Dance Makers Collective (DMC), based on Dharug country (western Sydney), is the only collective-led dance company in Australia. With a mission to build dance communities, DMC brings people together by working with and between dance theatre, contemporary dance and social dance, producing heartfelt dance works that reflect the diverse, personal experiences of Australians.

Established in 2012, DMC has presented 17 dance productions, in theatres, halls, galleries, parks, street corners, balconies, on YouTube and Instagram, in cities and towns in almost every state and territory. Recent highlights include a national regional tour of ‘The Rivoli’ (2022) and presenting two sold-out seasons in successive Sydney Festivals (2020/21).

We are a democratic organisation of independent artists who live the mantra the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We are skilled performers, choreographers, producers, designers, educators and composers. We have worked/work with companies such as ADT, Marrugeku, Bangarra, Force Majeure, Tasdance, Chunky Move, Dancenorth and Restless Dance Theatre, and hundreds of independent artists. Our individual experiences and practices feed DMC, enriching the art we make and the services we offer to the community.

DMC is both a producer and a service organisation, and we do both exceptionally well. Our dedicated core membership of ten dance makers, who form the artistic directorate, co-design and deliver projects and programs in response to the needs of the wider community. It is our unique democratic structure, expansive network, openness, and commitment to shared practice that sets us apart. These qualities make DMC a nimble, resilient and impactful organisation shaping a better future for Australian dance.

Eda Gunaydin is a Turkish-Australian essayist whose writing explores class, race, diaspora and western Sydney. Her essays have appeared in The Sydney Review of Books, Meanjin, The Age, and elsewhere. Her debut essay collection Root & Branch (NewSouth Publishing) was published in 2022. Root & Branch won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Matt Richell Prize for New Writer of the Year at the 2023 ABIAs.

Exploring the relational intersections between people, place and paint, Patrice aims to capture her experience of what is seen and felt, through the process of painting.

The work delves into the overlaps between personal response to places and embedded human histories. These ideas emerge visually through the interconnectedness of the figure and the land, sensitive portraits and moody landscapes, captured through colour, tone, and an intimist sensibility.

Patrice has an extensive professional background working and training in the realms of visual arts, education, and community health. Patrice brings this life experience to her work which reflects and explores the human condition and spirit, utilizing a painterly materiality often to fuse the figurative and the abstract.

Patrice exhibits regularly and is often selected as a finalist in major art awards including the 2023 Archibald Prize after winning the Blackstone works on paper prize and Hunters Hill small works in 2022. Her work is accrued in private and public collections.

Tarni Eastwood is a Ngiyampaa and Guringai artist and curator based in western Sydney. She has a multidisciplinary arts practice working in photography, video, painting, weaving, sculpture and installation. Tarni emphasises the importance of weaving groups through its contribution to revitalise the culture whilst providing a safe space to pass down creative knowledge.

The Adorned Collective meet and work on Dharug Country Western Sydney, and are based at Parramatta Artist Studios; Rydalmere. Adorned is a community group of artists and craftspeople from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who nurture connection through collaborative creative process and skill sharing workshops.

The collective supports artists and makers of all abilities and experiences by providing a reciprocal creative space, where sharing creative practice nurtures a culture of community connection.

The Adorned Collective was formed in 2015 with the support of Parramatta Artists’ Studios, WEAVE Parramatta and the Community Migrant Resource Centre. Adorned is a participant driven initiative that support artists, artisans, makers and craftspeople of all ages and abilities from culturally diverse backgrounds and experiences, by providing a friendly, culturally safe and accessible creative space.
The community of artists, artisans, makers and craftspeople participate fortnightly, in supported drop-in skill sharing workshops and public programs.

Within the workshops, participants collaborate and share creative process, stories and skills as a process of professional development and community capacity building.  The group serves to nurture friendships celebrate life, culture, diversity and difference whilst creating inclusive social and professional networks and opportunities for local creatives.

Adorned welcomes and supports First Nation, newly arrived, migrant, refugee and locally established people, through maintaining a culturally safe and accessible space.
Adorned welcomes and supports people who identify as women, queer, trans and non-binary by acknowledging and respecting queer and gender diverse community.
The Adorned collective includes local and remote participants (regional NSW and QLD) who hold past and present connection to Burramatta/ Parramatta.

