You’ll know by now that we’re passionate about art and artists. And young artists have a special place in our heart – we not only want to support and collaborate with them, but also to provide an opportunity for them to actively contribute to our plans.

Earlier this year we set up a HOTA Gallery and Visual Arts Youth Advisory Group made up of visual artists aged between 18 – 35 years of age with a strong connection to arts and culture here on the Gold Coast.

The group provides support to HOTA Gallery Education and Public Programs staff to help us make plans to increase participation and engagement of young people at HOTA. The group meets monthly and is facilitated by Renae Belton, our Education Coordinator and Sarah Lewis, our Public Programs Coordinator.

A few of the group told us what excited them about this opportunity:

‘Becoming a member of the HOTA Gallery Youth Advisory Group provides an amazing opportunity to shape and develop the contemporary art scene in Australia, making Visual Art more accessible to our youth locally on the Gold Coast, and I value being able to contribute to something so significant,’ said Chloe Bennett.

Anthony Cora sees the opportunity to help his peers.

‘I am very passionate about empowering and educating our young people and helping them to see and realise what opportunities could be possible for them.‘

And Natalie Popovski has her eyes on the bigger picture: ‘I have a strong desire to see the Gold Coast grow as an arts capital and would love the opportunity to contribute to the new cultural precinct.’ We can’t wait to see what the group get up to and are looking forward to their input into our public program plans for the new HOTA Gallery, coming soon! If you’d like to hear more, then sign up to our Education eNewsletter.