Emerging Artists Creative Hub

The Emerging Artist Creative Hub is a new initiative which will enable creatives to grow and thrive in Melbourne’s south east. An artist driven space for developing individual and collective practice, it will be a site for collaboration, meeting peers, and sharing skills and resources. Resident creatives will be able to present small-scale exhibitions and projects, public programs and other outdoor activations.

The Hub will be situated at the heart of Narre Warren - Fountain Gate in Narre Warren Mechanics Institute with upgrades completed in mid-2024.

The Emerging Artist Creative Hub will open in early 2025.

The Factory

The Factory is a purpose-built performing arts rehearsal centre within the Cranbourne Indoor Leisure Complex. The venue has have a range of rehearsal and practice rooms for hire and a recording studio and video production services. The spaces have been equipped to cater for musical, theatre and dance performances.

For further information, visit The Factory Rehearsal Centre for the Arts.

Art Spaces

The Art Spaces program plays a significant part in the vibrant cultural life of the City of Casey.

The program promotes and supports traditional and contemporary art practice and artists. The dedicated spaces in libraries create access to visual art in a diversity of forms and gives artists the opportunity to reach new audiences.

The Hayshed Studio at the Old Cheese Factory in Berwick offers a multi-arts studio with exhibition and workshops spaces.

View the latest edition of the Art Spaces program

How to apply

The program also artists the opportunity to apply to be part of a curated program of exhibitions held at Bunjil Place Library, Cranbourne Library and at the Hayshed Studio.

Applications will be open from Friday 1 November to Monday 2 December. Exhibitions will then be selected and programmed for the following year (April 2025 to March 2026).

Apply online

The Hayshed Studio 

The Hayshed Studio is a new art space located in the historic grounds of the Old Cheese Factory in Berwick.

This multi-arts studio space with kitchenette is available for hire for art and craft, exhibitions and other small gatherings.  The Studio is equipped with hand building ceramic workshop equipment for up to 6 people and a kiln firing service on application. The Studio is connected a conference room available for hire, with a large screen and its own kitchenette.

To book the Hayshed Studio, please email ocf@casey.vic.gov.au 

Artist Register

Casey Arts values the creative talent we have in the City and the Arts Register is the essential way for creative professionals, performers and artists to list their details and be found for their next gig.

Visual and performing arts, creatives, gamers, tutors and those with other creative offerings will be able to register to make your contacts available to a prospective clients and audiences. 

Join the Artist Register

Winter Arts Festival 2025

The Winter Arts Festival is created with the community at its heart. Every offering in the program is by the community, for the community or with the intent to build new connections and shine a light on the incredibly vibrant municipality, rich with arts and culture that is the City of Casey. The festival has been running for 23 years with the purpose of presenting creative programs that encourage arts participation, community pride and generate social, cultural and/or environmental benefits.

This is an opportunity to showcase our local artists, theatre groups, dancers, musicians, comedians, crafters, filmmakers, poets and venues.

For the latest festival guide and information, visit the dedicated page for the Winter Arts Festival 2025.

For further information, contact the Casey Arts team at arts@casey.vic.gov.au

Lindsay King Award 

Established in 2007, this annual arts award was named in memory of Cranbourne resident Lindsay King, whose vigorous commitment to the arts and passion for local history, tourism and culture made a positive impact on the Casey community

Each year nominations are requested for individuals and groups in Casey who consistently go above and beyond to make a significant contribution to the Art in Casey, embody community spirit and contribute to making our city a wonderful place to live.

On Friday 11 April all finalists were invited to attend the Casey Community Awards ceremony where the winner for 2025 was announced.

2025 Recipient - Bridie Clark

Bridie is a dedicated volunteer with BATS Theatre Company, contributing her expertise as a choreographer and director, including for the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 2024. With nearly 30 years in the performing arts, she has also founded an inclusive, non-profit performing arts program in Cranbourne East. Bridie believes in making the performing arts accessible to all and ensuring that individuals can experience the arts without the financial burden.

Congratulations also to Zia Atahi and BATS Theatre Company who were also nominated this year for their significant contribution to the Arts in Casey.

