Key
Pillars
Managed by the NSW Regional Arts Network and funded by the Department of Regional NSW, this is an opportunity for young creatives to connect into a network of peers and demonstrate the creative career opportunities available in regional NSW
Work Ready
Horizons is a program developed to directly support young people develop their own pathways to a career in the creative industries. The project will provide participants with the skills, knowledge and experience to be work ready and/or access further education and training.
Wellbeing
Whilst there are several programs to develop talented and gifted athletes, regional youth who excel in the arts have limited options to hone their craft without moving to the city. Horizons will provide young people who express a passion and talent in the creative industries with opportunities to develop their practice and foster an environment where they can enjoy their learning and their practice. Maintaining and improving mental health of young people can be achieved through recognition of their skills and interests as well as providing opportunities and building capacity.
Connectivity
A key component of Horizons is the collegial environment established between not only the participant and their mentor, but the collective of young artists from across NSW that will be fostered through regular online and in-person gatherings. Sharing knowledge and experiences with each other as well as fellowship and establishing networks with each other that can continue long after the program’s completion.
Community
Horizons will invite the participants to explore what the future looks like for their community and through the program will provide opportunities for them to better understand how their community works, what brings them together and what threatens it. The program aims to provide opportunities for young people to fulfill their passions in the creative arts through engaging with their own community, no matter where they live.
Fabian Pertzel
Project Manager
Fabian Pertzel
Project Manager
Fabian is an artist and arts worker base on Bundjalung country, in Lismore NSW. They graduated from Southern Cross University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Art and Design and in 2022 began working with the Lismore Regional Gallery while undertaking other freelance curatorial and photographic projects on the side. Fabian is interested in the histories and narratives of Queer lives in regional Australia and incorporates these unique sensibilities into their creative and curatorial work.
In 2023 they have taken on the role of Project Manager for the Horizons team and will be working closely with both the mentors and mentees to shape this project throughout 2024. Fabian is a persistent indoor gardener, despite their many empty pots, the collection grows. Recently, they have been fooling around with experimental noise, making sounds with digital synths. Lots of fun and absolutely no technical music skills required!
Narelle Vogel
Horizons Lead Mentor
Narelle Vogel
Horizons Lead Mentor
Narelle is living proof that you can live and work in the regions AND enjoy a career in the creative industries. Originally from regional SA, she studied printmaking in Ballarat and Hobart and has lived and worked in regional Australia for her whole professional career.
Currently based in the border town of Albury-Wodonga as a freelance Creative Producer, Narelle has worked with professional theatre and circus companies, art galleries, local government, and regional arts development organisations. It’s the diversity of projects and creative engagement that keeps her enthusiastic and looking for the next gig.
As Lead Mentor on the Horizons team her role is to support and guide the project team and mentors plus oversee the project administration. And to keep it real in the regions, she’s a devotee of Zumba, cats, leaf tea and loves hanging around her family.
Emma Johnston
First Nations Coordinator
Emma Johnston
First Nations Coordinator
Emma is a young Wiradurji artist and small business owner of Sistagirl Designs. Growing up in Hay, she has shared her passionate about Indigenous culture through her art. With a love in arts, she is now pursuing a bachelor’s in education (secondary) and Fine Arts (visual arts) to lead and inspire the next generation of artists.
Adara Enthaler
Communications Officer
Adara Enthaler
Communications Officer
Adara has worked in the arts since the final year of her Bachelor of Creative Arts (Major in Creative Writing) at the University of Wollongong, which she followed with completing Honours. For a decade she managed communications for the South Coast Writers Centre and then Writing NSW, at the same time freelancing for various festivals including the Feminist Writers Festival, Heroines Festival, BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival and Word Travels’ Story Week.
Adara also hosts Enough Said Poetry Slam in her home region of the Illawarra, and co-founded the Society City Collective, a volunteer-run co-working space, venue, and secondhand bookshop.
Horizons is led by a project team driven by young people, guided by an experienced mentor and overseen by a Working Party of Executive Directors from 7 of the 15 Regional Arts Development Organisations across NSW and Regional Arts NSW
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