Clive Smith is a proud Nyoongar man, committed to preserving and promoting Nyoongar cultural heritage and language. As a knowledge holder, he speaks in song and language on behalf of his grandfather Cliff Humphries, one of the last traditional Nyoongar knowledge holders. With experience in mining, government and not-for-profit sectors, Clive is also deeply involved in family and community projects.

At the start of the day, Noongar textile artist and CAN's Cultural Advisor Geri Hayden will teach you how to make your own stick doll and share her own story about the significance of these dolls in her life. You may then take this creative project with you, to work on during the panel session and seminar if you wish, as a way of staying grounded in the making process while listening to the conversations on stage. 

Shenali Perera is a visual scribe and facilitator who supports community movements and systems change through art. At Making Time, she will be capturing the essence of our panel and conversations in different sessions through images and words on the wall. You will see the artwork progress over time, and Shenali will reflect the final work back to us during our closing session. Beyond documentation, visual scribing is a tool for collective reflection and deeper engagement that makes visible what is said and felt during an event. You're welcome to come have a closer look and chat with her throughout the day!

Moderator: Zohar Spatz, Head of Community and Experimental Arts, Creative Australia

Panellists: 

• Tharanga De Silva, Senior Community Development Coordinator, ASeTTS
• Emily Lees, Arts and Health Manager, St John of God Health Care
• Scott Griffiths (AKA Optamus), Youth Worker, Music Producer and Rapper

With outcomes relating to health, well-being, self-esteem, belonging and healing, community arts often straddles the health and arts sectors. Join moderator Zohar Spatz and panellists Tharanga De Silva, Emily Lees and Scott Griffiths (AKA Optamus), as they explore this topic and share their experiences of working in settings such as refugee health and arts, hip hop education with young people in regional and metro locations, dementia health, and arts in health care and community settings.

Join Shona Erskine as she unpacks a toolkit of resources about the importance of self-compassion while working in the arts, and the four stages of compassion fatigue which can either lead to burnout or to personal growth depending on how we employ our own modes of “self-care” and a space to breathe. Circus WA Artistic Director Jo Smith and Yirra Yaakin Artistic Director Maitland Schnaars will be joining Shona to share real-life examples of these practices in action. A focus on flourishing and spiritual self-care will close the session.

Dulcie’s workshop will include a talk about making and experimenting with bush medicines, followed by a demonstration of how to make bush and natural herbal remedies, and a chance to sample some of the finished products.

Clay Meditation Circle is an invitation to pause, breathe and create. Journey to inner discovery, self-reflection and creative exploration with clay play mindfulness practices. Each clay form becomes an offering of connection, gathered into a shared installation that reflects joy, belonging and resilience. Rooted in stillness and sensory engagement, the circle offers a breathing space and a moment in presence where individual reflection and collective creation meet, cultivating gestures of care for self, community and land.

You’re invited to learn Noongar language and singing techniques in a community voice and singing workshop, under the gentle guidance of musicians Della Rae Morrison and Kobi Arthur Morrison.

Rest as a River is a gently playful movement workshop led by Daisy Sanders. It is informed by her significant experience of chronic illness and enduring somatic dance practice. Grounded in rest, relational exchange and warmly inclusive methodologies, the session invites participants into meditative movement and listening to/through the body. Binaural sound will support theta brainwave states, while breath, gravity, “energy dials” and how we give ourselves full permission to restore and recalibrate will be explored. Suitable for all bodies and abilities. Please advise any access needs.

Join artist Darryl Dempster for a creative workshop exploring art and storytelling using acrylic paint and paint pens on black canvas, caps and t-shirts. Through symbolism, pattern-making and intuitive design, you’ll create meaningful personal imagery while learning about Darryl’s artistic process. Supported by artist and art coach Ariel Katzir, this workshop offers a fun and inspiring space to connect and create together.

In this workshop, you will work with the natural environment that surrounds us. You’ll be working with natural forms such as seeds, stems and leaves. We will provide a variety of items for you to choose from, but you are also welcome to bring anything you have sourced from nature. Together we will produce a kaleidoscopic variety of images, referencing the natural world, weaving through various compositions, coloured prints and natural pigments derived from resins and spices. The options are endless as you can bring any natural items that you wish to permanently capture using this timeless technique. The world is yours to create with!

This year CAN is organising Speed Networking sessions. Our aim is to match creative producers, artists and arts workers with industry management, funders and artist mentors, so they can connect, share knowledge and expertise.

Find out more about the mentors here.

We will be approaching writing as an active process to slowly digest and critically examine the world around us. Switching off phones, participants slowly land in the environment, activating a different mode of doing. This workshop is an introduction to writing as a creative process within studio practice or broadly in life. Writing can happen anywhere, on the train, at the beach, as a sketch, as a beginning – magic happens when we allow ourselves to sit and write. Participants are asked to put away phones for the duration of this workshop.

Ariel Katzir is a multicultural Perth-based artist and transpersonal art therapist with a diploma in fashion and textiles. Her work, rich in lines and acrylic, delicately explores beauty, form, emotional connection and healing. Through her art coaching, Ariel has nurtured Darryl Dempster’s bold, expressive style, building a powerful creative partnership rooted in joy, curiosity and visual storytelling. 
 

Ariel will be supporting Darryl Dempster's Painting workshop at Making Time.

Daisy Sanders is a Boorloo-based dance artist whose work prioritises connection, care and accessibility. She creates immersive, community-focused projects and has worked with Sensorium Theatre, pvi collective and Stompin Youth Dance Company. Choreographic works such as A Resting Mess, Night Dancing and Room to Rest reflect her distinct approach to creative leadership, where performance becomes a site for shared reflection and transformation.

