Testimonial
tbC is a warm cosy bed,
where you can rest your head,
when you'd rather be dead.
A friend that keeps you out of the cold,
and nurtures your soul,
making you whole.
It is a place of life,
where you could find your wife,
and fill your head with wisdom.
Your own private kingdom.
Jacqui - member (16)
tbC is a beautiful, non-judgmental environment in which artists can come together, work both individually, or as part of groups and feel supported. I find that for me, tbC so far has motivated me to create more innovative and creative works, due to the people that I am surrounded by which inspire me, as well as the opportunity for me to let my creative juices flow with the studio space that I so generously have been provided.
Ella - member (24)
I've always seen tbC as a vital thread in the fabric of Belgrave, feeding into a patchwork of community based initiatives throughout the Hills. Predominantly youth based, it provides an outlet for those unaware of how else to tap into what's already on offer within our Arts community, or have found the existing offerings too mainstream or 'old fashioned'. I think for many though, tbC is unlike anything on offer anywhere in our community, and not only encourages each artist's unique style, but is incredibly supportive of the different ways to safely express them. tbC being a beautiful platform for young artists who've been encouraged and supported in a way they wouldn't have otherwise. Giving them the confidence and exposure to propel them to bigger and greater things.
Melly - mother of member (40+)
an opportunity to experience all different mediums of art, rather than one. I love how freely I can work, with no certain task. My creativity flows
Meika - member (13)
tbC to me is an independent community space that supports young artists by providing an environment that encourages creativity and networking with other people, and the opportunity to explore the boundaries of art and have their work taken seriously.
Milo - member (18)
tbC is a alternative studio based in the Dandenong ranges which encourages members of the community to be creative, persistent and never give up on their art through fun and exciting workshops and events.
Zoe - member (16)
Its not simply a Youth Arts Collective. It's a 'place' where young people can fit in, celebrate their differences and recognise their talents rather than be required to blend in or conform. I don't know how you begin to measure the impact, the benefits for Belgrave and local communities in having such an accessible asset for these young thinkers and creators.
Marina - community events programmer (50+)
I believe tbC is a great place you can go to express your inner artistic self. It has friendly people and people who can teach you.
Jason - member (14)
tbC isn't the building, it isn't the location, it isn't a set list or number of artists. tbc is a way of thinking. It's a way of collaborating and a way of appreciating, respecting, encouraging and growing with other young artists. It's not written rules or structure. It can't be recreated. It's a subconscious process, a way of growing Into ourselves as artists and collaborative people. It nurtures a different direction and destination for each tbc'er. No matter the journey or destination, a feeling of belonging and artistic validation is mutual. When I first engaged with tbC over 5 years ago there was an instant feeling that I was part of something that was going to inspire me and progress my arts practice. Engagement is completely led by young artists. Through the years I have been active in the space in different capacities, engaging with the studio on projects and becoming tbCs (paid) Graphic Designer. There is a strong emphasis on the digital space at tbC and much of the organizing between members is done digitally (via facebook), allowing more engagement with artists, even if they can’t access the studio all the time. The most important part of tbC has always been the professionalism and value of the young artists and members. The collaborative and non-school structure of the collective creates such a unique platform for young artists to take risks and grow as professionals.
Sonya - member and tbCs graphic designer (26)
tbc is a great space that reaches out of its own doors to more communities frequently spreading good art for good reasonnnn i believe and an important organisation for people to feel close to one another growing up in this mordern time of craziness i reckon haha
Connor - member (17)
tbC is..... - a concept - a place of gathering - ambitious - important - lucid - connected - subconscious - supporting, intelligent and rigorous...... (hope that helps! it's not overly direct)
Gareth - member/mentor (30+)
tbC is a place to engage with like minded people and get to know and learn about different and interesting art styles and people. It is a place that you feel welcomed.
