Stylin UP Regional changing lives in Hope Vale

Stylin’ UP Regional, a program that uses arts and culture as a tool to work with young people in Indigenous communities, has recently begun work in Hope Vale.

From the 11th to the 15th August, the Stylin’UP Regional team visited Hope Vale to continue creative arts workshops in song making, lyric writing, music production and dance.

Workshops were conducted in the Hope Vale PCYC with over 50 young people participating, as well as enjoying a community BBQ and a disco on the Wednesday night.

The program also began working with Cooktown State High School, creating music with young people from grades 6 and 9 and also with the Job Pathways program and the Certificate 2 in Radio and Broadcasting group.

“Coming to Cooktown High has enabled us to begin working with older teenagers who have really embraced the creative process of making music and dance,” observed the program’s coordinator, Steph Walton.

“Through creative arts, we are able to work with young people to talk about the issues they are experiencing,” continued Steph.

“A major part of our work with young people involves helping to connect them with their community and their culture.”

The Stylin’UP Regional Program, coordinated by SpeakOut, is community driven and works with youth service providers, community leaders and Elders to develop creative responses to issues young people in Indigenous communities may be struggling with.

The Community Crew, an advisory group of Hope Vale youth service providers, community leaders and Elders met again last week to advise about future workshop trips, particularly the upcoming Pelican Expeditions program.

Steph noted that “young people in Hope Vale and Cooktown are really embracing what we do and we are beginning to develop trust relationships with them that allow us to turn their negative experiences and perspectives into positive opportunities for their future.”

Key objectives of the program include working with Elders to foster positive intergenerational relationships with young people and developing workshop programs that aim to help the Hope Vale community engage with and support young people.

Guided by the message - Pride in self, Pride in community, Pride in culture – Stylin’ UP Regional provides a forum for young people to tell stories, share yarns with elders and a space in which young people experience elders as role models.

Some of the foundational messages include health, wellness and well being, and living drug and alcohol free.

The Stylin’ UP Regional program has emerged from the Stylin’ UP Festival, an annual event coordinated by the Inala Elders and Brisbane City Council.

Established in 2001, the festival is now Australia’s largest Indigenous event, with an estimated attendance of 15,000 people in 2007.

With appropriate consultation and community engagement Stylin’ UP Regional hopes to achieve similar outcomes in Hope Vale that have been facilitated and experienced in other communities including Woorabinda, Cherbourg and Logan.

The Stylin’UP Regional team will next be in Hope Vale for the Pelican Expeditions trip, from the 27th September to the 4th October, and will also be conducting workshops at Cooktown State High School. For more information or to get involved, contact Steph on 07 3229 8055 or email steph@speakout.com.au.
 
The work of Stylin’ UP Regional in Hope Vale is funded by Arts Queensland through the Backing Indigenous Arts initiative.