tbC is a warm cosy bed,
where you can rest your head,
when you'd rather be dead.
A friend that keeps you out of the cold,
and nurtures your soul,
making you whole.
It is a place of life,
where you could find your wife,
and fill your head with wisdom.
Your own private kingdom.
Jacqui - member (16)

As a young emerging artist, I felt that joining an artist-run initiative was a good thing for my art journey. I have just started studying a degree in design art, but I am still very much a kid straight out of high school. I feel so excited to have found this amazing local space, and I feel so jazzed hanging out with all the other creatives. tbC provides me with a like-minded community of fellow young creatives and some epic mentors too. At tbC, art can be anything, from conventional portraiture and figurative work like my own art to mathematical and technically cutting-edge work embracing conceptual ideas. Everyone feels like their voice is heard and important. The studio is a safe space to let go and express creative freedom. Beyond the amazing artwork that is coming out of tbC is the fact that members can fast track their creative careers and become confident, fully-fledged artists much earlier than if they were working alone or just through the school system. tbC’s collaborative practice also builds a sense of community-mindedness and kindness that I have rarely experienced elsewhere in the competitive artworld. tbC is a remarkable environment – a real melting pot where young voices are heard, respected and embraced. tbC is definitely contributing to the artist and woman I am becoming.
Clare - member (22)

tbC is a fertile environment for growth where I am able to build upon my skills under the guidance of older artist members and alongside the many talented peer artists I work with. I also really enjoy supporting younger artists on their artistic journey. Through tbC’s various exhibitions, public works and growing visibility in the arts community, young members are able to build professional recognition as artists and community advocates.
Damien - member (21)

tbC is a way of thinking collectively and a way of making art collaboratively. It is also a way of appreciating, respecting, encouraging and growing with other artists. I feel a deep sense of belonging and artistic validation when in the studio. I love that the group’s direction is led by member artists and the non-school structure of its operation. tbC creates such a unique platform for young artists to take risks and grow as professionals. It's not about written rules or prescribed outcomes. It’s about the natural development of an artistic pathway that can take many different forms and timelines. While tbC’s main focus is on collaborative artmaking and presentation, the model also nurtures individual artistic practices and ambitions. When I first engaged with tbC, there was an instant feeling that I was part of something that was going to inspire me and progress my arts practice. I feel a deep sense of belonging and artistic validation when in the studio. I love that even when working alone, I am supported and inspired by group energy and empowerment. I enjoy the collaborative projects I am able to get involved in as much as I enjoy making solo work. In fact, I have come to understand that tbC’s collaborative environment significantly inspires my solo work. Without this empowering collaborative environment, I wouldn’t be nearly as productive.
Sonya - member and tbC’s graphic designer (26)

I joined tbC at the beginning of 2016 and have enjoyed every minute working within this collective. tbC has been extremely supportive of my work as an illustrator, offering me advice and opportunities to grow and develop my skills both as an artist and as a person. I have also taken part in a number of collaborative projects where I have met with artists, writers, musicians and like-minded people and have walked away enriched by the experience. What made me want to join tbC was how it allows young people of different artistic practices to come together to create something as a community. Each individual brings something to tbC that is unique and special. tbC respects these individual talents and welcomes the contribution we can all make to the development of collaborative artworks. For me, tbC is extremely easy and enjoyable to be a part of. I always feel like I have tbC at my fingertips for support and guidance. For a long time, I have wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself when it comes to creating and designing. I get this feeling when I am at tbC.
Daniel - member (20)

In the past, all my artmaking has seen me tucked away, hidden in my bedroom. It’s been a very private thing. But, more recently, I’ve been collaborating with other young artists at tbC and presenting my work in public spaces where people can more readily see and judge it. It is kind of unnerving but to work together with people is cool too. For me, the collective space provides a sounding board. The back-and-forth is really useful and helps me become a better artist.
Kane - member (21)

When I work with other artists, I get different ideas from the group environment. Working with like-minded people and the back-and-forth of ideas means I am always learning new ways of thinking and working. Working collectively inspires my arts practice, triggering ideas I may never have had working alone. I particularly like the discussion that goes on in collective spaces, something that inspires and drives both my collective and personal work. I also believe you can learn new things by understanding the way others think and create. I love the mutual vibe you get when people get together and create something in the same space. It isn’t like talking to a brick wall alone in a studio. Collaborative spaces are much more responsive environments. I even like the idea of taking somebody else’s image or idea and recreating it as my own, as a spinoff. The collective process really fuels my creative experience and outcomes.
Kyle - member (17)

