MEDIA RELEASE

ICE Version 2.0: Western Sydney gets $1.5million digital upgrade

Released 26 August 2009

Information and Cultural Exchange
PO Box 4033 Parramatta NSW 2124 Australia
T: +61(2) 9897 5744 / F: +61(2) 9897 5766

Employment prospects in Western Sydney have just been given a digital injection with the announcement of $1.5 million in Federal Government funding for ICE.

Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) works at the nexus of arts, culture and technology in Western Sydney. It equips diverse community groups and artists with digital skills in IT, filmmaking, online publishing, music production and multimedia arts, providing pathways into employment.

ICE will use the funding to purpose-build professional digital media and IT facilities for community use at their premises at 8 Victoria Rd, Parramatta. This will include custom-built recording studios, a green-screen room for filming and training rooms.

Recent ICE projects have included hip-hop production courses for young refugees, digital filmmaking for African parents and computer training for isolated women.

The funding is part of the Federal Government’s Investing in Community Education and Training program. ‘This initiative recognises the important role that community education and training providers, like ICE, play in supporting productivity in Australia,’ said Parramatta Federal MP Julie Owens.

The funds will go towards an upgrade of ICE’s Switch Multimedia & Digital Arts Access Centre with cutting-edge equipment and software, as well as equipment to support artists, such as cameras, audio suites and professional recording studios, and a professional green room for film and screen.

‘The projects we design at ICE train artists and communities in the latest technologies, which allow them to increase their skills and employment prospects, and to express themselves in new digital art forms,’ says ICE Executive Director Lena Nahlous. ‘It’s an incredibly important program for Western Sydney, where youth unemployment stands at a shocking 30%.’

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Contact Vasinder Kaur at ICE on 02 9897 5744 or email info@ice.org.au

ICE receives core funding through Arts NSW and the Australia Council for the Arts.