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M T N S

M A D E

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M T N S M A D E I S T H E

C U LT U R A L I D E N T I T Y F O R T H E

C R E A T I V E I N D U S T R I E S I N T H E B L U E M O U N T A I N S

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C R M A R K G R E E N H I L LB l u e M o u n t a i n s M a y o r

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the MTNS MADE Creative Industries Symposium at the Fairmont Resort in Leura.

It is an exciting time to be a creative professional in the Blue Mountains, with so many opportunities, including this Symposium, being facilitated by Blue Mountains Economic Enterprise (BMEE). Blue Mountains City Council is proud to support BMEE and the work it is doing to grow and strengthen the local creative industries.

You can see the impact BMEE’s work is having already – from the new creative businesses setting up shop in the Blue Mountains, to the increase in local products being sold by our retailers, to the residents walking down Leura Mall wearing their MTNS MADE t-shirt.

MTNS MADE and the Blue Mountains creative industries are being talked about around the country, from magazines in Melbourne to conferences in Brisbane to the stage of Vivid Ideas in Sydney. The momentum is infectious, and it is showing no signs of slowing down.

I have no doubt the connections and learnings you will gain at this Symposium will continue to add strength to your creative business, and to our local creative industries more broadly. I hope you have a wonderful, creative two days here in Leura.

W E L C O M E

Image : Gary P. Hayes

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W E L C O M E

K E L LY H E Y L E NC r e a t i v e I n d u s t r i e s C l u s t e r M a n a g e r

I am thrilled to be able to bring you the second annual Creative Industries Symposium – and the first to carry our stunning MTNS MADE branding!

Since our first Symposium in May 2015 the creative industries in the Blue Mountains has gone from strength to strength. We have MTNS MADE out in the marketplace, telling our success stories and putting our beautiful region on the map as a hub of world-class creative talent. The MTNS MADE logo is popping up on artisanal products, websites – and even films – everywhere I look, and we have an incredible website featuring the work and stories of more than 300 local creatives.

The Creative Industries Symposium is all about building on these strengths by helping creatives in the practicalities of running creative small businesses. Our lineup of speakers is truly exceptional, and I am looking forward to two exciting days of learning, exchanging and connecting with some of the most talented and inspiring creatives I’ve ever met, from the Blue Mountains and beyond.

Finally, I want to thank our wonderful sponsors, without whom this event would not be possible: Scenic World, Western Sydney Business Centre and TAFE Western Sydney. It is so heartening to have local organisations getting behind our local creative industries. Thank you! Happy Symposium everyone!

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K E Y N O T E S P E A K E R S

& M A S T E R C L A S S

P R E S E N T E R S

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J E S S S C U L L YK e y n o t e S p e a k e r

Jess Scully is a curator, policy thinker, festival director and media producer who is passionate about using creativity to inspire social change: she seeks to curate projects that inspire curiosity, spark conversation and explore opportunities for the arts and creativity to deliver impact in communities and add value to the broader economy.

Jess is the curator of Vivid Ideas: an annual event connecting creative practitioners and businesses with global leaders, to support professional development and expand market opportunities for the sector. She is also one of the curators of TEDxSydney, helping to deliver one of the most sophisticated talks events in the world.

As a public art consultant, Jess is delivering permanent public art and temporary projects for Green Square Library and Plaza. She is also public art curator for 60 Martin Place and Barrack Place (for Investa), and public realm activations at Quay Quarter Sydney (for AMP Capital). She is a member of the Barangaroo arts and culture panel.

In the past, Jess served as policy advisor to the NSW Minister of the Arts, directed the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards (SOYA), and edited magazines including Empty, Yen and SummerWinter.

K E Y N O T E S P E A K E R S

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J E N NY K E EK e y n o t e S p e a k e r

A pioneer of Australian style and internationally acclaimed artist and designer, Jenny Kee’s vibrant art and design reflects her passion for the unique and precious Australian environment.

Over 40 years, Jenny’s work has appeared on silk, on paper, on wool, on cotton, on ceramics and on canvas. Her creativity has been shaped by an eclectic mix of global influences, from Aboriginal Australian to early European, and the exotic arts of Africa, India, Asia and South America. Jenny’s distinctive style has evolved, steeped in a passion for nature, to reflect a “strong, spontaneous, bold and optimistic” Australia.

