Tuggeranong Arts Centre

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Tuggeranong Arts Centre is a purpose-built centre located on the shores of Lake Tuggeranong, in the south of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. It is a dynamic organization providing a wide range of arts activities for community participation, development and enjoyment. The building features a 110 seat theatre/cinema, 2 galleries, 2 dance studios, a workshop space, a digital media studio, and is home to the Aft Cafe Brasserie. The galleries, main dance studio, workshop and theatre/cinema are available to hire.

Tuggeranong Arts Centre is managed by Tuggeranong Community Arts Association Inc. and presents a diverse program of theatre, film, exhibitions, music, and dance to the public, combining community and professional arts.

Tuggeranong Arts Centre manages the following programs:

The Messengers Youth Resilience Program is an award-winning initiative, unique to Tuggeranong. The Messengers Program has operated since 2000, working with every ACT Government high school to promote youth resilience through art, drama, dance, film and writing workshops. Participants work with artists, professional tutors and members of their peer groups to create work which is relevant to them. The program co-ordinates "outreach" (see below) theatre performances, exhibitions, film screenings and publications and has worked with over 1000 young people in the ACT since it began.

The Fresh Funk Hip Hop Dance Program is popular with young people from all over Canberra. Fresh Funk offers performance and non-performance classes in hip-hop dance to students ranging from 10 years old to adult. Other Fresh Funk programs and events include the Fresh Faced Funk Young Choreographers Initiative (showcased in the theatre twice a year), Funky Fairytales (dance and drama workshops for 8-12 year olds), Fresh Funk Force (a performance troupe of students from the Masters Class of the performance program, available for external bookings) and Fresh Funk Dance Spectaculars (held at the end of every semester at the Eridale Theatre).

The Out of the Shower, On with the Show Choir is a social group for singers who meet reularly to rehearse, learn new songs and share morning tea throughout the year. Participants often have little or no musical training or singing experience. Every Tuesday morning during school terms, the group does physical warm ups and learn a range of music from world music to contemporary arrangements of popular music. They specialise in songs with a sense of fun and enjoy morning tea by the lake each week.

The annual Lake Tuggeranong Moon Festival is Canberra's only multi-cultural children's festival, usually held in March on the shores of Lake Tuggeranong. Each year the festival is organized around a cultural theme (eg. in 2007 the theme was "Celtic Moon", in 2008 the theme will be "Flavours of South Asia") and offers participants and patrons the chance to learn about the different arts of cultures that contribute to Tuggeranong, Canberran and Australian life.

The Digital Storytelling program offers participants the chance to learn a unique artistic medium which uses computers to combine a personally told story with photographs and other imagery in a very special 'mini-movie' using some easy-to-use computer technology. Participants need no IT or film-making experience.

Tuggeranong Arts Centre also offers classes in drama and the visual arts (this program changes on a term basis) and offers "outreach" programs, where staff travel to work with people and communities who are otherwise unable to attend the centre.

Tuggeranong Arts Centre also designs and coordinates special projects in partnership with other organizations. For example, in 2007, as part of the annual NAIDOC Week Program, Tuggeranong Arts Centre co-ordinated Skin to Skin: Miri Kutjara Tjungu, which saw the collaboration of several arts centres from the APY (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) Lands in remote South Australia with several galleries and venues across Canberra. This project highlighted the important role that arts centres play in remote Indigenous communities. It was also the first time that art from the APY Lands had been exhibited in the ACT. As part of this program, 9 artists from the APY Lands visited Canberra and were welcomed by the local community at a variety of events.

Tuggeranong Community Arts is supported by the ACT and Federal Governments, philanthropic organizations and private bequests and works in partnership with over 100 different organizations per year.

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