This is a blog sharing the adventures, lessons, creative discoveries and behind-the-scenes insights on the road with Carclew & Country Arts SA’s Creative Producer Regional Youth, Alysha Herrmann.
The Creative Producer Regional Youth is a statewide position nurturing and supporting creative leaders, thinkers, makers, doers and explorers in their teens and early twenties (26 and under) living in regional, rural & remote South Australia.
Join the community of creative young people at Regional Creative Youth or get in contact with Alysha here.
Culture is shared by young people in so many different ways. We welcome it all.
Writing | Visual Art | Digital Art | Community Art | Music | Dance | Theatre | Your Art Here
The role of the Creative Producer is to:
- Produce new creative outcomes with young artistic leads from regional South Australia
- Champion, connect and nurture existing activities that serve or are led by young people in regional SA
- Encourage and provoke new ways of thinking about youth engagement within Country Arts SA. Be an internal champion for young people’s ideas and actively seek opportunities to connect young people with CASA’s broader work across the state.
- Encourage and support other Carclew staff to develop and deliver regional outcomes. Identify and nurture points of connections between the work of Carclew and CASA.
- Be an advocate for youth arts and regional arts
#letstalkyoutharts #regionalarts #makethings
12. 08. 2020
Connecting to Place

Written by Alex Travers Edited by Libby Parker I couldn’t wait to be an adult. I really wasn’t fussed with all that ‘being a teenager’ business. I had a constant preoccupation with growing up, getting out and knowing more. And so it was somewhat ironic that when I attended Writing Place I was less than […]
05. 08. 2020
The Importance of Community for Young Regional Writers

Written by Isidora Pandilovska Edited by Libby Parker Community and mentorship shapes writers, and Writing Place provided the community I desperately needed. I started my writing career in early 2019 by co-writing a play with my friend Charlotte Smith for the Year 10 cohort at my high school. This would not have been possible without […]
30. 07. 2020
Deadlines and Discoveries

Written by Lisa Semmler Edited by Libby Parker * Before (July 2019) – I am not a writer. I am just someone who likes to write. “Real” writers write all day, every day, with endless cups of coffee (or something stronger) in rooms filled with beautifully bound books, and with brilliant minds filled with clear, […]
23. 07. 2020
How I Found A Sense Of Community At Writing Place 2019

Written by Jordan Clayden-Lewis Edited by Libby Parker Home. Crossroads and dusty boots. A seal under the surface. Me As writers, we tend to etch from emotion – from fragments of experiences we’ve had, seen, or even dreamed. There’s a symbol behind every sentence. A voice behind every character; all these stories in your head […]
16. 07. 2020
I’m a Writer?

Written by Danielle Aquilina Edited by Libby Parker I once heard it said that ‘actors are simply the vessels to be filled by the words of writers’. Having a background in theatre and performance, I was not all that impressed to hear my function simplified so much. I have always respected writers for their linguistic […]
21. 01. 2020
2020 Tunes

Here we are in 2020! This is my last year as Creative Producer Regional Youth for Country Arts SA and Carclew – my last day will be 22nd October 2020 – so hit me up if you have ideas, need support, wanna brainstorm a new creative youth arts project. That’s what I’m here for. To […]
21. 10. 2019
Reflections from Writing Place

It’s been over a month since we said goodbye to everyone on the final day of Writing Place. Everyone flew (or drove) home and went back to their everyday lives. I’ve had other projects and work to keep me busy, but I’ve still been thinking about Writing Place. It was a huge undertaking for me […]
11. 09. 2019
On Writing Place

Done. We made it to the finish line. We brought together fourteen emerging regional playwrights from across regional Australia with mentors Emily Steel, Mary Anne Butler and Caleb Lewis for nine days. We laughed, cried, ate, learned, dreamed, connected, created, wrote. Here is a little snapshot of what Writing Place looked like and what it […]
10. 07. 2019
Squad Vid

Remember back in March when the Art Squad met face-to-face for the first time? Whelp, emerging film-maker Leighton Bond joined us for some of the ride and has put together this little snapshot. Go and check it out. PS – We’ve extended applications for Writing Place until 17th July.
28. 06. 2019
Writing (of/in) Place
The collective marketing might of Carclew, Country Arts SA and ATYP have been working really hard to spread the word about applications to attend Writing Place. The Carclew team have popped up a couple of little videos of me talking about some behind the scenes of what it’s all about, which you can find it […]
25. 05. 2019
Let’s Write!

