Areas of support - Arts

The Foundation supports more than 50 arts organisations across a broad range of activities. We focus on initiatives which help young people build their skills, knowledge and appreciation of the arts. In particular we support programs that help young people from disadvantaged communities access arts education and training.

The Song Room, Australia

The Song Room provides music and arts programs in Australian schools and communities with a focus on students disadvantaged through isolation, disability, recent immigration and financial circumstances. The Macquarie Group Foundation supports this innovative program that is run in Victoria and New South Wales and has so far reached more than 150,000 children. Funding from the Foundation is being used to assist Song Room’s expansion into seven targeted regions of high juvenile crime, and low socio-economic demographic including 63 priority schools in New South Wales.   Macquarie Executive Director Richard Price serves as the organisation’s President.

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Australia

The NGV is one of Australia’s leading galleries, with  history dating back to 1861. With more than two million visitors a year, the NGV ranks as one of the 20 most popular art museums in the world, with a particular focus on supporting contemporary Australian art.  

The Macquarie Group Foundation has a long standing involvement with the  NGV. Projects we have supported include the Contemporary Projects Gallery which showcases a range of innovative and challenging contemporary art  exhibitions. One of the aims of the project is to support young and emerging artists working in the contemporary space.  The NGV’s The Macquarie Series showcases prominent Australian contemporary art with an emphasis on design and sculpture. The series includes an annual major exhibition until 2009. The Series feature sculpture and ceramics by Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Deborah Halpern, Geoffrey Bartlett and Rosalie Gascoigne.

Australian Business Arts Foundation (AbaF), Australia

AbaF promotes private sector support for the arts, working with the business sector, the arts and cultural sector, the philanthropic sector and local councils. Its role is to connect business, the arts, donors and foundations through three programs – Partnering, Volunteering and Giving.

The Macquarie Group Foundation has been a leading supporter of AbaF since its inception in 2000. The Foundation recently provided the sole support for the launch of a Securing Successful Partnerships – a guide for business and the arts. This publication and associated workshops promote best practice case studies and provide advice on developing and evaluating effective arts partnerships.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Australia

The Canberra Symphony Orchestra has been in existence for over 50 years. During this time it has evolved from a community base into a professional, part-time orchestra. It has close links with the Australian National University’s School of Music and many of the principal players are music lecturers and sectional heads of departments with national and international reputations of excellence.

Macquarie supports Noteworthy, the Orchestra’s schools-based music education program, which is designed to support and enhance music appreciation for students from years 4 to 12. The Noteworthy program offers free, age-appropriate, interactive concerts; workshops and teaching kits for staff; and workbooks for students.

Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Australia

In partnership with the Macquarie Group Foundation, AFTRS has established an Indigenous Scholarship. The Scholarship is aimed at building a network of Indigenous film-makers to ensure that aboriginal stories are told.  Funded by Macquarie as a pilot program in 2003, the Scholarships have made a significant contribution to the training of Indigenous Australians in the broadcast and screen industry.

The Macquarie Group Foundation has committed support for a further three years (from 2007 to 2010) to build on the success of the pilot program and to encourage participation in the emerging and influential Indigenous screen industry.

Streetwise Opera

Streetwise Opera UK works with more than 600 homeless people each year using music as a tool for building confidence, social networks and creativity. To achieve its goals, Streetwise Opera coordinates two programs; weekly workshops in 11 homeless centres around the UK and a large-scale annual production.

The Macquarie Group Foundation has committed to fund Streetwise Opera until 2011. The funding will cover the annual program of 500 weekly workshops and the 2008/09 annual production of My Secret Heart. Staff from Macquarie’s London office have volunteered with Streetwise Opera, helping at workshops and performances and providing consultation and advice on a pro bono re-branding.

Belvoir St Theatre – B Sharp

Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney is one of Australia’s most celebrated performing arts venues. As the resident production company of the Belvoir St Theatre, Company B’s independent theatre program B Sharp educates and mentors emerging directors, actors, artists and writers. The B Sharp season presents a dynamic range of small-scale productions which helps artistic teams develop their projects to a professional standard and a supports a small group of independent directors.

Funding by the Macquarie Group Foundation supports the B Sharp project and contributes to its creative development and rehearsal space for six productions within the program during 2008-2010.

Bell Shakespeare

Bell Shakespeare performs the Bard’s work all over Australia to audiences of all ages. Its flagship education program Actors at Work commenced in 2002 and reaches more than 80,000 students across Australia each year. The innovative program involves three teams of four actors touring schools to deliver a one-hour performance of scenes of Shakespeare’s plays with minimal sets and props. Students have the opportunity to see and interact with professional actors and explore themes inherent in the works. The Macquarie Group Foundation has provided funding to Actors at Work since its inception.

Other arts initiatives

Other arts programmes supported by the Foundation and our staff include: NIDA, Victorian College of the Arts, Bangarra Theatre, Opera Australia, Bundanon Trust, The Commonwealth Foundation, West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Canadian Opera Company.