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Out of the Box Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s Festival of Early Childhood |
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The award-winning Out of the Box Festival of Early Childhood at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) remains the only
arts festival in Australia and one of the few in the world that caters specifically for children aged 3-8 years. Since it was
established in 1992, over 350,000 children, their parents and carers have experienced Out of the Box. This event not only
caters for children’s creative needs but has also sparked new knowledge about how to assist parents and carers to support
children’s engagement in the arts.
The festival
Out of the Box is a child-centred festival that supports children’s development by creating and presenting high quality,
innovative and creative activities and events. The program structure is finely tuned and responsive to the diverse tastes and
needs of children and their parents and carers. Out of the Box conducts regular consultation with our large and diverse
audience to gain insights into their needs, aspirations and contemporary experiences.
Children enter a special space when they come to the festival. The size, scale, audience numbers and quality of the work are
truly amazing. The whole building (the largest performing arts centre in Queensland) and the outside green spaces are
literally taken over by children for the week of the festival.
At the last festival up to 10,000 children per day experienced a diverse program of free and ticketed performances,
workshops, exhibitions and creative spaces. A typical day at the festival might involve:
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attending a show featuring local, national or international companies presenting various works, from the small and intimate
to the large and spectacular;
- participating in a creative workshop which involves children in anything from making sushi and biscuits at YUM, producing
a TV show at TV to becoming a DJ, producer and Hip Hop performer at the music making workshop Jam; and
- participating in the free events program of theatre, public art and installations ranging from Putt Putt to The Island, a
colourful presentation of songs, dance and music by Aboriginal, Torres Strait Island and Pacific Islanders.
The festival and parents
Alongside the festival program, QPAC implements a range of strategies designed to support children’s teachers, parents and
carers in maximising the festival experience for themselves and their children. At each festival, considerable time and
energy has been devoted to supporting teachers through the provision of Teachers’ Notes, preview events, festival buddies and
other support materials. While these activities are considered a core undertaking, the 2004 festival saw the introduction of
a new initiative, Learning Partnerships with Parents of Young Children.
Under this initiative, QPAC, with the support of the Australia Council for the Arts and the Queensland University of
Technology (Early Childhood and Creative Industries Drama Faculties) undertook action-orientated research designed to explore
the ways cultural institutions can create engaging relationships with parents of young children. Essentially, QPAC wanted to
be responsive to findings of the report to the Australia Council: Australians and the Arts (Costantoura, 2000), that
indicated it is parents’ own participation in and value of the arts that actively impacts on the subsequent engagement with
and value placed upon the arts by their children.
The report (Costantoura, 2000) found that a person’s attitude towards the arts is likely to be more positive if they had been
encouraged to be involved in the arts when young. It also noted that many families perceived the arts as being ‘family-
unfriendly’.
In response to this research, a number of strategies to support parents were implemented at the 2004 festival. These
included:
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providing parents’ notes to demystify various creative forms through the provision of follow-up activities for parents and
their children to undertake after the festival;
- developing targeted marketing materials such as a hotline for any questions about the program and a simple brochure
designed to alleviate common perceptions that arts and cultural institutions are difficult to access and navigate; and
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a critical friends group of 50 parents, carers and children. This group was provided with tickets to events as well as access
to artists and arts workers. They also participated in a public forum on the final day of the festival.
The strategies implemented at the festival have now been analysed and provide the foundation for the formation of some
guidelines for working with parents of young children on arts-related projects. These guidelines are useful to anyone
interested in children, families and the arts. The guidelines feature four key platforms including:
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Deliver a philosophical framework with children at the centre
A child-centred philosophical framework and programs, events and experiences especially designed for children that recognise
children as beings with agency, who are appreciated and valued by parents. As one parent noted:
Small children are important – these events show that the community values children. I appreciate that something special
for children has been created and shows children are valued.
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Parents are pivotal in the learning community
Parents introduce their children to the value of the arts and provide the foundations for children’s knowledge, attitudes and
appreciation of the arts. Carefully planned support strategies for parents are highly valued. In describing the support
materials, a parent said:
Suggestions, outline and content was very helpful – helped me to understand the … performance.
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Cultural life is a collective and collaborative responsibility
Collective action around children’s public experience of the arts can be rewarding not only for children but for all
participants. Out of the Box involved over 550 adults, including artists, arts workers, security guards, volunteers etc.
Parents strongly value the range of people involved to assist them in navigating the space, in engaging in the work and
participating in the arts. When adults from various backgrounds and fields come together to produce a child-centred
environment, children learn from the social cohesion that is modelled. After the festival, one parent observed (in describing
positive aspects):
Plenty of good QPAC staff and volunteer help and people to take part with the children.
- Take a futures perspective
Although the role of the arts has been significant for the preservation and reconstruction of history, it is important to
realise that the arts also play a significant role in the shaping of current and future cultures. Children are important
contributors to community and cultural life. The arts, and arts festivals, provide important pathways for children as they
connect with the wider community. Through arts activities children come to understand themselves, their interactions with
others in their community, their culture and the wider world. Parents appreciate arts experiences that are designed to
enhance young children’s learning and development. As one parent stated:
My child absorbs everything – these experiences become a part of who he is, he grows up with an understanding of community –
with respect.
From our research, it is apparent that parents believe that participation in activities such as the festival support children
and their learning differently, away from the time, space and institutional constraints of schools and other more formal
early childhood settings. It is vitally important that individuals and organisations continue to not only create
sophisticated and innovative festivals, programs and events for children but to consider the support structures provided to
the parents and carers participating alongside children.
Collette Brennan
General Manager, QPAC’s Out of the Box Program
The next Out of the Box Festival of Early Childhood will be in June 2006 at QPAC. The guidelines Children, their Parents and
the Arts: Some guidelines for working with parents of young children are available from QPAC. Please email ootb@qpac.com.au
or phone 07 3840 7500 for a copy of the guidelines or to be added to the festival database.
References
Costantoura, P. (2000). Australians and the Arts: Report to the Australia Council from Saatchi & Saatchi. Sydney: Australia
Council.
McArdle, F., Brennan, C., McLean, J., Richer, S., & Tayler, C. (2005). Children, their Parents and the Arts: Some guidelines
for working with parents of young children. Brisbane: Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 June 2007 )
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