THERE may be clouds in the sky over Canberra and Queanbeyan, but over at Tuggeranong Arts Centre today, the emphasis is on the happier side of life with the launch of ‘Silver Linings’, a project to celebrate Tuggeranong Community Arts Association’s silver jubilee.

The association became incorporated on March 12, 1990, and this launch will bring together key figures from the past and opens the project to the community for the future with the question, ‘What would you like to create together? ‘

It is an invitation for local residents and ACT artists to think ‘big’ about the arts in Tuggeranong and to share with Tuggeranong Arts Centre how they would like to express their creativity over the period of commemorations and how Tuggeranong can be increasingly creative in the next 25 years.

Face-to-face and online responses are welcome throughout a consultation period extending to April 20, then beyond as part of an ‘Ideas Exchange’, intended to generate community interest.

‘It aims to place community cultural development at the heart of the future of Tuggeranong. A conversation with the community is crucial to this process’, says Tuggeranong Arts Centre CEO, Rauny Worm of the project, adding, ‘Tuggeranong Community Arts Association has always reached out to people who struggle to access the arts but stand to benefit most from it. Its programs provide hope and opportunity to community and professional artists alike.’

A full program for Silver Linings will be released in late July/early August. It will include the ‘Silvery Moon Festival’, presented as a tribute to the outdoor spirit of past Tuggeranong arts events.

Details at tuggeranongarts.com

Community meetings will be held in the Tuggeranong Arts Centre theatre at 6pm on Thursday March 26 and at 2pm on Saturday March 28.

“Silver Linings: 25 years of Tuggeranong Community Arts” October 28 –November 7.