Chloe - member (17)
A few years ago I found myself in real trouble and on the path towards a criminal record for graffiti. I believe that working collaboratively with other young artists has channeled my creative needs and aspirations in a more positive way. Being part of an artistic community has given me some exciting opportunities and I love that I don’t have to work or create alone. I recently participated in a art exhibition and acquisition program and sold my first work. Presenting in a gallery was a new and exciting experience for me.
Rohan - member (19)
tbC for me is an art open space where creatives from different disciplines can inspire each other and collaborate. A welcoming space for open discussion and a laboratory of ideas and experiments.
Joi - member/mentor (30)
tbC is a portal that enables collaboration in an organic mode, based on inspiring others and sharing skills and knowledge. My understanding of tbC is that individuals perform at their best when egos are put to rest and the true undiscovered value of creating anything is found when the "collective focus is put on developing eachother."
Gregg - tbC s film maker (40+)
tbC is a great outlet for young artists to be granted gallery experience and/or reputation in the community..? and how can we generate income or even just more interest or appreciation for young artists in Melbourne?
Darcy - member (19)
tbC is a local arts collective based in Belgrave, Vic. A place that offers young and emerging artists a place to create as well as a guiding hand to help mentor them to make the most of their creativity.
Alex - community musician and collaborator (25)
So in the Vedas it describes, Creation, Maintenance and Destruction. Of these Creation & Destruction are considered to be the easy tasks and Maintenance is said to be the most difficult.
Dan - father of member (50+)
tbC is an arts initative that encourages, teaches, promotes, nurtures and connects young artists. It's activities include facilitating workshops, exhibitions, collaborative projects, live performances, art storage, art sales, reproduction, knowledge sharing, arts based event management and the development and launch of both private and community arts enterprises. Young artists collectively use a tbC space as workshop, studio and gallery. In working with and providing space for young artists in this way tbC contributes to the cultural richness of the community at large and helps to develop relationships and networks which are central to the healthy growth of strong and creative community groups.
Ewen - arts programmer (30)
tbC is a collaborative group of artists, guided by those with greater experience in life and arts whose desire is to provide a supportive nurturing environment to less fortunate youths, with the aim of allowing everyone involved to reach their full potential.
Tracey -community supporter, senior police member (40+)
I think tbC is more than a building, I have seen it grow and connect people, tbC is exactly what young artists need, an opportunity to be trusted, a foot into the industry while being treated as equals.
Callum - member (19)
In the past, all of my art making has seen me tucked away, hidden in my bedroom. It’s been a very private thing. But, more recently I’ve been collaborating with other young artists at tbC and presenting my work in public spaces - where people can more readily see and judge it - it’s kind of an unnerving thing but to work together with people is cool too. For me the collective space provides a sounding board and the back-and-forth is really useful and helps me
Kane - member (21)
tbC is a creative hub of youth, passion and raw art, opportunities and a positively driven outlet for all those who partake and contribute to it.
Rory - member (26)
tbC is a place and a process. It provides opportunities for young artists to work collectively and individually with support and peers. The process or coming together occurs with time and through building relationships. The place and the process are therefore not mutually exclusive, without one the other would suffer. tbC is open, empowering and respectful to Artists to develop individually and as a group.
Kate - youth worker and community supporter (30+)
When you are not alone, but working with other artists you get different ideas, triggered from the group environment. Working with like minded people and the back and forth of ideas means you are always learning new ways of thinking and working. I like the concept of taking someone else’s image or idea and recreating something of my own, as a spinoff of the original.
Kyle - member (17)
tbC for me, is a brilliant studio, community, platform for young creatives. In my experience tbC provides a better environment for art making than schools or uni institutions, purely because you don't have time limitations or periods' you can take the time you need to get into an art grove. tbC is relaxing, supportive and inspiring. It is a perfect place to hang out and create, in high school I was not very academic, being dyslexic and art was a much better learning avenue for me.
