Octapod has a long history of supporting arts and cultural development in the Hunter region. Our inaugural SeedPod Program is designed to assist artists or artsworkers to work with communities on creative projects. The types of projects that we are interested in supporting will use arts based processes as a way to engage, inspire, give voice and create change.

SeedPod is driven by community cultural development principles. The two successful applicants in 2011 demonstrated that there was community participation in developing the project idea, community ownership of project processes, professional development of applicant as a result of the project, and high production values and artistic merit.

The 2011 SeedPod recipients were:

Tara Jones, a documentary filmmaker, with her project ‘In A Minute’, which involved working with young women from diverse backgrounds on a short filmmaking project. Participants learnt basic production techniques and began work on individual one minute films on a topic of their choice.

Helen Hopcroft, visual artist, with her project ‘Seed’, which involved working in partnership with Figtree Community Garden to run a series of art workshops for garden members and the general public as well as developing the themes for a mural to be painted on the side of the Croatian Wickham Sports Club.