Between 2015 and 2020, the Adorned collective has developed and exhibited solo and collaborative sculptures, wearable art, photographic, performance, installation and multimedia work.
As well as developing and exhibiting artwork, the Adorned artists utilize each exhibition and project as a way of engaging community through public programs and creative workshops.

The Finishing School is a collective of women writers dedicated to creative excellence and exploration.

They are inspired by and responsive to the communities and concerns of western Sydney, but their gaze extends far beyond its psychogeographic boundaries. The Finishing School have a radical commitment to making honest work. They individually pursue their own projects as well as collaborate with other writers and artists on literary projects, cross-artform installations and performances.

Uncle Danny Eastwood is descended from the Ngemba group of Western New South Wales. His mother came from Brewarrina and he was born and grew up in the Eora area of the Gadigal Nation. For the past 43 years, he has been a proud member of the Darug area of Western Sydney.

As a painter and cartoonist, he has produced numerous works which tell the story of his people and Country, including his contributions to Koori Mail over the last 30 years and his public art which can be found all over Sydney.

In 1992, Uncle Danny won the NSW NAIDOC Award. He shared the National NAIDOC Aboriginal Artist of the Year Award, receiving 1st prize in the NSW Parliament Award and the NAIDOC Poster Award in 1993. Uncle Danny is responsible for building and making the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial to honour Aboriginal service people at the Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney.

Uncle Greg Simms is a respected Aboriginal Community Elder of Mount Druitt and the greater western Sydney region, with ties to the Gundungurra (water dragon people) of the Blue Mountains and the Gadigal (whale people) of the Dharug nation.

Uncle Greg is an activist for reconciliation, a traditional woodcarver, a storyteller and an Aboriginal cultural educator. He always engages young people and Elders in his processes, championing intergenerational knowledge sharing and understanding. In December 2021, Uncle Greg received an Honorary Fellowship from Western Sydney University in recognition of his role as a leading educator of Aboriginal culture, and for his contribution to Western Sydney University.

Uncle John Farrington was born in the town of Young, part of the Wiradjuri Nation, the people of the 3 rivers. He was taken to Sydney at the age of 9 along with his siblings and put into the custody of the NSW Government as a Ward of the State. He has lived and worked in Sydney since and connected with the people of the Dharug Nation as he struggled to find family, his roots, his identity and his connection to Country, which is now linked to the Gamilaraay People through his father.

Uncle John has been active in sharing his stories and experience through Dharug community meetings and gatherings. Through this space, he shares his remarkable life and his continual journey to find family and reconnect. He loves to share documents as well as photos that he has discovered on his quest for answers. Uncle John loves to meet people, tell them his stories and share his Culture, while highlighting and encouraging the strength and survival spirit that may help others to overcome the past.

Uncle Wes Marne AM was a Bigambul man and community elder who lived in Mount Druitt for the past 45 years. He was a storyteller, poet and custodian of his grandfather’s Creation and Dreamtime stories.

Uncle Wes was a published author, and toured his work at Sydney Festival (2016), Yirramboi First Nations Arts Festival (2017), Way Out West Children’s Festival at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (2017), and published Through Old Eyes (2022), his first book of poetry for his 100th Birthday. In December 2022, he received an Honorary Fellowship from Western Sydney University for service as an educator and champion of Aboriginal culture; an advocate for vulnerable young people and a pillar of the greater western Sydney community.

Uncle Wes came from a long line of storytellers and worked with children, primary and high schools, universities, gaols, social housing and justice to share his love of culture and stories throughout all the community.

We Are Studios was established in 2023 by a community of Artists with disability who believe that disability inclusion can and should start with them.

The first of their kind, We Are Studios is a fully disability-led, inclusive studio that empowers artists with disability to reach their creative potential by creating space to thrive.

Their team has experienced first-hand the barriers people living with disability face in accessing accessible arts education, professional development pathways, and the opportunities needed to build a thriving and sustainable creative practice.

They address these barriers by providing mentorship, networking and professional development opportunities to creatives with disability across western Sydney and advocating for their inclusion within the contemporary creative arts sector.