The mentors are so encouraging and supportive at tbC. Providing feedback, materials, printing, workshops, discussion groups, exhibition spaces, community projects, etc. I love the welcoming feeling I get every time I step through the door. The group’s gentle but focused cultivation of artistic thought helps to awaken my young creative soul. There are members here as young as twelve, right up to members in their mid-twenties and many older artists. This means that I am able to gain a wide range of learning experiences. In high school and university, peers are much closer in age, but having a wide range of ages in the tbC arts space gives me many different insights into life and art. The cool thing is we are all really excited about hanging out and making art with each other and we always want to bring our A-game! Being tertiary-level myself means that I have lots of ideas and learning experiences to share with the secondary school members. This kind of sharing results in the development of strong peer mentoring relationships within the studio, which supports younger artists in developing their art vocabulary and experience beyond their high school contexts. I am always happy to hear about what everyone else is doing, as well as collaborating with others on group projects. It is so good to be constantly getting constructive criticism and feedback and to give it too.
Clare - member (22)

Engaging with tbC is like finding a community of interesting, curious humans that have no agenda other than to make art. It is a wholesome yet challenging and edgy space. It supports both my collaborative and solo practice, allowing communal and individual authorship to exist simultaneously. Engaging young people is often a very exhausting exercise and it seems like adults don’t usually understand or remember what it was like to be young - so they try all sorts of strange and alien ways to ‘get the kids into it’. tbC doesn’t even try to do any of this. It succeeds just by being a genuinely interesting, inclusive and open space. The studio environment at tbC is an easy-going but highly charged one. Young people engage in group and solo artistic practices enthusiastically and intuitively. This is one of the strengths of tbC as a collective. So too is its mature and professional environment, something that offers young artists opportunities seldom found in classrooms or when working alone.
Justine - member (26)

I am thrilled and delighted to be part of tbC’s collaborative arts practice. I am a creative student studying visual communication and graphic design and hoping to embark on a career in the design industry. The fact that tbC honours, celebrates and recognises the contributions made by young creative individuals is very rare to find. tbC challenges the pre-conception that young people are not artists. I feel nurtured by the way tbC considers me a valuable collaborator. Being part of tbC has certainly built my confidence and allowed me to extend my creative thinking skills. Most importantly, I feel that my artistic contribution is appreciated. I love being part of tbC’s collaborative arts practice, a practice that offers young artists the chance to exchange ideas and to engage with other creatives. Being part of tbC’s collaborative arts environment has also encouraged me to pursue bigger ideas of my own.
Bianca - member (26)

Collective spaces help me feel like I belong somewhere. Sometimes when I work alone, I feel isolated and too alone with my thoughts. I feel like when I come together with others, I get these amazing ideas. Working in a team is creatively inspiring, and I want to be part of that. I also learn a lot and gain confidence and experience from watching and learning from others. Being part of tbC has meant that I am able to experiment fearlessly. The support is warm and nurturing - not overly competitive! I believe this not-overly-competitive environment is really important and, in its own special way, supports young artists in producing amazing collective outcomes. The space inspires artists to support each other’s needs and expectations. Artists don’t want to disappoint others in the group. They have a natural desire to work for the good of the collective. Originally, I believed that working by myself was the best way to operate, but after recently working with people on different projects, I’ve discovered that I actually work better with others. I work harder and get inspiration from others, which improves my own work. Collaborating with other artists creates a kind of echo chamber of innovation and new ideas. I have also come to think that the fastest and most efficient way to create and present a project is to have people who are really good at certain things handle those tasks. This optimises the workflow and gets things done. The reason I thought working by myself was best is that I assumed I needed full control and that working alone avoids miss-communication. However, now I have come to value the input of others as even more important.
Josiah - member (19)

It’s definitely more fun and interesting to work around and with other people, to hear other people’s opinions. It’s also great to work with people who are like-minded and doing similar things. Working with others inspires my own work. I also like to work on other people’s projects, getting close to them. It’s almost like becoming a family where everyone helps each other out. I had a few problems recently and the people around me helped me artistically and personally. I met some really great people as a result. I do love my own space, but as a permanent thing, it can be too isolating. It’s good to be surrounded by others, even if working on your own work.
Kenz - member (21)

tbC is a place and a process. It provides opportunities for young artists to work collectively and individually with support and peers. The process of coming together occurs with time and through building relationships. The place and the process are therefore not mutually exclusive – without one, the other would suffer. tbC is open, empowering and respectful of young artists who want to develop individually and as a group.
Kate - youth worker and community supporter (30+)

tbC is a beautiful, non-judgmental environment where artists can work individually or as part of a group and feel supported. tbC artists have motivated me to create more innovative and creative works. They all inspire me so much. I also really enjoy the opportunity to let my creative juices flow within tbC’s many collaborative arts projects.
Ella - member (24)

tbC is an independent community space that supports young artists by providing an environment that encourages creativity and networking with other people and the opportunity to explore the boundaries of art. I also love how young artists have their work taken seriously.
Milo - member (18)

