Atienne Bakker-Szumer

Name
Atienne Bakker-Szumer
Email
atienne01@gmail.com
What do you do, why did you choose to go down that path, and what do you love about it?
I’m currently studying a Bachelor of Jazz at the Jazz Music Institute here in Brisbane, I’m also a Youth Ambassador for 4ZZZ radio. I decided to go down the path of music because I believe music is a great way to foster community and to connect with people you never would have met otherwise. I chose to follow Jazz in particular because it is highly creative and can be applied to almost all genres. Being part of the media side of Music at 4ZZZ is also a fantastic thing. You learn so much about broadcasting and music within the media and also have a fantastic time.The thing I love most about studying music is being surrounded by like minded and creative people. Late night jams are also awesome fun.
What are you currently working on project-wise?
Currently I’m trying to kick off a few musical projects including a Gypsy band and a Jazz duo. (P.S. if anyone plays some rowdy brass and wants in on some crazy gypsy music, contact me!). I’ve also started tutoring high school students which takes up a reasonable portion of my time.
What would you say led you to where you are today? Eg background, achievements, inspiration?
Call me superficial, but the largest aspect that has brought me to where I am today as fun, all the things I decide to follow are activities that give me a great deal of pleasure. I wasn’t always into music but when I began dabbling with it, it sucked me in. I’m yet to find an activity that gives me as much pleasure as music.
What do you get up to in your down time? Do you have any hobbies?
My downtime is pretty much more music although a touch of football (soccer), squash and a couple of computer games often make their way in as well. Busking is always good fun as well.
What’s it like being a young person in Brisbane? What suggestions would you make to improve the city?
Being young in Brisbane has its perks and flaws. When you’re under 18, it’s near impossible to see quality gigs. On the plus side there are a lot of youth organizations and activities around. Personally I think the public transport in Brisbane needs to be improved if we really want to allow youth to interact with what Brisbane has to offer.
What advice or inspiration would you share with other young people?
Follow your passion and always have a project or goal of some sort. Being stagnant can be no fun at all.
Is there anything else you’d like to add? Where can people get in touch with you?
Always love to talk to people so feel free to contact me at atienne01@gmail.com

Eloise Maree has had a big year, the Queensland State Representative for National Youth Week in 2012 also winning a grant to study overseas and producing some amazing theatre works set to happen from 10-19 May as part of The Anywhere Festival.

What do you do and why did you choose to go down that path?
I am a theatre-maker and conversation artist. I have chosen to work in the arts because I am:
1. Passionate
2. A lover of metaphor and rhetoric
3. Crazy

What are you working on currently?
‘The Alleyway Project’ – a show that is set in Winn Lane (behind The Zoo). I am working with a team of amazing artists – three fantastic playwrights to create site-specific scripts based on The Valley and an incredible director/designer/acting team that are bringing it to life for the Anywhere Theatre Festival. We’ll have free goon and vomit fights. I’m excited!

How do you think Visible Ink helps young people to work on projects like yours, and what have you used the space for before?
Visible Ink is AWESOME. Coming from Melbourne, where you have to kill, search and destroy in order to find an [expensive] rehearsal space, a free rehearsal space is such a godsend! Also the free printing, photocopying, phones and internet make me feel like I have a Real Job.

What’s your favourite downtime activity/ hobby?
Oh, definitely playing classical piano. Sooo soothing.

I have played piano ever since I was a wee lass in Mt Isa. I had an old, rickety piano teacher named Mrs. Banks and she taught me a love for the smell of old piano music and classical. My two favourite classical composers are Bach and Mozart. Mozart is particularly soothing – if you don’t know about The Mozart Effect, you should look it up! Mozart’s music has been heralded for reducing stress, relieving illness and increasing mental activity. It’s awesome stuff.

