A group of creatives is gearing up to bring their start-ups into the world after gaining more refinement from a unique program.
Sunshine Coast Creative Alliance will soon place the spotlight on 18 creative businesses as the culmination of The Refinery 5.0.
The Refinery is an annual creative business incubator program that supports independent artists and creative industry practitioners to establish and grow viable and sustainable businesses.
The program was launched in 2019 through a partnership between Sunshine Coast Council, SunCentral and the MET, and SCCA.
Now in its fifth year and led by SCCA, this year’s program featured local and national industry leaders delivering workshops, mentoring and sharing their experience to lead participants through refining, developing, testing and bringing their creative business ideas to life.
Related story: The unique incubator growing our business ideas
The Refinery 5.0 has supported 18 artists, creative practitioners and entrepreneurs, with five First Nations participants taking part in a dedicated First Nations-led series, curated and facilitated by leading Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander mentors and creatives.
SCCA president Liz Burcham said The Refinery 5.0 continued to build on the success of the program since its inception.
“Having already supported 58 creative businesses across four successful years, The Refinery 5.0 built on this legacy,” she said.
“With a renewed focus on leadership, it has been thrilling to see each participant go from strength to strength transforming their ideas into sustainable businesses – that’s what The Refinery does and why it’s so important.
“It embeds creativity into the broader economy of our region by growing our creative community of practicing artists and creative businesses.
“SCCA is proud to continue building this legacy and we have big plans for the future of the program.”
This year’s program concludes with the showcase event, where the 18 participants will present their creative businesses to a live audience from 5.30-9.30pm on August 7 at Venue 114 in Bokarina. Limited tickets are $30 and available from Humanitix.
Details about the 2023 cohort and presenters can be found here.
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