Local Encounters Lab

Local Encounters Lab is a three-day deep dive into creating participatory and place-specific art projects connected to North-West Melbourne neighbourhood. 

Expression of Interests (EOIs) will open on 10am, Thursday 22 October to participate in the Lab running Tuesday 9 to Thursday 11 March 2027. 

Co-facilitated by artist Madeleine Flynn and curator Lana Nguyen, this Lab is a three-day immersion into North-West Melbourne inviting artists to investigate the neighbourhood as a social, cultural, political and ecological landscape. Through walks, conversations and encounters, artists generate  propositions for new place-responsive artwork. 

Lab participants will: 

  • Connect with local traders and community groups; 
  • Explore local stories, challenges and future dreaming; 
  • Learn about the history of North-West Melbourne through conversations with Traditional Owners, historians and community members; 
  • Build relationships with other artists living and working in Melbourne; 
  • Explore methodologies behind making participatory and place-specific art; 
  • Develop project concepts grounded in place and shaped by community knowledge, experience and perspectives. 

            The Lab will culminate in a community weekend of talks, workshops and public events. Participating artists will be invited to share their discoveries, provocations, and emerging ideas with local audiences. 

            Following the Lab, artists will meet with the Arts House Creative Team to further develop project proposals and discuss future opportunities for presentation, partnership, or support.

            Key dates

            • EOIs Open: Thursday 22 October, 10am 
            • EOIs Close: Monday 23 November, 3pm 
            • Notification: Monday 14 December 
            • Local Encounters Lab: Tuesday 9 to Thursday 11 March 2027 
            • Local Encounters Community Weekend: Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 March 2027 
            • Local Encounters Proposals Due & Meeting with Arts House: 1 month after Lab 

                      All dates and times are AEST. 

                      This Lab is part of Local Encounters, Arts House’s neighbourhood program supporting artists, communities and audiences to explore North-West Melbourne in unexpected ways. 

                      Supported by –  

                      Local Encounters Lab is supported by the City of Melbourne through Arts House. 

                      Image credit: Ruth Crow Walks by Lorna Hannan and Hannah Morphy-Walsh, Photo by Anne Moffat 

                      Image description:  A group of people gather beside a footpath in Royal Park at dusk, pausing to listen to someone speak. Surrounded by trees, they are silhouetted against the fading light and distant glow of the city.