To enhance the reputation and profile of Melbourne

• To consult and provide leadership to other organisations undertaking

projects that house creative practice

05. HISTORY

CREATIVE SPACES BEGAN AS A DATABASE DESIGNED

TO LOCATE AFFORDABLE AND AVAILABLE SPACES IN

THE MELBOURNE CBD. IT WAS INITIATED BY THE CITY

OF MELBOURNE TO PROVIDE AN ONLINE RESOURCE TO

IDENTIFY SPACES SUITABLE FOR CULTURAL PRODUCTION IN

THE CITY.

In 2006 Arts Victoria contributed funds to expand the scope of the

database to include spaces in inner metropolitan Melbourne and then

again in 2007 to include outer metropolitan Melbourne. In 2008 the

partnership with Arts Victoria and RMIT’s Design Research Institute,

resulted in the creation of a stand-alone website that included creative

spaces across Victoria.

In September 2007, the City of Melbourne endorsed the Housing the Arts

Report that became part of the Creative Spaces mandate. This mandate

includes the Future Melbourne objective that, “To be a creative city,

Melbourne must draw in ideas people who will share and learn and teach

– not push them out financially. We must work together to ensure artists

can afford to live and work in the municipality, as well as access space to

create and exhibit. Artists contribute to Melbourne’s vibrancy, and their

presence enriches all of our lives”. Future Melbourne: Creative City.

Today Creative Spaces is advised by the Creative Spaces Working

Group, a committee made up of artists, academics, property developers,

architects and Council representatives.

PAGE 12

PAGE 15

06. CONTACT US

CREATIVE SPACES IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW

OPPORTUNITIES, WHETHER YOU’RE A PROPERTY OWNER

WITH AN UNDERUTILISED OR UNUSED SPACE, A COUNCIL

LOOKING TO LICENSE THE CREATIVE SPACES WEBSITE, OR

IF YOU’RE JUST INTERESTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE

PROGRAM.

Any property owner or manager, including real estate agents, can

list spaces suitable for creative use on the Creative Spaces website,

including spaces that might be difficult to lease to traditional tenants but

are appropriate for creative purposes.

Log on to www.creativespaces.net.au and start listing or looking for

space today.

Contact us:

Creative Spaces

e: info@creativespaces.net.au

p: +61 3 9658 9658

Social Media

twitter.com/creativespaces

facebook.com/creativespacesaustralia

instagram.com/creativespaces

PAGE 14