Her designs are world renowned, exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW, the Australian National Gallery, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, the Marimura Museum in Tokyo and Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. The Powerhouse Museum has an extensive archive, highlighting decades of Kee’s design career.

Jenny has been awarded the Prix de Marie Claire award and The Australian Fashion Laureate. In 2013 she was inducted into the Design Institute of Australia ‘Hall of Fame’. She is currently featured in 200 Years of Australian Fashion at NGV Melbourne.

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K E Y N O T E S P E A K E R S

M O N I C A D A V I D S O NK e y n o t e S p e a k e r & M a s t e r c l a s s p r e s e n t e r

Monica Davidson is a writer, filmmaker and business consultant for people working in the arts. She has never had a so-called ‘proper’ job – she started her career as a journalist while still at high school, and moved into film production at university.

After freelancing for a couple of years Monica set up her own production company in the early 1990s, and while she felt confident about her creative abilities she realised at that point just how little she knew about business. While there was plenty of information available for start-up small businesses, none was tailored specifically for creative people. So, as she learned about running her own creative business, Monica shared her information by running information workshops about business for other creative people.

Twenty years later, she is a recognised expert in the field of creative industries and entrepreneurship.

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S T U A R T B U C H A N A NM a s t e r c l a s s P r e s e n t e r & P a n e l i s t

Born in Scotland and now resident in the Blue Mountains, Stuart has been at the intersection of culture, technology and media for over twenty years, as a director, producer and marketer of innovative creative work.

Fiercely passionate about the development of new audiences for music, arts and culture, he works as an independent consultant for clients such as Sydney Opera House, Museum Of Contemporary Art, TEDxSydney and Art Gallery of New South Wales, and earlier this year founded the creative content startup, Lovely.

Stuart has lectured at many cultural conferences and events and continues to run a sold-out series of Masterclasses for The Guardian. He is currently Chair of Underbelly Arts and regularly presents on both FBi Radio and ABC Double J.

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M A S T E R C L A S S P R E S E N T E R S

J E N NY- L E E H E Y L E NM a s t e r c l a s s P r e s e n t e r

Jenny-Lee Heylen has been a professional grant assessor within the university sector for 17 years, giving frank and fearless advice to grant applicants to improve the quality and success rate of their funding applications. She won’t write your grant application for you, but she can provide tips on improving your writing style, tailoring your message, proof-reading, editing, project design, and more. Over the years Jenny-Lee has helped researchers and creatives secure millions of dollars in grant funding for various projects.

Jenny-Lee is also a speculative fiction author with six published titles (appearing as J-L Heylen), all of which are available on Amazon and Smashwords.

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M A S T E R C L A S S P R O G R A M

F R I D AY 2 4 J U N E

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M a s t e r c l a s s 1 : T o p T e n T i p s f o r C r e a t i v e B u s i n e s s – F a s t , F u n a n d F u l l y P r a c t i c a l , w i t h M o n i c a D a v i d s o n

Where do you begin when it comes to addressing all the different needs of a business in the creative industries? In a half day session, this presentation identifies the ten most essential areas of focus for anyone running or starting a creative business. Goal setting, business planning, time management, money, marketing and more – in this action-packed presentation learn some practical tips to help with the reality of running an arts business from an expert with over 25 years experience in the creative industries.

The Top Ten Tips are relevant no matter what your profession – filmmakers, writers, designers, visual artists, musicians, composers, dancers, performers – all can benefit from an insider’s experience with the basics of business.

All participants at a Top Ten Tips presentation receive a link to a bespoke website with links and notes, a PDF handout stuffed full of resources and exercises, and a chance to network with others just like them.

M a s t e r c l a s s 2 : P e r s o n a l b r a n d i n g w i t h S t u a r t B u c h a n a n

Every business has a brand, but in a world of direct access and increasing connectivity, we’re also becoming brands ourselves. Individuals can no longer hide behind their business brand – you can win work on the strength of your public profile, and lose work due to the lack of one.

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F R I D AY P R O G R A M

Building on the success of his presentation at last year’s Blue Lab, Stuart Buchanan is back with an extended session on personal branding in a hands-on Masterclass. In this session, Stuart offers an in-depth look at the concepts behind personal branding, as well as actionable, practical advice in the art of getting your name out there.

