Evaluation of Artslink Queensland's 'Animating Spaces' Project 2015

Artslink Queensland’s Animating Spaces was a three-year statewide project (2013 – 2015), which aimed to revitalise and celebrate non-traditional, significant, and unusual spaces within fifteen regional communities. Regional Queensland communities were chosen to be a part of Animating Spaces based on applications submitted by council. Each local council selected for the project committed $10,000 to the event and Artslink provided $49,500 in funds directly to the community, and an additional $10,500 in services, including: leadership, partnership development, networks, financial management, marketing, and documentation. Around $350,000 in support was also provided to the Animating Spaces projects by the Australia Council, Arts Queensland, and Regional Arts Australia. A total of 15 communities (five per year) and 45 activities (three activities per community) were produced over the course of Animating Spaces. The Animating Spaces program had a number of long and short-term goals, as well as each community’s unique goals. These were designed to promote an increase in each communities’ engagement with arts activities and improve the profile of local artists. The evaluation team used a combination of quantitative, qualitative, and ephemeral rich (visual) data to collect information about the events to ascertain whether the program was successfully impactful, based on the goals set by stakeholders – Artslink Queensland and each regional council. This is the concluding triennial report for Animating Spaces, which highlights the overall outcomes and captures in its entirety, the findings from this three-year program.