Three cities announce live music, arts initiatives

Three cities around Australia are supporting live music as part of initiatives to expand their cultural, tourism and economic sectors.

* The Queensland region of Logan, with Brisbane in the north and the Gold Coast to its south, has a number of initiatives in play.

Logan Live! will provide funding to match performing artists with venues, with the intention that both can benefit from exposure to and increase in audience attendance.

Logan live! will be launched on June 21 with performances in Logan City Council libraries, Mayes Cottage and Logan Art Gallery.

Logan City Council's Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) Committee proposed a strategic initiative to enhance appreciation of music in Logan.

Council also wants to strengthen Logan as a cultural tourist destination.

It is finding new places to display public art, using art to connect communities, support festivals and events, find new music and arts spaces for community use, improve the quality of local productions, space for rehearsals, skills building, cultural exchanges, and provide resources and grant funding to support arts development.

* The City of Kyogle, NSW, in addition to approving a $100,000 spend on upgrading the stage of its Amphitheatre for concerts, is also advocating that it makes a bid to hold triple j’s One Night Stand concert.

The concerts traditionally draw between 5000 and 10,000, and council sees it as a good tourism draw.

* Canberra is to get a new space for pop-up festivals with City Renewal Authority announcing plans to clean up Verity Lane.

The lane has been used for music events in the past, including the two day Verity Lane Party EDM parties and workshops by music executives.

But to make it more appealing to regular events, City Renewal Authority has promised to give it a good clean-up and cut back the current number of garbage bins from 80 to six.

The Authority is also finalising a list of grants of up to $80,000 for ideas to make Braddon more music and arts filled, with events, activations and short term installations.