Clare - member (24)
Engaging with tbC is finding a community of interesting, curious humans that have no agenda other than to make art. It is wholesome and yet also challenging and edgy. It supports many parallels effectively like this - collaborative and solo practise, online and in-studio engagement, and simultaneous communal & individual authorship. Engaging young people is often a very exhausting exercise and it seems like adults don’t usually understand or remember what is was like to be young - so they try all sorts of strange and alien ways to ‘get the kids into it’. tbC doesn’t even try to do any of this - it succeeds just by being a genuinely interesting and inclusive, open space. There is an easygoing online presence, young people engage organically and intuitively. Developing concepts that evolve into leading projects that are interesting and engaging for a vast range of ages is one of the strengths of tbC as a collective. It has a mature nature & offers opportunities that are seldom found, assisting in young people finding pathways into professional creative practise - but of their own volition, which means that the results tend to be more far-reaching and sustained than traditional ‘what job will you get’ schooling. Life isn’t like school - and tbC is more akin to real life than to hypothetical and hierarchical processes like we see in standard educational facilities. tbC is a community of interesting, curious humans that have no agenda other than to make art. It is wholesome and yet also challenging and edgy. It supports many parallels effectively - collaborative and solo practice, online and in-studio engagement, communal & individual authorship. Engaging young people is often a very exhausting exercise and it seems like adults don’t usually understand or remember what is was like to be young - so they try all sorts of strange and alien ways to ‘get the kids into it’. tbC doesn’t try to do any of this - it succeeds just by being a genuinely interesting and inclusive, open space. There is an easygoing online presence, young people engage intuitively. Developing concepts that evolve into projects that are interesting and engaging for a range of ages is one of the strengths of tbC as a collective. It has a mature culture & offers opportunities that are seldom available to young people and successfully assists young people in finding pathways into professional creative practice. Life isn’t like school - and tbC is more akin to real life than to hypothetical and hierarchical processes like we see in standard educational facilities.
Justine - member (26)
I joined tbC at the beginning of 2016 and have enjoyed every minute working with this collective. tbC has been extremely supportive of my work as an illustrator, offering me advice and opportunities to grow and develop my skills as both an artist and as a person. I have taken part in a number of collaborative projects organised by tbC where I have met with artists, writers, musicans and like minded people and have walked away enriched by the experience. What made me want to join tbC was how it allows young people of different artistic practices to come together to create something as a community. Each individual brings something to tbC that is unique and special. Respecting our talents as individual while in turn promoting each others work. For me tbC is extremely easy and enjoyable to be a part of. Contact is maintained through both online and face-to-face interactions so I feel like I always have tbC at my fingertips for support and guidance all the while feeling completely independent. Collabortions are also extremely flexible which is helpful if you have your own personal projects and work to attend to. It allows you to be as engaged and involved as you like. For a long time I have wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself, when it comes to creating and designing, and at tbC I feel I have found a place to belong. Working collectively inspires my arts practice, triggering ideas I may never have had working alone. I particularly like the back-and-forth discussion that goes on in collective spaces, something that inspires and drives both my collective and personal work. I also believe that you can learn new things by understanding the way others think and create. I love the mutual vibe you get when people get together and create something in the same space - not like talking to a brick wall, alone in a studio. Collaborative spaces are much more responsive environments. I even like the idea of taking somebody else’s image or idea and recreating it as my own, as a spinoff. The collective process really fuels my creative experience and outcomes. Collective spaces also help me feel like I belong somewhere. Sometimes when you work alone you feel isolated and too alone with your thoughts. I feel like when I come together with others I get these amazing ideas. Working in a team is creatively inspiring and I want to be part of that. I also learn a lot and gain confidence and experience from watching and learning from others. Being part of tbC has meant that I am able to experiment fearlessly. The support is warm and nurturing - not overly competitive! I believe this not-overly-competitive environment is really important and, in its own special way, supports young artists in producing amazing collective outcomes. The space inspires artists to mutually support each other’s needs and expectations. Artists don’t want to disappoint others in the group and have a natural desire to work for the good of the collective work.
