Creating Queenstown was designed by Neil Cameron (founder of the Festival of Voices), Travis Tiddy (director of the Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival) and Adam Mostogl (committee member of Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival and founder of illuminate SDF), in response to developing a community conversation to support the region through the recent mine closures, which saw approximately 500 jobs go at the Mt Lyell Mine with a further 150 to go when Henty Gold Mine wraps up production from December this year. Creating Queenstown is a project that allows the local people of Queenstown to work through and express their views and ideas about their community’s future. It is the belief of those involved that positive and effective community change will only occur if the local community are in the centre of the plan and become the engine room of change. Creating Queenstown will go for more than just the festival weekend, taking a multi-levelled approach in creating a new and positive pro-action plan that provides a new vision for the community. Adam is personally leading the roll out of these events, acting as the co-facilitator of the first event and will be the MC of the forum that is happening as the final act of the festival, which will be streamed online for anyone in the world to participate in.
Adam lead the entire project, planning all of the events which included a student artwork exhibition, bought together a number of makers groups in a space in Queenstown to showcase new technologies, and two community forums which were facilitated by Adam to raise ideas about the future of the region. At the end of the project, a report will be produced that will help those in the community to continue the project and implement the ideas raised throughout the process, leaving a lasting legacy of the event.
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