Shaping Stonnington's creative future

In the first stage of community consultation to prepare a new Arts and Culture Strategy we engaged the Creative Development Network to conduct sector research and consolidate a broad range of community engagement insights.

To discover what is most important to the community for creative arts and culture we drew valuable insight from existing Council plans and comprehensive consultation data including audience surveys, the substantive work of the Stonnington People’s Panel and surveys, interviews and focus groups with creative organisations and practitioners that live, work and present in Stonnington.

We undertook a series of targeted focus groups and an online survey during February - May 2022 and community consultation from August - September 2022. The feedback we received has helped to inform Creative Stonnington 2023-2026: Draft Arts & Culture Strategy. The Strategy, once finalised, will provide the framework for our arts and culture initiatives and programs for the next four years.

How we gathered insights

We collected feedback through:

1. Reviewing existing community engagement data from across Council
2. Conducting four targeted stakeholder focus groups
3. An online survey
4. Responses collected from post event surveys including Chapel Off Chapel and all signature events such as Roola Boola, Glow Winter Arts Festival and Pets in the Park.

What we have heard so far

Key themes from our research and consultation include:

• Festivals and events are highly valued by our community.
• The diversity of arts and culture in Stonnington is appreciated.
• The community wants a safe environment, with access to everything locally.
• Environmental action is important to the community and sector.
• Prahran Square is valued as a community and cultural destination.
• Council is seen as proactive and supportive of the arts, culture and creative industries.
• Chapel Off Chapel is considered one of Victoria's leading performing arts venues.
• A need for studio/rehearsal spaces and arts-based professional development.
• Greater promotion of arts and cultural experiences and opportunities.

Click here for the Snapshot to check out some of our results

Next steps

We will ensure that the information collected from this round of community consultation helps shape and inform a Draft Strategy. We will then approach members of the Stonnington community for feedback on the draft plan.