So far for 2012 you’ve been Queensland State Youth Representative for National Youth Week, and have landed a grant for funds to travel overseas, can you tell us about that? Has it been a whirlwind or have you taken it all in your stride?
I would definately go with the whirlwind option. But as I’m learning, juggling many things at once and having multiple projects in one year is a part of working in theatre. I’ll also be touring a show made entirely from writing off toilet walls to Crack Theatre Festival in Newcastle and maybe Cairns as well and there’s been talk of touring a different show to Melbourne. In June, I’m off to Indonesia to meet and discuss social, community and touring art with Indonesian artists. I’m definately the most excited about this amazing opportunity!

Do you have a copy of your CityNews cover story you could share/ an anecdote about the experience of being on a magazine cover?

Well, it was all the doing of my marketer, Athalia Foo who set up the interview with director, Kat Henry and the shoot with three of our actors. I was not allowed to be in the interview or shoot because I had been in the previous week’s CityNews for National Youth Week! I was so excited when I saw we made the front page, it was totally unexpected. I keep seeing people walking around reading the CityNews and feel like running up to them and yelling “That’s my show! That’s my baby!! Come see it!!!”

Some of the best advice I’ve ever had is “create the job you want”. It doesn’t have to pre-exist. Also, life naturally has its highs and lows. It’s difficult to see a way out when you’re in a low, but before you know it, you’ll be rising to the surface again. Just go with the flow and keep a clear heart.

Any inspirational things to say to other young people reading this?
You are already awesome. Keep digging, showing, pleasing: if not for yourself, then for everyone around you!

Where can people find out more about you or get in touch with you?
For the alleyway project, they can check out the blog: http://alleywayproject.blogspot.com.au/ (and come along to the show!). You can also see the Cradle Productions website which has info on my past shows: http://cradleproductions.yolasite.com/ or just email me @ cradleproductions@live.com.au

I’m Ellie Freeman, I’m organising a cool bicycle event at Teneriffe on May 20 called We Like Bikes. Here’s a photo of me looking at something whimsical on the left:

I do the following things:

• Audio engineer at4EBFM
• Event management
• Sound production student at SAE Institute Brisbane
• Announcer and volunteer at 4ZZZFM
• Irregular contributor to Rave Magazine
• Social media addict on Twitter and tumblr

I like e-mails – contact me on ellie.freeman@gmail.com for questions, ideas, love letters, hate mail, etc.

 Sustainable Fashion, Clothing Exchange, Workshops

 Louise Falzon, director of A Pot of Tea, Under a Tree, is passionate about sustainable fashion and wants to share her
 knowledge through the Under a Tree Clothing Exchange and school-based workshops that help young people develop a sense of expression through fashion.

A Pot of Tea, Under a Tree is a sustainable fashion label that maintains accessibility for young people to interact and become more aware of minimising the impact of the fashion industry on the planet.

Under a Tree: Clothing Exchange is a quarterly clothes swap event where young women can come along and listen to young performers, drink tea and swap clothes for a cause. A Pot of Tea, Under a Tree chooses to support Project Futures: End Sex Trafficking as a positive way to take steps towards strengthening women’s environments throughout the world. The first Under a Tree: Clothing Exchange was held in March and was a lovely success, with Pot of Tea, Under a Tree able to raise the enough funds to free four young Cambodian girls from brothels.

A Pot of Tea, Under a Tree also offers school-based workshops on how to maintain sustainable fashion. These workshops are interactive as well as informative, providing high school students an opportunity to explore their identity through fashion as well as providing them with tools to create their own sustainable wardrobe.

“Before Louise came to speak at our school, I had absolutely no idea about what was going on in the world regarding the impact simply buying clothes has on the environment. She is an amazing person and I think she needs to go around to a lot more schools because I want people to experience what we did today. It was the most incredible lesson I’ve had in all high school and I want to thank her so much for everything.” K.M from Runcorn State

A Pot of Tea, Under a Tree
Louise Falzon
www.underatree.com.au

 Angie and Elerrina are the driving forces behind establishing Dreamwave Entertainment.  With over 40 years experience in the industry between them, they not only bring years of experience but amazing passion for empowering young people with skills in the performing arts.

