Dodgy Paper
Dodgy Paper make fresh pulp from old paper, giving it new life and creating a canvas to stay creative on. Roger Wilkie, an artist and maker, joined the Docklands Art Collective project to create a retail shop, factory and showroom space to produce his unique handmade paper.
Nightbird Cottage Antiques and Collectables
Nightbird Cottage Antiques and Collectables deal in antiques, collectables, pure vintage, rockin’ retro and absolute eclectica.
Five years after starting their business in the Renew Cooma project, the business is still going strong. Renew Australia spoke to owner Nikki about their time in the program and the development of their business.
Docklands Art Collective
The aim of the Docklands Art Collective project was to bring business into vacant spaces on Wharf Street. The District Docklands (formerly Harbour Town) underwent significant redevelopment over three years to boost the overall shopping and leisure experience for visitors.
During the redevelopment, The District Docklands gave Renew Australia access to 14 shop fronts along Wharf Street to fill with artists, creative enterprises, cultural and community groups – rent-free.
Magnet Galleries Melbourne
We are about helping people by fundraising, education or simply bringing joy through entertainment and friendship. Photography is the basis of everything we do but we see no boundaries.
At the completion of the Docklands Arts Collective project, Magnet Galleries Melbourne
converted to an ongoing lease agreement with the property owner. Their location at The District
Docklands made possible many large events during 2018 and provided the impetus for many
more.
House House: Docklands Spaces and Renew Australia alumni making big waves in the gaming industry
House House is an independent, Melbourne-based videogame company founded by co-creators Nico Disseldorp, Stuart Gillespie-Cook, Jacob Strasser and Michael McMaster. In 2016 it released its first game, Push Me Pull You, and in 2019 released the second, Untitled Goose Game. This low budget project has since flown to the top of Nintendo Switch’s Australian and US download charts and number two on the British charts, has had over a million views on Youtube and has inspired a flood of memes.
The Lifted Brow
Literary magazine/journal venture The Lifted Brow is an evolving addition to Melbourne’s City of Literature status in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
The Lifted Brow have continued to expand following the Renew program. The Lifted Brow has evolved as a more sustainable practice, and employed some staff and contractors.
Since the Renew program, they have also continued to receive attention for their book publishing, now based at RMIT, including literary art prize such as the two Stella Prizes for Brow Books in 2019 (Pink Mountain on Locust Island by Jamie Marina Lau and Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin) and overseas sales.
Jack’s Reloaded, Heritage Buildings
The activation of historic Jack’s Magazine (Melbourne’s inner west) was an important first step in breathing new life into the Magazine, which had remained dormant since it was decommissioned in the early 1990s.
The Visual Economy
The Visual Economy helps fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands grow their revenue by using video commercial campaigns to generate leads and sales.
The business trialed, tested and reiterated their business model in the Dockland Art Spaces project and have since gone from strength to strength as a viable business.
Docklands Spaces
The Dockland Spaces project provided 24 new and creative businesses the opportunity to trial their ideas across gallery, studio, office, retail and training spaces.