Thousands of native seeds will be stuck to the walls of a vacant Mossman shop as part of an initiative aimed at breathing new life and encouraging activity in the town’s main street.
The “Red Seed Project” — proposed by FNQ not-for-profit art organisation CBFE Inc — will be created within the old Lifeline store at 6 Front Street.
Facilitator Victoria Lees, who will be running Kuku Yalanji Jalbu workshops for participants from December 12, says the project wouldn’t have been possible without support from Douglas Shire Council and Renew Tropical Douglas — a space activation program tailored for towns across regional and remote Queensland.
Victoria shared that she had almost given up hope on finding a space for the project before being offered one through a subsidised rental agreement.
“I was kind of trying to rack my brains about how can I go about it and where could I possibly get enough money to be able to hire a space,” she said.
“I’m very grateful for the generosity of the property owner to allow us to come in and do this.”
The Cow Bay resident also noted the significance of seeds for many women.
“It’s a woman’s project and we carry the seeds of the future,” she said.
“I really enjoy collecting seeds and once I started collecting them I was hooked!”
Douglas Shire Mayor Lisa Scomazzon paid tribute to Renew Tropical Douglas for providing opportunities for people like Victoria and other pop-up businesses to rent spaces in regional locations.
“Renew Tropical Douglas aims to support local entrepreneurs and artists by creating opportunities to activate vacant spaces,” Mayor Scomazzon said.
“This kind of initiative has the potential to breathe new life into our towns and provide a platform for creative expression and community engagement. While it’s just a beginning, the Red Seed Project is a positive step toward revitalising Mossman’s main street and inspiring future initiatives.”
Victoria said Mossman could benefit from a stronger arts focus.
“There’s so much creative life that happens in this community,” she said.
“I think it would be really nice to see all these (empty) places looking colourful and a hive of activity and hopefully that’s what this space will become.”
Head to the Douglas Shire Council website for more information on Renew Tropical Douglas.
*Douglas Shire Council, a Small Business Friendly Council, was selected to participate in Cohort 2 of the Regional Place Activation Program delivered in partnership with Queensland Small Business Commissioner and supported by RENEW Australia.
*This project was made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.’
