The YAQ Story

The Beginning

Youth Arts Queensland Inc. developed from a series of youth arts forums held at La Boite Theatre in 1988. QYPAA (the Queensland Youth Performing Arts Association, as it was then known was a voluntary organisation with eight members created to provide information, support and professional development to youth theatre workers particularly those in regional Queensland.

In the late 1989 and again in 1991, QYPAA managed two regional youth arts festivals at Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast and Townsville. The committee also advocated at a State level for a youth arts and cultural policy.

In 1993, a part-time Executive Officer's position (1 day per week) with funding from Arts Queensland was created and QYPAA began to seek out grants for project work which would enable the organisation to develop further.

Incorporation of YAQ

In January 1994, QYPAA became Youth Arts Queensland Inc. (YAQ). The name change reflected the shift in both philosophy and practice which had been occurring over the previous 10 years at a grass roots level. Youth Theatre organisations and practitioners were engaging with the diversity of youth cultures and employing a multiplicity of art forms, including visual art in their work. The majority of youth arts organisations in the sector had been influenced by the principles of community cultural development and social justice (access, equity, participation, ownership) and were more focussed on incorporating these principles into their work. Most were also finding common ground between their own work and that of workers in the youth sector who have always been supportive of young people's informal cultural activity.

Becoming the peak body

Following its first official recognition as the peak body for youth arts and cultural development in the state in 1995, YAQ was involved in the discussions, research and consultations toward the youth cultural policy Your Culture Your Move: Supporting a Creative Environment for Young People which is release in 1997. Two years later, the Young Artist Mentoring Program (YAMP) (link) was initiated, followed by the Transit Lounge Program (link) and SPARK (link) in 2003.

YAQ Today

YAQ continues to grow. The continued management of key strategic initiatives, the expansion of Transit Lounge to Caboolture, monthly interagency meetings and enhanced membership services assist YAQ in maintaining its position as the peak body for youth arts and cultural development in Queensland.