M a s t e r c l a s s 3 : D e m y s t i f y i n g g r a n t w r i t i n g w i t h J e n n y - L e e H e y l e n

Have you tried to get grant funding and failed? Do you lack confidence or think other people always look better on paper than you do? Have you never tried because it all seems too hard?

There’s an art to writing successful grant applications, from explaining your idea to setting a realistic budget to understanding what assessors are looking for. Using real-world examples, Jenny-Lee will share her knowledge of grant writing and assessment to take your next grant application to the winning level.

Come to this Masterclass prepared to write, critique and be critiqued as Jenny-Lee leads you through a critical analysis of how to improve an existing application and how to apply your new skills to future grant applications.

Participants should bring: an unsuccessful grant application or draft grant application that you have worked on. If you have never written a grant application before please bring an idea and the application form for a grant you would like to apply for.

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C O N F E R E N C EP R O G R A MS A T U R D AY

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Including Welcome to Country, opening remarks from Blue Mountains Mayor, Cr Mark Greenhill and conference welcome from Creative Industries Cluster Manager, Kelly Heylen.

9 . 4 5 - 1 0 . 3 0K e y n o t e a d d r e s s : J e s s S c u l l y

The Vivid Ideas Festival has been named by The Guardian as one of the top 10 ideas festivals in the world. Vivid Ideas Curator Jess Scully shares her experience of working with creative practitioners from around the world and the importance of collaboration in the creative industries.

1 0 . 3 0 - 1 0 . 4 0S p o t l i g h t : S c e n i c W o r l d

Sculpture at Scenic World is a wonderful opportunity for local artists to exhibit in a local rainforest setting, have their artwork enjoyed by tens of thousands of local and international visitors, and appraised by a highly esteemed industry judging panel. Heading into it’s 6th year for 2017, learn insider tips on making your exhibition submission a winner, bringing you one step closer to winning the coveted $20,000 Scenic World Major Award.

1 0 . 4 0 - 1 1 . 1 0M o r n i n g t e a & n e t w o r k i n g

1 1 . 1 0 - 1 1 . 5 5P a n e l d i s c u s s i o n : S o c i a l s e l l s : m a k i n g a l i v i n g o n l i n e

So you know Etsy, Instagram and SoundCloud exist – but is it really possible to make a living selling your creative work online? Our panel of experts do exactly that, and they’re willing and ready to share their secrets of success with you.

Panelists: Ben Tankard, Brianna Peterson, Julie Paterson, Martyn Palmer

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1 1 . 5 5 - 1 2 . 4 0P a n e l d i s c u s s i o n : W o r k i n g w i t h c l i e n t s – t h e g o o d , t h e b a d a n d t h e u g l y

What do you do when you have a client who won’t pay you? Who owns your work if you produce it for a client? How do you work with clients who are interstate or overseas? Get the answers to these questions and more as our panel of creative experts share their experiences of working with all kinds of clients. Learn what to do – and importantly, what not to do.

Panelists: Hannah Surtees, Jo Chipperfield, Julie Paterson, Tohby Riddle

1 2 . 4 0 - 1 2 . 5 0S p o t l i g h t : W e s t e r n S y d n e y B u s i n e s s C e n t r e

Carencia Harris from WSBC will provide an overview of the range of business services WSBC can offer creative small businesses, including fully subsidised business advice.

1 2 . 5 0 - 1 . 5 0L u n c h & n e t w o r k i n g

1 . 5 0 - 2 . 3 5K e y n o t e a d d r e s s : J e n n y K e e

Jenny Kee is not just a fashion designer, she is a cultural icon. Jenny will talk about her distinguished design career, how she draws inspiration for her work from the Blue Mountains, and the significance of the waratah, both in her work and personal life.

2 . 3 5 - 3 . 2 0Pa n e l d i s c u s s i o n : M o n e y, m o n e y, m o n e y… a n d a r t

What is a portfolio career and why are they so prevalent in the creative industries? Forget waiting tables to support your creative habit: our panel of creative experts talk about how they make a living doing the thing they love in multiple places – and show you how you can make a living doing what you love too.