Daniel - member (20)
I was approached by tbC, whilst completing my Honours Thesis Project, The Hills Collective as part of the Visual Communication Program at Monash University. At the beginning of my tbC experience, I was thrilled and delighted to be part of a collective practice as a creative student hoping to embark in the design and art industry. The fact that tbC honors, celebrates and recongises the contributions made by young creative individuals is very rare to find. The opportunity to take part in-group presentations, to develop professional development as a Graphic Design and Visual Arts Educator has been an incredibly valuable experience. The collective practice offers a chance to exchange ideas and to engage with other creative individuals within the community and other professional departments. I found that tbC, alters this pre-conceived idea that young people are not artists, and in many ways I felt very nurtured and considered a valued individual. Being part of tbC certainly built my confidence, and allowed me to extend my creative thinking skills and most importantly to feel that my artistic contribution was appreciated. I love being part of tbCs collective practice. I am a creative student hoping to embark on a design and art career. The fact that tbC honors, celebrates and recognizes the contributions made by young creatives is very rare to find. The opportunity to take part in-group presentations, to develop professional development as a Graphic Design and Visual Arts Educator has been an incredibly valuable experience. tbCs collective practice offers a chance to exchange ideas and to engage with other creative individuals within the community and other professional fields. I have found that tbC, alters the pre-conceived idea that young people are not artists, and in many ways I feel very nurtured and am considered a valued individual. Being part of tbC has certainly built my confidence, and allowed
Bianca - member (26)
Being a part of tbC has not only changed the way I approach art in the community, but the opportunities to make and sell my work has given me a greater sense of what my creativity is worth. With a strong tie to the community as well as creating a strong sense of community within the collective, I’ve met and kept in contact with a varied group of friends and collaborators. Creating with and alongside other creative minds shifts your way of thinking and the way in which you work, feeding off each other creatively and producing something much more than a product. I love being associated with such a frut=itful group of creative thinkers and creators. I feel like I’ve become a fuller artist and person because of it.
Georgia - member (19)
So blessed to be a part of such an inspiring, vibrant, nurturing and interesting creative project. It will live on in many lives - taking form in unexpected ways.
Shelley - Mentor (30)
tbCs professionalism shines
Ruxandra - commuinty member (40+)
I have purchased many amazing artworks from young tbC artists.
Ren - youth worker and communty supporter (40+)
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you for having us yesterday. Our visit was fantastic. I love what you are doing and was so encouraged by your passion for art, artists and especially young artists. Sometimes in school it’s hard to get across to students that what they are doing is more than just a subject with criteria to fulfill. The girls were inspired by what they saw and heard and now have some great information for themselves and for their exam in November. We wish you all the best with whatever direction tbC takes you and look forward to hearing more great things. So tbC hosted its 10th (in 2 weeks) VCE Arts tour today! With more schools still to visit. These visits (from schools all over Melbourne) happen around this time each year and are designed to familiarize VCE art students with different types of galleries and studio art spaces. These visits are also making leaving this amazing studio space really hard. The students and their teachers are all just so amazed at what we have created and say that their visits have been incredibly inspiring. Thank you all for visiting (and paying a fee to do so!). Don't worry tbC has some pretty cool plans for its future - and we will inspire you all again soon. (Special thanks to Monash Gallery of Art for engaging us in this scheme and cross promoting our space and arts model). INTERSTING…. tbC is getting huge responses from the dozen schools visiting with their VCE Arts classes this past fortnight! They are all sad that we may not have the studio space for next years visit. One school is so interested they are bringing a group of teachers to visit again next week to discuss a further in-school (or in-studio) program. Wouldn’t it be amazing if this small revenue stream we have built managed to support keeping the studio? Lots to think about! No matter which way it develops there is much to celebrate! First group of VCE Art students from Padua College visiting tbC today for an 'Artist Run Space' tour! We've had 10 schools visit over the past couple of weeks! These schools kindly pay a small fee to visit which is developing into a fantastic small revenue generator for us! These visits have also led tbC to an amazing new network of young artists to participate in our projects. Many are participating from long distances - these guys are from Mornington!!! And a couple have already signed up for the next edition of hoodie magaZine! Callum van Leeuwen Second group of VCE Art students from Padua College visiting tbC today for an 'Artist Run Space' tour! We've had 10 schools visit over the past couple of weeks! These schools kindly pay a small fee to visit which is developing into a fantastic small revenue generator for us! These visits have also led tbC to an amazing new network of young artists to participate in our projects. Many are participating from long distances - these guys are from Mornington!!! And a couple have already signed up for the next edition of hoodie magaZine!