Dreamwave have an established reputation in Ipswich and the Gold Coast and are working hard to expand intoBrisbane.  They are currently using Visible Ink resources on a regular basis to copy newsletters, create innovative posters and work on a business plan.

Dreamwave offer dance classes in multiple genres as well as singing and acting classes.  They have offered to run FREE classes here at Visible Ink over the next 6 months and will run intensive workshops over the September school holidays.  Dates and times will be put on the website soon.

In term 3 Dreamwave are offering classes at schools to promote an active and healthy approach to starting the school day. 

To find out more about Dreamwave Entertainment, please find them on Facebook (Dreamwave Entertainment) or http://www.dreamwaveentertainment.com/

Visible Ink Valley is delighted to have Daniel and Gen join the space as tenants for the 2011 Inkubator program in the new Visible Ink space.

Daniel and Gen are currently busy preparing for rehearsals inMelbournefor the May 2012 Nextwave Festival which supports young emerging artists.   They are also taking theirBrisbane‘Room 328’ production toMelbournefor the Fringe Festival from late September til early October.

Later this year Daniel and Gen will be supporting secondary school students in Toowoomba, primarily those affected by January’s floods, by facilitating workshops with the assistance from fellow peers and supported by Toowoomba’s  Empire Theatre.

In December they are excited to be performing ‘DJ while you Sleep’ at the Judith Wright Centre.  More information will come closer to the date. You can check out some of their work via their website http://www.danielsantangeli.com/

Daniel and Gen will also be running workshops at the Visible Ink space in November, focussed on auditioning and theatre specific skill development.  Details will be on the Visible Ink website as soon as dates are locked in.

Please feel free to drop and in and say hi to them!

Musician.
Tashka’s passion for music is leading her to central Queensland to teach songwriting and instrument making.

 
Tashka recently attended the CONTACT ACADEMY: A multi-arts series of professional development workshops for emerging artists – run by Contact Inc and held at Visible Ink Valley. We asked a few questions about her experience.

Why did you come to the contact academy – what were you hoping to gain?
It was an amalgamation of Art forms.  A mix of great people.  A chance to try different things & meet new people.  Since I also conduct workshops for a living myself I am always interested in seeing how other’s are running & to open my mind to fresh ways of doing things.  This is the first time in my life I’ve spent time & lived in a City, with events & opportunities like these everywhere, so I’m lapping it up like crazy – soaking in as much as I can get!!!
I thought Contact Academy was one of the best run workshop serious I’ve ever been to… it’d be great to have an overview of the whole workshop timetable again & the names of all the facilitators who we worked with so we can look them up!

What is your arts practice interest and what would you like to be doing with it in Brisbane?
My Arts practice in short is music, but I’d say it is more about facilitating others to channel themselves through creative expression.  I teach piano/singing during the week & travel conducting workshops for projects a few times a year.  For example, I have been working in Indigenous communities facilitating story through singing/recording/filmmaking workshops since 2006.  In 2 weeks I am in remote north QLD with the J.A.M crew (Join Australian Music) in a great collective of muso’s facilitating songwriting, instrument making & industry development to remote schools, some of which don’t even have a music teacher!

After moving from Alice Springs to Brisbane, really what I’d like to be doing here is exactly what I’m doing, but more of it!  Immersing myself & immersing others.  I am hoping to step it up a notch & get more work on more projects & events.  I love working with other amazing people & arts collectives towards shared vision.  I have a lot to share & can add many levels to projects.  I am very interested in how we can be doing things differently & actually engage with each other & community in a way that not only makes it sustainable but also puts it into the people’s hands so they themselves become the art. Contact Tashka   tashka@humancanvas.net

Gastronomy Gal is a Brisbane blogger who shares her love of food with avid readers with an equal passion for all things food. in her own words:

“I am not a food expert- I am just a food lover, and so want to share my love of food with you.”