Daisy will be presenting a creative workshop entitled 'Movement and Rest' at Making Time.

Darryl Dempster (Instagram) is a proud Noongar man from Kepa Kurl (Esperance), now based in Boorloo (Perth). An emerging artist who began exploring painting in his early adulthood, Darryl communicates through bold, energetic gestures and vivid colours. His uninhibited mark-making often transforms found surfaces – like street signs, garments and paper bags – into expressive canvases that blend personal narrative, cultural memory and joyful storytelling.

Darryl will be presenting a creative workshop entitled 'Painting' at Making Time.

Della Rae Morrison is a Bibbulmun woman of the Nyoongar nation. She has been performing professionally for 30 years, across music, musical theatre, theatre and television. An award-winning songwriter, Della is the co-founder of Madjitil Moorna singing group. She has greatly influenced the inclusive culture of the choir as well as the songs they sing, including her originals. 

Together with her son Kobi Arthur Morrison, Della will be presenting the 'Community Singing' workshop at Making Time.

Noongar Elder, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Dulcie Donaldson comes from Ballardong Country. Currently based on Whadjuk Country, in Perth, Dulcie spends most of her days making and experimenting with bush medicines and herbal natural medicines, and also works as a mentor at Balga Senior High School and various primary schools. Dulcie worked at Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service in many roles for 32 years and is a Cultural Advice Committee member on the Whadjuk Native Title group.

Dulcie will be presenting the creative workshop "Bush Medicine" at Making Time.

Emily is a community and health sector professional with over 15 years’ experience working across health, disability, volunteer and social services sectors. In her current role at St John of God Healthcare, she champions the integration of creative practices into clinical care, advancing health and wellbeing through evidence-based programs, strategic partnerships and sector leadership.

Emily will be speaking on the Community Arts, Health and Well-being panel at Making Time.

Born in Valdobbiadene, Treviso, Francesco was educated at Treviso’s Artistic High School and holds a master’s degree in graphics from the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna. Francesco lectured in printmaking at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna for two years. He currently lives between Margaret River WA, where he teaches printmaking techniques at Margaret River Printmaking and Bologna, where he is a lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara.

Francesco is presenting the 'Printmaking' creative workshop at Making Time.

Irene Schneider is a multidisciplinary designer, artist, ceramicist and yoga/meditation teacher based in Perth. With tertiary training in product design, she has over 20 years’ experience working with clay, and has exhibited internationally and collaborated across festivals and retreats. Her practice weaves mindfulness, impermanence and creativity, offering tactile, reflective workshops that foster presence, belonging and shared ritual.

Irene is presenting the 'Clay and Meditation' creative workshop at Making Time.

Jo Smith is Artistic Director of CircusWA and has been working in the arts since the 1990s. Her career has included roles such as CircusWA Circus Manager, Regional Contemporary Dance Facilitator of Ausdance WA’s Future Landings, Creative Producer of Write In the Great Southern, Manager of Bookmark in Albany and Coordinator of Denmark-based community arts festival. Brave New Works.

Kate Moss is an artist and writer from Mullewa, now based on Whadjuk Noongar country. Thinking through sunlight and sea breeze, her multidisciplinary work - engaged in the place and natural phenomena – utilises written, spoken and performed language and repurposed materials, to reflect on the complexities of living in the current moment.

Kate is presenting the 'Writing' workshop at Making Time.

Kobi Arthur Morrison is a Bibbulmun Noongar, born and raised in Perth. Working at the UWA Centre for Social Impact, Kobi spends his spare time playing music and taking part in music projects such as Moombaki, Koondarm, Koorlong, Madjitil Moorna and Endeavourous. These projects earned him the 2018 Perth NAIDOC Youth of the Year Award.

Together with his mother Della Rae Morrison, Kobi will be presenting the 'Community Singing' workshop at Making Time.

Noongar man Maitland Schnaars is Artistic Director of Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company, and an actor, poet and playwright. Maitland co-founded the international theatre company Corazon de Vaca, and has worked with Australia theatre companies such as Black Swan State Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre, Yirra Yaakin and Performing Lines with TASPerforms.

Scott Griffiths (AKA Optamus) is a music producer and rapper who is part of hip-hop group Downsyde. He is also a youth worker with 17 years’ experience in youth centres, prisons, schools and remote communities, where he uses hip-hop pedagogy to engage young people. Scott is artist/producer for CAN’s Now Sounds project.

Scott will be speaking on the 'Community Arts, Health and Well-being' panel at Making Time.

Shona is a registered psychologist in private practice with 25 years’ experience working in the arts sector. Having spent decades working as a dancer while qualifying as a psychologist Shona has an expertise in psychology for performing and visual artists. The focus of her psychology work includes performance and creativity as well as communication and complex systems.

Tharanga De Silva is a community development practitioner and an admitted lawyer who works as the Senior Community Development Coordinator at ASeTTS. She has over 25 years of community development experience, including seven years with international organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme and ActionAiD International in Sri Lanka.

Tharanga is speaking on the 'Community Arts, Health and Well-being' panel at Making Time.

Zohar Spatz is Head of Community and Experimental Arts at Creative Australia. She is dedicated to advancing and promoting the arts and cultural sector, elevating community and experimental arts through strategic partnerships, advocacy and policy development. She was previously the CEO/Executive Director of La Boite Theatre Company, Australia’s longest continuously running theatre company.

Zohar is chairing the 'Community Arts, Health and Well-being' panel at Making Time.