with Author Rhiannon D. Elton
Logan is the city of secret gems. The best Pho, the coolest D&D groups, YouTube mega stars, ambitious business owners, and history so thick you couldn’t get a knife through it. But none of these compare to the resilient artistic gems of Logan’s creative community.
Scattered like dandelion tufts over the cracked concrete carparks of all the “For Lease” industrial spaces, we take root in the silt from the infrequent rainfall of opportunities we’re given. Our dancers, writers, visual artists, musicians and performers subsist on the trickle of the afterthought care Australia gives to its creative industries. I mean, they sold Bluey to the BBC!
But I’m still thankful we’re in Logan.
Our RADF committee keeps seeking funding to redistribute into creative projects. Groups like Assorted Grains, Logan City Writers and even our Chamber of Commerce recognise the value of the arts and continue finding ways to build the foundations our creatives need. Our local councillors want to support our creatives, which is so much better than other cities I’ve lived in.
But supporting Logan’s creative soul cannot belong to committees alone. It belongs to all of us. We can be the difference between success and failure for our creatives.
Doing it is easy!
Follow a local creative before you forget their name. Share their post. Leave a review. Borrow their book from the library. Attend the exhibition, performance, workshop or market, even if you can only stay for twenty minutes. Even better, share it on your socials.
Buy the small thing: the bookmark, print, ticket, song or sticker. Recommend a local creative by name when someone needs a musician, photographer, performer, teacher or artist. Send them opportunities when you see them.
If you run a business, school, venue or community group, make room for local art and pay creatives fairly. You can even get grants to do this!
Logan’s artists already grow through concrete, drought and neglect. Imagine what could happen if each of us chose one simple way to water them.
What would Logan look like for you if it was filled with your favourite creatives thriving?