Panelists: Jo Chipperfield, Kevina-Jo Smith, Matt Drummond, Stuart Buchanan

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3 . 2 0 - 3 . 3 0S p o t l i g h t : T A F E W e s t e r n S y d n e y

Cath Barcan, Head Teacher, Visual Arts and Photo Imaging at TAFE Western Sydney will share the exciting range of creative courses that are available across the Blue Mountains and Western Sydney campuses.

3 . 3 0 - 4 . 0 0A f t e r n o o n t e a & n e t w o r k i n g

4 . 0 0 - 4 . 4 5P a n e l d i s c u s s i o n : I f y o u b u i l d i t … w i l l t h e y c o m e ?

Whether it’s customers, wholesalers or audience members, getting people interested in your creative work is hard. Our panel of creative experts share their experience of what works and what doesn’t for building a loyal following of people who want to buy your stuff.

Panelists: Brianna Peterson, Martyn Palmer, Matt Drummond, Stuart Buchanan

4 . 4 5 - 5 . 3 0K e y n o t e a d d r e s s : M o n i c a D a v i d s o n

Buzzwords like ‘innovation’, ‘digital disruption’ and ‘design thinking’ are everywhere – even the Prime Minister is a fan. But what does any of it actually mean and how is it relevant to you? Monica Davidson breaks down these ideas and more, looking at the future of making a living in the creative industries.

S A T U R D AY P R O G R A M

Confidential Business Advice Fully Subsidised Available Across Western Sydney

BUSINESS ADVICE & TRAINING

W W W . W S B U S I N E S S . C O M . A U

Our Centre has been giving award winning business advice locally for over 28 years. In the past 12 months, our office has seen over 2,000 businesses face to face making us Western Sydney’s premier business advice and training provider. To achieve business excellence and future success, businesses must constantly evolve to take advantage of new market opportunities to remain relevant and profitable. Our Centre constantly uses strategies that others haven’t thought of yet and speak of proactive ideas that haven’t yet been documented. Being willing to take calculated risks and think different is at the forefront of our advice. We offer two fully subsidised appointments for you to meet with a qualified and experienced business advisor to discuss your new or existing small business needs. Meet with a business advisor at your place of business or visit one of our conveniently located offices across Western Sydney.

Workshops Training Programs Networking

To make an appointment or find out more, call our head office 02 4721 5011 or visit our website.

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B e n T a n k a r d

Ben Tankard is a painter living and working in Blaxland, in the lower Blue Mountains. He has a BA in Fine Arts from Western Sydney University, and has had work included in prizes and shows such as the Sulman Prize, Mosman Prize, Calleen Art Prize, Gallipoli Art Prize, and was shortlisted for the Doug Moran Portrait Prize.

He paints in a variety of styles and media, producing diverse works, from surrealist landscapes to large, impasto abstract paintings. His works are held in collections in Australia, New Zealand, the US, UK, and Singapore.

A lot of his sales and success comes through social media, which has been essential to his career.

B r i a n n a P e t e r s o n

Brianna is the owner and creator behind Mrs Peterson Pottery, a unique brand of handmade ceramic jewellery and homewares. Starting her business from the kitchen table, she now operates from a small backyard studio in the Blue Mountains. Over the past six years she has sold her work to over 13 countries, 60 retailers and attended events both large and small across Australia.

Doing things by hand is all part of running this small online business. Everything from making, packaging, online social media and marketing to customer service is done by this one woman show.

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H a n n a h S u r t e e s

Hannah Surtees is a graphic designer specialising in strategic visual branding. She has a BA in Design and 20 years ago Hannah cut her teeth at 20/20, one of London’s leading creative design agencies, and one that paved the way for strategic brand creation and evolution.

Hannah migrated to Australia in 2000 and worked for Landini Associates in Sydney where she learned how to apply her strategic brand design knowledge to the Australian retail market. Eight years ago, Hannah made the tree-change to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains with her husband Mark, and together they set up Studio ham, a multi-disciplinary design studio that specialises in graphic design and bespoke lighting for commercial interiors.

