BRANCHING OUT

Life is never dull when you are working in the arts. With announcements of funding cuts from everyone from the State Government to ABC Television, there is a rumbling going on amongst arts organisations and artists.

I am hearing conversations about sharing resources, looking for new funding avenues and other ventures that can build income. While it's a challenging time, it's also an exciting opportunity for us all to lift our heads and start talking to each other. Rather than scrambling for the same bits of money, perhaps there are other answers.

For me, there is a lovely relationship between all my roles at the moment. My work as a private consultant led me to TRA and the role of managing Branching Out, the social enterprise project. This then led to working with the Institute for Regional Development as Research Associate on the Tasmanian Social Enterprise Study. TRA's CEO is on the advisory group for this project and continues to show a strong commitment to social enterprise in Tasmania.

This is particularly evident through the partnership with Tasmanian Council of Social Services (TasCOSS) where we sought funds to bring Dr Ernesto Sirolli to Tasmania. His approach was supporting what we were finding through our connection to the state. Since then we held the first Trinity of Management training in the state with involvement from a broad range of organisations and we hope to fund at least 2 social enterprise facilitators for Tasmania to work across sectors, including the arts. It's an interesting model that focuses on enabling the environment around social enterprises and making things happen. So, watch this space as we work with a range of partners and stakeholders to build on the momentum of Branching Out and the work of others in the social enterprise sector.