The Highlights

Footscray Community Arts Centre is seeking to raise $21,600, which will be matched by a group of awesome partners, to reach the $100,000 required to install a suite of renewable infrastructure at FCAC including

• 40kW of Solar Panels, supplying close to 30% of all our power needs
• A Tesla Powerwall Battery System
• LED lighting for the FCAC Performance Space, cutting energy and operating costs while enhancing our performance space for artists

Financial impact and legacy:

FCAC's annual electricity bill is approximately $36,000 per year. Solar infrastructure, LED lighting and battery storage will make savings of about $14,000 per year in energy costs for the organisation. By the time FCAC turns 50 (in 2025) we will have saved $126,000 in energy costs!

How will those savings be used by FCAC?

FCAC will transfer these savings of $14,000 per annum to the FCAC communities, artists and audiences through the funding of the CALL TO CREATE program.

Call to Create was initiated in 2014 to provide in-kind venue and producer support to artists and communities showcasing work that is socially, culturally and politically relevant to our contemporary Australian context. Examples of funded projects include:

Encre Noire - Artists Wani Toa and Murphy Kahasha explore the world of language from verses and flow, through spoken word

In Plain Sanskrit - A 3,000 year old Indian tradition is performed on stage in 21st century Australia. Raina Peterson and Govind Pillai, children of the vast Indian diaspora, poke at the edges of tradition and kick up the ashes of history.

Recovering From War - The first solo exhibition by Marin Malet, an Australian South Sudanese artist.

The Man Who Committed Thought - Patrice Naiambana’s solo show The Man Who Committed Thought is inspired by the courage and humour of the people of Africa and all those who have dared to challenge ignorance and oppression.

Call To Create applications are sought twice annually and selections made by FCAC’s Creative Producers.

What are the impacts for artists and audiences?

Beyond the support of new works through Call to Create, the infrastructure improvements will have direct benefits for visitors to FCAC.

LED lighting technology will improve the experience that audiences and artists have in our Performance Space and galleries. As the premier community engaged, contemporary arts space for Melbourne's west, we aim to provide the best quality venue to our community. FCAC developed and presented 42 new works in 2015 across visual arts, theatre, dance and music. Supporting this infrastructure allows us to literally present works of art relevant to our community and the wider Australian social context, in the best possible light.

FCAC aims to be the place where important conversations happen. Attracting nationally significant works of art that are relevant to our local community context is one way that we deepen these conversations. In experimental, emerging and independent arts, simply the cost of hiring additional lighting can be prohibitive for artists. By reducing these costs, we will become a venue of choice for many more artists.

Footscray Community Arts Centre is seeking to raise $21,600, which will be matched by a group of awesome partners, to reach the $100,000 required to install a suite of renewable infrastructure at FCAC including

• 40kW of Solar Panels, supplying close to 30% of all our power needs
• A Tesla Powerwall Battery System
• LED lighting for the FCAC Performance Space, cutting energy and operating costs while enhancing our performance space for artists

Matched funding

Your donation already has the support of a group of awesome partners, including Creative Partnerships Australia, The People’s Solar and other local business and government supporters who have agreed to match our campaign target. Thanks to them, we only need to raise $20,000 to make this $100,000 project happen.

About us

Footscray Community Arts Centre (FCAC) is a community-engaged, contemporary arts centre working with local, regional and international communities.

We collaborate with artists, communities and organisations to build capacity, create opportunities and drive social change. We are the place where important conversations happen: we then action; we cultivate; we deepen.

FCAC was established in 1974 by a group of artists and community activists with a clear agenda of access for all. This group of founders and pioneers successfully advocated to state and federal funding bodies for an arts centre in Footscray, around an identified need to work with marginalised and disadvantaged communities.

For over 40 years, FCAC has been an innovative, artistic and cultural hub in the heart of Footscray. Our program, impact and audiences have national and international reach, and FCAC has received widespread recognition for its pioneering practice in community arts and cultural development.

In 2015, we reached our goals of Innovation, Diversity, Leadership, Sustainability and Access through the following activity:

More than 40 new works produced or presented, including more than 20 exhibitions

More than 80,000 people engaged through programs, events and activities

More than 1,600 events and activities produced and presented

More than 200 paid artists and creatives engaged

More than 1000 hours of support from volunteers

More than 70 programming partners

Turn the Lights On is supported by Creative Partnerships Australia through Plus1.

Its always a challenge running a arts organisation