A Workshop with Creative Social Enterprises in Merri-bek

On Thursday 1st December, we hosted a workshop for local Creative Social Enterprises from around Merri-bek to come together and discuss their experiences. The two-hour workshop was facilitated by one of the academic leads for Creatives, Communities and Economies, Grace McQuilten.

Grace is an art historian, curator and artist, and has pioneered work in the field of art-based social enterprise in Australia, working extensively with migrants and refugees. She is the founding CEO and a current Board Director of the The Social Studio, so the discussion was in very capable hands!

A pictogram covering key topics of discussion during the workshop

Creative Social Enterprise workshop at RMIT PlaceLab Brunswick.

The workshop considered questions like:

  • What were the main challenges of COVID-19, and have you recovered from these challenges?
  • What do you see as key problems in the sector? What do you wish you could say to funders, government, and customers but can’t say?
  • What are your approaches to marketing? What are the challenges/barriers and opportunities for marketing your enterprise?
  • What would make a real difference to your work? What changes or new initiatives would you like to see?

We learnt about the challenges of the pandemic, the importance of marketing and the key opportunities to sustain and encourage local creative social enterprises. Watch the time-lapse of the graphic recording below to see a summary.

A time-lapse of the graphic recording by Zahra Zainal.

Supporting local Creative Social Enterprises

You can find social enterprises in your area by searching the directories on Social Traders or SenVic.
We’ve made a list of the local creative social enterprises in our neighbourhood – please support them where you can:
  • Clothing the Gaps, 744 Sydney Rd, Brunswick; Victorian Aboriginal led and controlled, and majority Aboriginal owned fashion social enterprise.
  • Second Stitch, 377 Sydney Rd, Coburg; Sewing and alterations business supporting migrant, asylum seeker and refugee women.
  • Etiko, 536 Sydney Rd, Brunswick; Ethical, sustainable, and socially responsible clothing and footwear.
  • Go Kindly, 520B Sydney Road, Coburg; Pillows, quilts and mattresses business, supporting women experiencing homelessness.
  • Tempo Rubato and The Piano Project; 34 Breese St, Brunswick; Live classical music venue whose profits support the Piano Project, which provides access to music education.
  • That Paper Joint, 544 Sydney Rd, Brunswick; B-Corp collage studio, workshop and gallery.
  • Schoolhouse Studios, 28 Victoria St, Coburg; Not-for-profit creative spaces.
  • Kind Boys Club, online store selling tees, onesies and prints.
  • The Beautiful Bunch, 75 Reid Street, Fitzroy North; Florist supporting young women from refugee backgrounds.
  • The Social Studio, 101/30 Perry St, Collingwood; Part fashion educator, part retailer, part production house for Melbourne’s refugee and new migrant communities.
  • Homie, 296 Brunswick St, Fitzroy; Fashion brand supporting young people affected by homelessness or hardship.

There are many more, so please be in touch if you think we’ve missed someone or would like to be added to the list.

If you own or work in a local creative social enterprise, or you know someone who might like to get involved, please contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

 

Thank you!

The lively conversation during the workshop was captured by a local graphic recording artist, Zahra Zainal, who illustrated the discussion in real-time as it progressed. Thank you, Zahra, for introducing us to graphic recording and for making such a valuable contribution to the workshop!

 

And a big thank you to all who attended the workshop – as always, the workshop would have been nothing without you. Thank you for sharing your experiences! We appreciated your generous insights and honesty.