Inner West Arts Recovery Summit will address struggles of arts sector

By ERIN MODARO

The Inner West Council will hold an Arts and Music Summit at Marrickville Town Hall to celebrate and promote the arts in the wake of the devastating impacts that Covid-19 has had on the industry.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, who will be a keynote speaker at the event, says that it’s time to “get the sector moving again” and “identify opportunities for revitalization of this vibrant part of our Inner West community.”

NSW Minister for the Arts, Ben Franklin, will also be in attendance as a keynote speaker. The summit will feature performances from musicians as well as bring together policy makers and key figures in working groups.

The Inner West summit will run in partnership with Sydney Fringe Festival, which is the largest independent arts festival in NSW, and presents over 450 events across the state each year.

CEO and Festival Director of Sydney Fringe Kerry Glasscock says that “after two terrifying years for the sector it’s time to come together to both assess the lay of the land and think about what the future looks like.”

Glasscock says, “It’s a wonderful time to get everyone in a room and plan for the future.”

Government looks towards the arts

This summit is just one of several government run initiatives to breathe life back into the arts sector following the pandemic and support the industry as a whole.

The federal government has partnered with live music platform Muso along with the City of Sydney council to get live music back into venues in a program called ‘Rise of the Pub Gig’.

With the City of Sydney’s $100, 000 cash injection into a live music scheme for Vivid Sydney, local governments are focusing their attention on reviving the arts, and encouraging the community to engage with these events.

The Inner West Music and Arts Summit will take place at Marrickville town hall at 10:00am on June 2^nd.