PA N E L I S T S

J o C h i p p e r f i e l d

Jo Chipperfield freelanced as an editor and copywriter for 13 years, and now works part-time using those skills while also being a writer, novice printmaker and potter, and a writing consultant. She is a mentor specialising in crime and non-fiction with Varuna the National Writers’ House. She has one non-fiction manuscript under review with Random House (where it may or may not have fallen down the back of a filing cabinet), and is getting towards the end of the first instalment in a fiction series (a 1920s police procedural). Once she’s done with that she will return to a novella in another genre and start thinking about selling some art.

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J u l i e P a t e r s o n

Julie Paterson is a painter, printmaker and designer of textiles. Her design and fabric-printing business, ClothFabric, features designs inspired by the local landscape, printed in small batches by hand in a shed in her backyard. What on the surface might sound like a small lifestyle business is actually a significant Australian design success story – over the last 20 years, Julie has created innumerable collections, sold through her former retails store in Darlinghurst, and now through Ascraft in Sydney and Melbourne, and has been featured in publications such as Habitus, House & Garden and Country Style.

To cap off her 20th anniversary year, Julie published her first book, ClothBound with Murdoch Press.

K e v i n a -J o S m i t h

Kevina draws sustenance and inspiration from the Blue Mountains. Her work is concerned with exploring environments and cultural climates, through both exhibited works and the lived process behind those pieces.

Using discarded and up-cycled materials, she employs a complex system of rules that formalise coincidence, maintaining a space for chaos within the works, in line with the contradiction of order and chaos that exists within the natural world. Kevina’s labour-intensive processes serve as a tribute to the natural world and a ritual protecting against its destruction.

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M a r t y n P a l m e r ( a k a B r o k e n C h i p )

There’s a lot of magic happening in Australia at the moment, of which we may document more of in the future but for now let us turn our gaze to the Blue Mountains, where Martyn Palmer as Broken Chip is crafting digital masterpieces using Ableton, his SP-404, his Kaoss Pad and a Microkorg, intricate and haunting music we imagine must be inspired by a remote and harmonious lifestyle.

Martyn plays the piano, loves photography and chopping firewood, rides a mountain bike, is fascinated by fungi, has a crazy cat named Ellie and is currently reading The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross. He also greatly enjoys making field recordings.

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M a t t D r u m m o n d

Matt Drummond is an Emmy Award-winning visual effects artist and director, winning the 2014 Emmy for outstanding achievement in graphic design and art direction for the History Channel production Big History. His debut feature film, Dinosaur Island, has been released in more than 50 countries, a staggering feat for an Australian animated feature that was 100% independently financed. Post-production for Dinosaur Island was completed in the Blue Mountains, and Matt is currently working on his second feature film, My Pet Monster.

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X a n d r o L o m b a r d i

Xandro Lombardi is a Knowledge Worker at PwC Sydney and a Solutions Designer at The Digital Design Factory in Darlinghurst. He has over 20 years’ experience as visualiser and art director at 121 Creative, SB Media Group, Snap Printing and as studio manager at The Marketing Department and The AIMS Group. He really knows print design and advertising creative well and in 2008 won Gold in the Australian Catalogue Awards with his REBEL Sports Footwear Annual design as well as taking out the runner’s up award in 2010 for his WINTER Catalogue for Sheldon and Hammond, Sydney.

Xandro is also the host of Pecha Kucha Blue Mountains, Convenor of the Blue Mountains Springwood Art Show, and is part of the team setting up TOOLO - the tool library.

T o h b y R i d d l e

Originally trained in art and architecture, Tohby Riddle is the creator of over 15 illustrated books and picture books, which have won numerous awards for artwork, literature and design. Recent books include Unforgotten, which has been published in six languages, and the innovative The Greatest Gatsby: A Visual Book of Grammar.

For ten years he was the weekly cartoonist for Fairfax’s Good Weekend magazine (published in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age), and a selection of his cartoons are on permanent display in the Melbourne Museum. Tohby is also a former editor of the 100-year-old children’s literature magazine, The School Magazine, published by the NSW Department of Education.

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M T N SM A D E

MTNS MADE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY BMEE 2 CIVIC PL KATOOMBA NSW 2780

+ 61 2 4782 6555 | www.bmee.org.au

MTNS MADE Creative Industries Symposium is proudly supported by:

BMEE is proudly supported by

Blue Mountains City Council