Our project KickstART Virtual 2020 won the City of Perth Awards for Outstanding Digital Engagement During COVID-19 at this year's Performing Arts WA Awards.

We recently partnered with local footwear and apparel boutique Highs and Lows (HAL) for their 15th anniversary, and to celebrate we co-hosted Halelujah and HAL released limited edition sneakers with proceeds donated to Kadjin – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Arts Network.

Rebecca Riggs-Bennett is an emerging sound and spoken word artist, electronic music producer, composer, director, and two-time recipient of a Drug Aware YCulture Metro grant for her work in sound design and performance making. We chatted to Rebecca about her two YCulture projects, The Sound of Trees and With Me, We Walk.

Charlotte Otton is a Sydney-raised, Perth-based performer, writer and theatre maker, best known for her award-winning shows Let Me Finish., Feminah, and 30 Day Free Trial (with Andrew Sutherland). We chatted to Charlotte about the development of Let Me Finish., funded through the Drug Aware YCulture Metro program.

Scott McArdle is a Perth-based writer, director, actor and founder of independent theatre company, Second Chance Theatre. We chatted to Scott about his two Drug Aware YCulture Metro funded projects, the developments of both Laika: A Staged Radio Play (2017) and Josephine! (2018).

Propel are proud to be a community home to many talented young people all across the sexuality continuum, and this #BiWeek we are excited to be featuring some bi-loved local young artists and Propel family across our socials to share their messages for Bi+ Awareness Week 2020!

Bi+ Awareness Week takes place 16-23 September. At Propel we recognise and appreciate that sexuality is a spectrum, that gender and sexuality are not binary, and that everyone has the right to identify and express themselves on their own terms all year round.

KickstART Virtual 2020 is well underway and in the lead up to Going Walkabout with STAV. on Friday 29 May, Propel asked the Melbourne based singer 5 questions about her new song ‘Walk A Little Further’.

Jing was recently a Project Administration intern at Propel and holds experience in corporate, sports and events management industries. She is passionate about sharing her love for sports and music with others, especially the youth. Jing writes about the new norm she’s slowly adjusting to at home.

Naomi Winter is a 23-year-old who has just stepped into the local WA arts community. Having just moved here from the UK 6 months ago, Naomi was looking to get involved in WA arts which brought her to Propel. Naomi writes about baking for friends, finding a job and the unexpected skills she has gained, Netflix and Zoom calls with overseas friends.

Aisyah Aaqil Sumito is a printmaker, writer and conceptual artist based on Whadjuk Noongar boodja. Considering elements of endurance, pain and pilgrimage, Sumito recounts personal narratives regarding intercultural influences, neurodiversity, disability and queerness. Aisyah pieced together a creative writing piece of their experiences in the past few months for COVID-19 Journal Entry #6.

Sally Davies is a theatre maker and writer based in Perth. In 2018, she co-founded independent theatre Lindstedt & Davies, which has since produced several original works. Sally writes about the changes affecting people who work in the arts, new things she’s discovered whilst social distancing and muses about the long term impacts of isolation on people’s lifestyles.

Simeon Neo was recently our Marketing Intern for Youth Week WA KickstART Festival 2020. She’s a photographer and writer who writes across multiple genres. Her short story A Bowl of Soft Boiled Eggs was published in Centre For Stories’ Wave After Wave collection of poetry and short stories. Simeon writes about her other hobbies and what’s she’s been up to at home.

Wanjie has been on the Propel Board for 5 years, and is currently the Chairperson. By day she is a lawyer working in native title and by night she is a crazy cat lady with too many foster felines, although nowadays she gets to do both at once thanks to working from home!

Youth Week WA Ambassador 2020, Haseeb Riaz is a young changemaker passionate about areas such as youth health education. Haseeb is currently taking a break from studying Medicine at UWA, and is a co-founder of MAN UP, a social enterprise that aims to redefine the concept of masculinity. Haseeb chats to us about who he is and what he’s passionate about, being a Youth Week WA Ambassador and the ingenuity of young people in the arts.

COVID-19 Journal Entry #2 is from Darcy Nidd who currently sits on the Propel Youth Arts WA Board of Management as a youth representative and policy specialist. Darcy reflects and writes about making sourdough hot cross buns, reading six books in the last month, friends and family support and the anxieties that come with being stuck at home during a global pandemic.

Discover new recommendations and catch up on what our Communications Officer Yoshika is up to in her COVID-19 Journal. Yoshika writes about Animal Crossing, her home café, YouTube, video calling friends to help you work and sleeping.

Anastasia Beasley, our Volunteer Coordinator shows us how to make your own vintage style leather covered book in the video below, so enjoy, stay safe and have good long weekend.

With the important recommendation for everyone to practice social distancing and #StayHome, Cecile’s sharing 4 easy baking recipes to try out. Learn how to make Cecile’s vegan banana bread, large cafe style muffins, ginger snap cookies (!!) and gooey brownies!

In light of the COVID-19 situation happening around the world, we're living in very uncertain and stressful times. Although times are tough, we can get through this. 👍🏻