I see tbC as more than a building or a project. I have seen it grow and connect people. tbC is exactly what young artists need – an opportunity to be trusted and treated as creative equals and a steppingstone into the wider artworld.
Callum - member (19)

My creativity flows endlessly at tbC. The studio also offers opportunities to experience different mediums of art, rather than just one. I love how freely I can work with no certain task.
Meika - member (13)

A few years ago, I found myself in real trouble and on the path towards a criminal record for graffiti. I believe that working collaboratively with other young artists has channelled my creative needs and aspirations in a more positive way. Being part of an artistic community has given me some exciting opportunities. I love that I don’t have to work or create alone. I recently participated in an art exhibition and acquisition program and sold my first work. Presenting in a gallery was a new and exciting experience for me.
Rohan - member (19)

I've always seen tbC as a vital thread in the fabric of Belgrave, feeding into the patchwork of community-based initiatives throughout the Hills. Predominantly youth-based, it provides an outlet for those unaware of how else to tap into what's already on offer within our arts community or who have found the existing offerings too mainstream or old fashioned. I think for many, tbC is unlike anything else on offer anywhere in our community. Artist members encourage each other's unique style and support the different ways to creatively and safely express them. tbC is a beautiful platform for young artists who've been encouraged and supported in a way they wouldn't have been otherwise, giving them a confidence and exposure that propels them to bigger and greater things.
Melly - mother of member (40+)

tbC is not simply a youth arts collective. It's a place where young people can fit in, celebrate their differences and recognise their talents, rather than being required to blend in or conform. I don't know how you begin to measure the impact or the benefits for Belgrave or other local communities in having such an accessible asset for these young thinkers and creators.
Marina - community events programmer and Belgrave Traders Association manager (50+)

I believe tbC is a great place where you can go to express your inner artistic self. It has friendly people and people who can teach you.
Jason - member (14)

tbC is a great space that reaches out of its doors to more communities, frequently spreading good art for good reason. I believe tbC is a really important organisation. It helps people feel close to one another, which is really helpful in this modern time of craziness, I reckon.
Connor - member (17)

I’m so grateful for tbC. I know my son is wagging school a lot lately, and I know he’s most likely at tbC when he’s not at school. I’m just so glad he is somewhere safe and that he is happy.
Conversation with a member’s mum in the Belgrave supermarket (50+)

tbC is a concept, a place of gathering. Ambitious, important, lucid, connected, subconscious, supporting, intelligent and rigorous.
Gareth - member (30+)

tbC is a place to engage with like-minded people and to get to know and learn about different and interesting art styles and people. It is a place where you feel welcome.
Chloe - member (17)

tbC is an open art space where creatives from different disciplines can inspire each other and collaborate. A welcoming space for open discussion and a laboratory of ideas and experiments.
Joi - member (30)

tbC is a portal that enables collaboration in an organic mode, based on inspiring others and sharing skills and knowledge. Artists at tbC perform at their best when their egos are put to rest, which is what naturally happens. The focus is on the discovery of young artists’ value and talent and the creation of a collective focus. The emphasis is on the development of each other.
Gregg - tbC s film maker (40+)

tbC is a great outlet for young artists to be granted gallery experience and/or a reputation in the community from presenting and performing in public. I also appreciate the way tbC tries to pay young artists for work at events etc.
Darcy - member (19)

tbC is a place that offers young and emerging artists a place to create as well as a guiding hand to help mentor them to make the most of their creativity.
Alex - community musician and collaborator (25)

So in the Vedas, it describes creation, maintenance and destruction. Creation and destruction are considered the easy tasks, and maintenance is said to be the most difficult.
Dan - father of member (50+)

tbC is an arts initiative that encourages, teaches, promotes, nurtures and connects young artists. Its activities include facilitating workshops, exhibitions, collaborative projects, live performances, art storage, art sales, reproduction, knowledge sharing, arts-based event management and the development and launching of both private and community arts enterprises. Young artists collectively use the tbC space as a workshop, studio and gallery. By working with and providing space for young artists in this way, tbC contributes to the cultural richness of the community and helps to develop relationships and networks that are central to the healthy growth of strong and creative community groups.
Ewen - community member and arts programmer (30)

tbC is a collaborative group of artists, guided by those with greater experience in life and the arts whose desire is to provide a supportive, nurturing environment for young creatives, with the aim of allowing everyone involved to reach their full potential.
Tracey - community supporter, senior police member (40+)

tbC is an alternative studio based in the Dandenong Ranges, which encourages members of the community to be creative and persistent and to never give up on their art through fun and exciting workshops and events.
Zoe - member (16)

