Two young creatives have put their minds together and produced a collaborative multidisciplinary arts event called Prickly Pear, with local talent, live music, and art to be showcased on April 15 and 16.
The focus of Prickly Pear is to support the arts, culture, and creative variety within the local community by providing a platform and collaborative space for expression.
Over the two evenings, there will be live music, dance, poetry, pottery, and visual art, all held at The Base Health, an integrated health and community centre.
Artistic director of Vexel Creations, Monique Humphreys, met co-collaborator and founder of Rhino Milk Productions, Kodi Twiner at ‘Music Biz Is’, a local music industry workshop.
“After meeting Kodi…we quickly realised our mutual passion for building culture and community in Newcastle,” Humphreys said.
“We received a small City of Newcastle grant and have pulled together a massive line-up of local creatives focusing on Women and gender diverse artists who are often minorities in this industry.”
After a challenging 12 months for the arts industry, the creative pair are thrilled to be back and creating a space for all artists to connect and collaborate.
“Newcastle is bursting at the seams with creative energy, and we felt there was a need to weave some threads together, facilitate a space for folks to meet, explore their practice and support each other across multiple art forms,” Humphreys and Twiner said.
“The response has been amazing, and we are keen to see what emerges from this and future collaborations.”
With a mutual goal of building an arts hub representing community and culture within Newcastle, Prickly Pear will be the first of many artistic events.
The artistic line-up will see talented local creators who are diverse in age, culture, gender, and experience, including visual artist Renyen, musician Caitlin O’Reilly, Brigitta Dance Projects, Happy to be Here Ceramics, poet Janette Hoppe, and H.H Art.
Prickly Pear will be held across two evenings from 7 pm to 9 pm, including an open door rehearsal on Thursday, April 15, and a full show on Friday, April 16.
The event is hosted at The Base Health, 3 Tudor St, Newcastle, with tickets available at trybooking.com.
Hayley McMahon
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