Anne-Marie Wiles — Hurstville City Council
Brendan Hartnett Award Winner
This award acknowledges pivotal cultural staff within councils.
Anne-Marie Wiles received a solid grounding in community cultural development firstly as an artist, during eight years with Sydney’s pioneering Sidetrack (Multicultural) Theatre. Working primarily as a performer involved in devising new original theatre for and about communities in Sydney, she was always an organiser and relished that direct liaison and networking between communities and artists. She then worked in various cultural development contexts, notably as the Arts Officer for the ACTU Queensland Branch for seven years, before she began her cultural development role in local government in 1999 with South Sydney Council (which became City of Sydney) and was the first Cultural Development Officer at the new Redfern Community Centre in 2003 before moving to Hurstville City Council in 2004.
When Anne-Marie came to Hurstville, she was presented with our first Cultural Plan, developed a couple of years earlier and a budget of just $10,000, earmarked for a "Discovery Festival of Arts", which had been introduced in the previous year. She soon renamed it the 'Hurstville Discovery Festival of COMMUNITY ARTS' and maintained that it be a showcase of or catalyst for local community cultural development. She has forged relationships with and between dozens of community groups and individuals, assisting many to source funding and other resources to realise their creative and development aspirations and to integrate much of this cultural work where appropriate into other Council celebrations and events.
She puts in many additional hours of work, particularly in the build-up to and during the festival which runs through October. But also in time that she gives to the community through her involvement on various steering committees for programs and projects. She also supports the work of the other specialist staff in Community Services both when creative cultural work can be applied (e.g. Seniors Week, Youth Week, NAIDOC, Harmony Day etc) or simply as a supportive member of the Community Services Team, when the extra pair of hands is needed for a given event or activity. Anne-Marie is particularly good at making the most of limited resources. She brings a strong sense of social justice and integrity to her role; has a broad knowledge and appreciation of various art forms and is personally highly creative and discerning in regards to artistic quality.