Being a part of tbC has not only changed the way I approach art in the community but the opportunities to make and sell my work has given me a greater sense of what my creativity is worth. Creating with and alongside other creative minds shifts your way of thinking and the way in which you work. You feed off each other creatively and produce something much more than a product. I love being associated with such a dynamic group of creative thinkers and creators. I feel like I’ve become a fuller artist and person because of it.
Georgia - member (19)

So blessed to be a part of such an inspiring, vibrant, nurturing and interesting creative project. It will live on in many lives, taking form in unexpected ways.
Shelley - Mentor (30)

tbC’s professionalism shines.
Ruxandra - community member (40+)

I have purchased many amazing artworks from young tbC artists.
Ren - youth worker, community radio broadcaster (40+)

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you for having us yesterday. Our visit was fantastic. I love what you are doing and was so encouraged by your passion for art, artists – especially young artists. Sometimes in school, it’s hard to get across to students that what they are doing is more than just a subject with criteria to fulfil. The girls were inspired by what they saw and heard and now have some great information for themselves and for their exam in November. We wish you all the best with whatever direction tbC takes you and look forward to hearing more great things.
Visiting (VCE arts) school, 2015

I find collaboration hugely important within creative industries and for creative people. It’s such a tough industry to make your way in. Having other people’s input and support is extremely important. Being an artist can be isolating in a lot of respects. At a base level, the lone studio is a lonely place. Artists can become too insular if alone for too long. I believe that looking at other people’s work and having someone else to talk to about your own work provides really interesting perspectives, perspectives individual artists can’t always see on their own.
Briar - gallery manager, 45 downstairs (24)

I find painting therapeutic and often use it as a healing technique with the young artists I mentor at DRASTIC – a youth-based artist-run initiative on the Gold Coast. I am a creative facilitator at DRASTIC and am helping to build a peer-driven therapeutic creative arts and life skills program for young people. Drastic celebrates the strengths and talents of young people and encourages self-expression as a pathway towards connection. I was recently awarded a grant from NAVIGATE (a young artist development program and City of Gold Coast arts and culture initiative) to undertake an arts-based internship at tbC. I am keen to develop the skills to run a studio program at Drastic that resembles tbC’s professional approach to collaborative artmaking with young people.
Annika - industry colleague and arts intern (26)

I am a regular participant in tbC’s Blacksmiths Way Graffiti and Street Art Project in Belgrave. I also run a creative small business in Brisbane that focuses on community, public and street art. I believe in building a sustainable future through collective creative energy. I love to paint murals that I usually design and paint in collaboration with clients to bring life and atmosphere to their home, community or business. I also believe that murals are a creative and efficient way to manage vandalism and graffiti. One of the most epic mural projects I’ve done was a community art wall for Reclaim The Streets in St Peters, Sydney. Over 60 members of the community – young and old – contributed to this wall with love and respect.
Sam Dreams - industry colleague and member (19)

tbC is a brilliant studio and community platform for young creatives. In my experience, tbC provides a better environment for artmaking than schools or tertiary institutions, mainly because you don't have the same formal structures and constraints like time limitations or periods. You can take the time you need to get into an art groove. tbC is relaxing, supportive and inspiring. It is a perfect place to hang out and create in. I find that tbC’s focus on dedicated collaborative arts practice helps me fast-track my creative practice much faster than if I had remained working alone or just within the school system.
Clare - member (22)

My experience at tbC has resulted in a deep respect for the power of collaboration. I really enjoy sharing in the making and production of artworks with my fellow artists. This enjoyment overrides the need to always own an idea or personally author an artwork. The collaborative process is such a lively and unpredictable one. This makes the preserving of individual contributions and the origins of ideas really difficult to monitor. An artwork needs to develop freely. There is often a rapid flow of ideas, twists and turns in the making of an artwork. This process can’t be interfered with. To do so would alter the course of the process and its outcome. At tbC, we understand this process. We respect it and appreciate that it delivers interesting experiences and outcomes – ones we are happy to share. In my view, to try and record every twist and turn of this free-flowing process would render the work we make together less successful or perhaps even ruin the process and outcome. The fact that the collaborative experience is so enjoyable makes the need for such control, identification and acknowledgement less important. It is actually quite an amazing experience when an audience appreciates and acknowledges one of tbC’s group-made artworks. The collective enjoyment this appreciation and acknowledgement brings is very different to the solo experience of such. I find sharing in this appreciation and acknowledgement incredibly rewarding. It is an experience that fuels my artistic practice in general. Interestingly, I have discovered that collaboration doesn’t just support the development of group work; it indirectly impacts my personal creative development and artistic journey as it builds corresponding confidence and empowerment in me as an individual artist. To be honest, I don’t believe I could have achieved the same kind of individual artistic development without these collaborative artmaking experiences.
Sonya - member and tbC’s graphic designer (26)