About Us

Founded in 2017, Tributary Projects is an Artist-Run Initiative (ARI) in Canberra on Ngunnawal Country, ACT. As the only entirely volunteer-run ARI in the Territory, Tributary Projects is unparalleled to any other artistic space in the ACT. Our mission is to lower barriers for creatives from all levels and backgrounds, and to support dynamic and emerging art practices within and beyond Canberra. Since 2021, our gallery has been based in the Gorman Arts Centre, Braddon. This current exhibitions space has been generously provided in-kind by Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres.

Vision

A resilient, flexible and adaptive collective space for all creatives to grow, share and connect:

We want to sustain as a space that is an incubator for artists who deserve more opportunities to learn from doing, to experiment and fail safely, to exchange with each other with generosity, to be supported in their development by a peer network, and to have the transparency and openness to negotiate the process of caring and being cared for.

We would like to work with:

  • Artists who have not exhibited in Canberra before;

  • Artists who have never exhibited publicly before, emerging, or experiencing career changes;

  • Artists who challenge art history and conventional display;

  • Artists who work with digital technology or digital space;

  • Artists who work in collaborative, interdisciplinary, relational, or socially-engaged ways.

Our Value

Dynamic and Expanding Practices

Tributary Projects creates project spaces where Canberra local and regional creatives are able to explore their practice through exhibitions, workshops, and community projects.

We value openness, flexibility and adaptability to create opportunities for all creatives. No matter your training, experience or background, Tributary Projects strives to be a place where creators are free to create, and contribute to the wider arts community and conversation.

All mediums and creatives are valuable to Tributary Projects, we aim to be a space that can exhibit the breadth and depth of artistic creation occurring in our region.

Support and Access

We aim to support and build our community through Tributary Projects. By having collaborative processes we are able to ensure that creatives are heard and understood. We aim to always improve our accessibility through community building, collective care and generosity.

We welcome and serve expanding and diverse communities. Peer mentorship will provide constructive learning opportunities, which are key to the general functioning of our project space. Tributary Projects strives to be a place where learning can take place in a flexible, accessible and supportive way.

We welcome all people regardless of background, Tributary Projects is people serving and being served by the space.

Collective

Tributary Projects is a collective. We want to continue creating a space that is broadly representative, and focused on community formation. By continuing to be a collective that practices thanking, recognition, responsibility and accountability, we offer opportunities to build relationships with other creatives in the region. Tributary Projects is a space where writers, curators and artists can create, collaborate and form long-lasting relationships - with the space and the people who occupy it.

 
 
 

Tributary Projects is supported by Ainslie + Gorman Arts Centres.

Tributary Projects acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land and waters in which we operate, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, as well as the Ngarigu people and others who traded on, traveled through, and connected with this country, and continue to do so. We pay our respects to their Ancestors and Elders and acknowledge that sovereignty of these lands was never ceded.