About Us

2017 ‘The Real World’ panel presented at Critical Animals as part of This is Not Art. Photo: Justine Cogan

Octapod works on a diverse range of creative initiatives and projects, supporting the unique cultural fabric of the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens and Cessnock regions that comprise the Lower Hunter. Our overall aim is to support growth in the Lower Hunter’s cultural sector, and to achieve this we work with individuals, small and large groups, emerging and established groups, government, education and business.

We help make little things big – and big things better. We do this by providing a range of supporting services to help cultural producers achieve their own goals. Support is provided through administrative infrastructure, such as auspicing a grant so you can access grant money, or providing insurance services so you can continue to work with confidence. We provide support in the form of developing networks through the Octapod Membership program. We also provide support in accessing free promotion of your services, by managing the Lower Hunter’s broadest cultural directory – Culture Hunter, and promoting your creative work through our social media channels and enewsletters, all free of charge.

All sounds pretty good doesn’t it! One way or another, Octapod has supported arts and culture for more than 20 years, with the support of local, state and federal government, as well as donors and Octapod Members.

The core values that underpin the projects we support and our partnerships are: innovation, inclusion, collaboration and sustainability. No matter what stage your creative project is currently sitting, we can help. Get in touch with us today.

Octapod was founded in Newcastle Australia, as an informal collective in 1996 by a group of artists and students who liked the idea of a public access media space – where people could create and browse interesting and unusual, non-mainstream media (Healy, 2005).

It was conceived as an incubator and a form of infrastructure to enable independent creative projects to get off the ground. Initially known as The POD, Octapod was formally incorporated as an organisation in 1997. Founders included Damien Frost, Sean Healy, Aaron Bristow and Marcus Westbury.

For more than twenty years, Octapod has been the launching pad for dozens of emerging artists, curators, arts administrators and hundreds of innovative community led creative projects have found their feet.