Who are you? Give a complete stranger a brief snapshot into your world…

I’m a 23 year old girl living in Qld, my adoptive State. I’ve been in BrisVegas for 5 years after moving here from my cute country hometown in NSW. I work in Communications/PR and write my own food blog. I also write columns for an online magazine.  I’m pretty infactuated with all things food (hence the food blog) and spend much of my time trawling around restaurants/providores/food festivals/wine & cocktail bars in Brisbane looking for awesome food and wine to blog about. I also blog about the occasional horrible experience too! Whilst I love eating out, I love cooking in my tiny kitchen with one of my many cooking appliances, re-planting my herb garden after it is inevitably eaten by possums, and reading one of my new books or old vogue, delicious or gourmet traveller magazines.

Get Visible: if there’s anything else you’d like to add, speak now or forever hold your peace!
It’s great to see that Brisbane is really surging ahead in the food stakes. It’s no secret that we have been about 20 years behind the other states but we are starting to catch up. I’m really happy to report on all the triumphs happening in QLD – be it restaurants, produce, wineries or anything food related. We are now represented by a small but savvy contingent of food bloggers and people are starting to understand the value of good food. It’s also fabulous to see such a young element to the dining/food scene- lots of enthusiasm and vigour which is really shining through.

Check out the Gastronomy Gal blog at http://gastronomy-gal.blogspot.com/

Jaleesa Pon is founder of M.A.D4Teens magazine.  M.A.D4Teens explores a wide range of issues that are important and relevant to young people; relationships, money, happiness, fashion, sport, arts (music, dance, painting, media), travel, health & social life.

Jaleesa Pon holding the first issue of M.A.D4Teens

• Jaleesa Pon. 20 year-old Brisbane local.
• A Multicultural girl of PNG/Chinese heritage.
• The oldest of 4 kids.
• Love food and spending time with family and friends.
• Huge fan of the arts – I enjoy the theatre, ballroom dancing, playing piano and singing.
• Travel rocks my world! One of my life missions is to travel overseas at least once a year every year … that’s how much I love it!
• A broadcaster on the multicultural youth radio show “Oxygen” (Radio 4EB 98.1FM).
• I work in the finance industry and am revelling in the challenges.
• And I also work with like-minded young people who are committed to the same things.

What are you working on right now?

M.A.D4Teens Magazine – the magazine that is Making A Difference.
It’s a magazine that is independently created and publised by a team of young people for other young people to enjoy. It exists to give youth opportunities to:

1. gain work experience in working behind the scenes of a publication;
2. be featured in the magazine and be recognised for their talent(s)
3. form friendships with like-minded teens
4. & meet influential figures in the industry

I’m also working on the building of an educational, encouraging and interactive online community for youth.

When do you feel at your best and when you feel at your worst how do
you get through it?

I feel at my best when I honour my word and fulfill on the committments I’ve made AND
also when I know I’ve made a difference to another and left a smile on their face!

When I feel at my worst, I have a look for what happened that had me get down (the situation / event / circumstance).
Then I give myself the freedom to be upset/uncomfortable etc. and allow myself to be a ‘drama queen’.. BUT only for a few minutes!
Then I simply get back in action and get on with what needs to be done next. Nothing can be accomplished when you wallow in things that have already happened.

Where do you see yourself in five years time?

In 5 years time I see myself as a bold entrepreneur; building businesses and working in/with various communities around the world, making a difference to them.

I also see myself married, in a healthy financial position, continuing to work with the team of M.A.D4Teens Magazine, learning another language and still travelling… of course!

Why do you do what you do?

What I’m committed to is transforming the world through empowering and enabling young people.  I want to make a difference to the youth community.

WHY?
Because youth are the leaders of our future and are the people who will be responsible for what happens in the world… and when I turn on the news, I want to see a world that works. Not one that is full of pain; poverty and wars.

How have you been able to do what you love?

By managing my time and by always taking the next steps.

Get Visible: if there’s anything else you’d like to add, speak now or forever hold your peace!

To find out more visit www.mad4teens.com.
You can also follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mad4teens