Are you a regional writer (anywhere in regional Australia) aged 18-26? Join us at Writing Place this September. Writing Place is a joint project of Country Arts SA, Carclew and Australian Theatre for Young People and is supported by the Regional Arts Fund Strategic Initiatives. Writing Place is a one-week residency for regional writers and […]
30. 04. 2019
Visible with Ashton
Ashton’s path to the arts started as part of his rehabilitation after a very serious car accident in 2013. Ashton experienced multiple broken bones and a left-side brain injury which meant using a wheelchair to get around for many months and rediscovering many skills he’d once taken for granted. Along the way he also discovered […]
16. 04. 2019
Face-to-face with the Squad

Recently the nine participants of Art Squad gathered for four days of face-to-face time in Adelaide. Although the squad have been together as a cohort since October last year, their regular group interaction is via weekly video-link (we use Zoom) and digital collaboration hub Slack. Our time together in Adelaide was the first time most […]
10. 04. 2019
Squad Development

In creating the structure and the budget for Art Squad, one of the core things we wanted each of the squad to have was space to explore and invest in their particular pathway. Specifically I wanted for each squad member to have actual dollars they could invest in their professional development. I’ve had this kind […]
08. 02. 2019
Getting off the Ground: Regional National Studio

Back in April 2018 (!) I sent this message to Fraser Corfield, the Artistic Director of Australian Theatre for Young People: “I’m writing after a couple of conversations in regional South Australia. I’ve been doing regional visits in context of my new role to connect and listen and think about programming from 2018-2020 in this […]
21. 12. 2018
The Squad: A Beginning

Since being selected in October the Squad have had 3 Squad attend the National Regional Arts Conference with me (2018 was Artlands in Bendigo); had 7 #weeklygroup sessions (our group video calls using Zoom); collectively participated in twenty-eight 1:1’s with me; independently connected and checked in on each other through 3 x mini-groups; started sharing […]
10. 11. 2018
Artists in Schools: Port Augusta Secondary School

Carclew’s Artist in Schools Projects have been operating in various formats for many, many years and have produced a range of student led outcomes that support in-school curriculum and the profiling of schools in their local community. More than 75,000 South Australian students in junior primary, primary, secondary and area schools have participated in Carclew […]
05. 10. 2018
Meet the Squad

Meet the Squad The selection is official and the news is out! Meet our Art Squad: Lyall Ware- Campbell (19) he/him Ceduna Lyall is a proud Aboriginal man and the oldest of 6 siblings. His skill set is in digital media (film, photography, audio, music making) and he is passionate about setting […]
26. 09. 2018
Selecting the Squad
It was an incredible process to see applications for Art Squad roll in. And it was a tough decision to select the final nine. All of the applications were inspiring and interesting and an introduction to a new cohort of creative makers, leaders and doers. The selection process had two distinct layers. The first […]
14. 08. 2018
Building the Squad

Applications are now open for Art Squad, the first dedicated project from the Creative Producer, Youth program. All of the information about Art Squad, including how to apply is at this link. So why Art Squad? Art Squad is a starting place that has grown from the questions I posed right at the […]
10. 07. 2018
A HotHouse: Sleepless, soulful & sometimes silly.

Over the June long weekend 13 creative practitioners passionate about working with young people and in exploring regional practice converged on Whyalla. Attendees of the Youth Arts Facilitator HotHouse spent the weekend sharing practice, reflecting on personal and professional goals, scheming new ideas, unpacking big questions, being inspired by Whyalla and each other and considering […]
26. 04. 2018
Voices from 2028: Jess Martin

Four creative young people shared a letter from the future with the Country Arts SA whole of staff gathering in February, 2018. This letter is from Jessica Martin. Jess Martin is a writer and textile artist who grew up in Port Pirie and spent a lot of time at the Port Pirie Regional […]
09. 04. 2018
Voices from 2028: Jesse Budel

Four creative young people shared a letter from the future with the Country Arts SA whole of staff gathering in February, 2018. This letter is from Jesse Budel. Jesse Budel is a South Australia composer and sound artist, currently completing a PhD at Elder Conservatorium in ecological sound art. In 2017, he received […]
26. 03. 2018
Voices from 2028: Emma Richardson

Four creative young people shared a letter from the future with the Country Arts SA whole of staff gathering in February, 2018. This letter is from Emma Richardson. Emma Richardson is an emerging writer, artist and aspiring film-maker. She is a founding and current member of Kids Against Humanity with Carclew and City of […]
06. 03. 2018
Voices from 2028: Kirsty Williams

Four creative young people shared a letter from the future with the Country Arts SA whole of staff gathering in February, 2018. This letter is from Kirsty Williams. Kirsty Williams is a proud Kaurna, Nurrungar and Ngarrindjeri woman. She is a mother and performer and member of, Of Desert & Sea […]
23. 02. 2018
Voices from 2028: A whole of staff conversation

Each year the entire staff cohort of Country Arts SA gathers for two days of workshops, presentations, updates, conversation and connections. These all of staff days are an important way to nurture and maintain a healthy workplace culture (making sure everyone is on the same page and has all the relevant updates about direction, practical […]
12. 02. 2018
In the beginning: 10 Questions
This is an entirely new role. That means it has never existed before and there is no set of projects or way of working to inherit. That means I am figuring out what we do, how we do it, where we do it and when we do it. The only things that are certain […]