Visiting (VCE arts) school, 2015
Collective spaces help me feel like I belong somewhere. Sometimes when you work alone you feel isolated and too alone with your thoughts. I feel like when I come together with others I get these amazing ideas. Working in a team is creatively inspiring and I want to be part of that. I also learn a lot and gain confidence and experience from watching and learning from others. Being part of tbC has meant that I am able to experiment fearlessly. The support is warm and nurturing - not overly competitive! I believe this not-overly-competitive environment is really important and, in its own special way, supports young artists in producing amazing collective outcomes. The space inspires artists to mutually support each other’s needs and expectations. Artists don’t want to disappoint others in the group and have a natural desire to work for the good of the collective work. Originally I believed that working by yourself was the best way to work but after working with people on different projects recently, I’ve discovered that I work actually work better with others. I work harder and get inspiration from others which improves my own work. Collaborating with other artists creates a kind of echo chamber of innovation and new ideas. I have also come to think that the fastest and most efficient way to create and present a project is to have people who are really good at certain things handle those tasks. This optimises the work flow and gets things done. The reason I thought working by myself was best, is that I assumed I needed full control and that working alone avoids miss-communication. However, no I have come to values the input of others as even more important.
Josiah - member (19)
It’s definitely more fun and interesting to work around and with other people, to hear other people’s opinions. It’s also great to work with people who are like minded and doing similar things. This ispires my own work. I also like to work on someone else’s project, where you get close to them, almost become like a family where everyone helps each other out. I had a few problems recently and the people around me helped me - artistically and personally and I met some really great people as a result. I do love my own space, but as a permanent thing, it can be too isolating. It’s good to be surrounded by others even if working on yourown work.
Kenz - member (21 )
I find collaboration hugely important within creative industries and for creative people. Its such a tough industry to make your way in and having other people’s input and support is extremely important. Being an artist can be isolating in a lot of respects. At a base level the studio is a lonely place. Artists can become too insular if alone for too long. I believe that having someone else look at and talk about your work provides really interesting perspectives - perspectives individual artists can’t alway see on their own.
Briar - gallery manager, 45 downstairs (24)
I find painting therapeutic and often use it as a healing technique with the young artists I mentor at DRASTIC - a youth based artist run initiative on the Gold Coast. I am a creative facilitator at DRASTIC and am helping to build a peer driven therapeutic creative arts and life skills program for young people. Drastic celebrates the strengths and talents of young people and encourages self-expression as a pathway towards connection. I was recently awarded a grant from NAVIGATE (a young artist development program and City of Gold Coast arts and culture initiative) to undertake an arts-based Internship at tbC. I am keen to develop the skills to run a studio program at Drastic that resembles tbC’s professional approach to collaborative art making with young people.
Annika - industry colleague and arts intern, 26
I am a regular participant in tbCs Blacksmiths Way Graffiti and Street Art Project in Belgrave. I also run a creative small business in Brisbane that focuses on community, public and street art. I believe in building a sustainable future through collective creative energy. I love to paint murals which I usually design and paint in collaboration with clients to bring life and atmosphere to their home, community or business. I also believe that murals are a creative and efficient way to manage vandalism and graffiti. One of the most epic mural projects I’ve done was a community art wall for Reclaim The Streets in St Peters, Sydney. Over 60 members of the community, young and old, contributed to this wall with love and respect.
Sam Dreams - industry colleague and member (19)
