New Initiative Invests In Opportunities For First Nations Artists

A new First Nations-founded art initiative is supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creatives, opening doors to new opportunities and investing in their long-term development.

Launched by creative consultancy and studio, The Awesome Black Foundation, the Voices Rising Fund encourages and highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists across music, literature, photography, poetry, and more. 

Non-profit The Awesome Black Foundation was established in 2020 by Gamilaroi and Dharug man and multidisciplinary artist Travis De Vries. The agency helps creative minds and organisations produce impactful pieces of works with the focus on First Nations voices. The foundation supports artists with development funding, mentorship, and industry partnerships.

The initiative directly invests in the development of emerging artists’ projects, providing resources and support to bring them to fruition, with a maximum of $60,000 available each year to be distributed to selected projects.

Giving Blak artists the freedom to make the work they want

The Awesome Black Foundation provides coordination between artists, publishers, and labels, including Principal Publishing Partner Allen & Unwin, and music label Bad Apples Music, to efficiently collaborate and assist with negotiations regarding project delivery.

“We built the Voices Rising Fund to give Blak artists the freedom to make the work they want to make without waiting for permission or being boxed in by old systems,” said De Vries. “It’s about paving our own ways for stories that need to be told. I’m incredibly passionate about publishing work and being able to put something into the world that has staying power.”

Western Sydney-based band, Homesick, is the first recipient of the fund in partnership with Allen & Unwin and Bad Apples Music, with the foundation also inviting additional donations and partnerships to support the fund.

To be eligible for the fund, applicants must be Australian citizens of Australian Indigenous/Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage. They should be acknowledges by their community or have tribal connection. The work being submitted must be also completed in full.

Applications are open all year, and suggested to be submitted as a highly detailed pitch. Assessments occur twice a year, with a $60,000 maximum spread across a minimum of two projects each year. 

The assessment panel brings together prominent and independent music labels, literary houses, First Nations workers and curators, plus the Awesome Black team.