Previous recipients

• 2024 Recipient – John McMahon
• 2023 recipient - Bandok Tati
• 2021 Recipient - Kuichiang Tut Kuiy (Kush)
• 2019 Recipient - Maurie Richardson

To learn more and to nominate an individual or group, please visit the Casey Community Awards.

This free, end-to-end six-month program provides valuable support to talented musicians from the outer suburbs of Melbourne. 

Through intensive mentoring, song development, recording sessions, short film creation, and live performance opportunities, the South East Melbourne program is designed to foster long-term relationships and valuable connections within the music industry. GRID

Series is committed to re-orienting power and influence back into the hands of artists, enabling them to shape their own careers and create opportunities that they deserve.

Participants will receive a fully produced, mixed, and mastered track in collaboration with their assigned producer, intensive one-on-one mentoring, and an artist documentary film that deep dives into their personal story and creative journey. 

As part of the program, participants will collaborate with renowned producers and mentors, including Hannah Fox, Co-Artistic Director of RISING and festival director with expertise in sound and public art; Carl Pires, Artist manager and tour manager for both locally and internationally established artists; and N’fa F-Jones, ARIA Award-winning Sierra Leone/Australian artist and producer, known for his pivotal role in the Australian Hip Hop movement.

Producers Alice Ivy, ARIA-nominated songwriter and producer; Joelistics, a multi-talented producer and rapper; Sensible J, an ARIA Award-nominated multi-instrumentalist; and UNO Stereo, a Grammy-nominated producer renowned for his work in Hip-hop and soul.

These industry professionals will connect with the artists to build pathways and deliver a unique blend of mentorship and creative collaboration that pushes boundaries and nurtures the artists’ unique voices.

The 2025 Artist Development program is open to all musicians and bands who live, work, or create in the outer South East of Melbourne, including areas but not limited to Beaconsfield, Berwick, Cranbourne, Doveton, Endeavour Hills, Hampton Park, Narre Warren, and more. 

How to apply

To apply, participants must be 18 years of age or older, write their own original music, and be able to bring along a friend, family member, or community member to act as their nominated “hype person.”

GRID Series South East Melbourne Artist Development Program 2025 promises to further enrich the music scene in one of Australia’s most exciting and diverse regions

For more information on the program and how to apply, click the button below.

Submit your EOI between 16 April and 9 June 2025.

GRID Series Application

GRID Series South East Melbourne is proudly supported by Bunjil Place, Creative Australia, Victorian Music Development Office, and Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne.

The City of Casey through its Planning Policy allocates 1% of funding to the development of site-specific public art projects for all new Community Capital Works projects over $3 million dollars.

Committed to high-quality public artworks through standards of innovation and excellence across all aspects of commissioning processes, Casey has developed a public art collection that is progressive, stimulating, and explores a variety of mediums, scales and approaches.

Local Public Art 

With more than 250 public art projects across the City of Casey, the chances are there will be local artwork near you.

You can find your closest piece of art on Explore Casey.

Council’s Civic Collection consists of objects, documents and photographs that trace the history of local government administration and the making of the City of Casey as it is today. 

There are over 700 objects in the Civic Memorabilia Collection and 124 are documented and online here.

With the opening of Bunjil Place Gallery in 2018 came the occasion to plan for a Bunjil Place Art Collection guided by Council’s Art Acquisitions Policy.

When active collecting commences, the Collection will aim to acquire major artworks by Australian, and where possible, international artists held in trust for the community.

The Art Acquisitions Policy confirms Council’s commitment to enlivening and enriching the municipality through the collection of art and commissioning of public art from leading professional artists.

The Local Arts Leaders Reference Group (LAL)  represent the Casey arts community in reference role for Council. Highly experienced in their field, members provide knowledge and diverse perspectives about creative practice and arts participation in the context of relevant Council Plans, arts policies and strategies.  Current LAL membership is from 2020-2022 and nominations for vacant reference group membership positions are advertised and selected every two years.

Casey Arts engages with communities through the Arts and Cultural Advisory Committee, formal evaluation of programs and feedback received through our communication channels.

The City of Casey uses Casey Conversations to reach community members for specific feedback on initiatives of local interest. 

We will inform our arts community when we are seeking formal feedback and post information about these opportunities on our webpage.

You can provide feedback at any time by emailing us.