The Evolution of Camp Creative

PART 1: THE WANDERING YEARS

Camp Creative is a Bellingen success story, culturally, socially and financially. Beyond its exuberant promotion of creative arts learning, and the profile-raising boost it confers on the shire, there’s the simple fact that it brings a massive influx of people and tourism dollars to the town every January. And it’s been doing that for decades.

An adman with a passion for music founded Camp Creative.

After a highly successful career that saw him running his own agency, Bill Lockley retired to Bellingen, gathered a small band of helpers from across the region, and used his business acumen and extensive network of contacts to develop a week-long creative arts event for adults that blended fun and learning.

The executive committee assembled in 1986 included Chairman Geoff Edwards (Dorrigo), Registrar Bill Lockley (Bellingen), Secretary Marcia Douglas (Nambucca), Treasurer Chris Fahey (Bellingen) and Publicity Paul York (Nambucca).

They had no experience staging an event like this, so they paid a visit to the state’s biggest music camp, “Tamusca” in Tamworth, to get advice on how to do it.

Bellingen was chosen as the location because of its idyllic environment and its convenience for key organisers. On the registration brochure, the event was billed as “a multi-art-form camp for talented people”.

Weavers with Diana Conroy in 1987

But despite the success of the first Camp Creative, it didn’t stay in Bellingen. It moved around the North Coast for the next 13 years, popping up in Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Heads, Taree. It even spawned a sister Camp Creative in the Blue Mountains. The idea was to spread the cultural and economic benefits around.

The 1988 camp was 30 per cent bigger than the first. There were 16 tutors covering 13 disciplines. Pottery, quilting and creative writing had been added.

By 1990, the range of courses had ballooned. The brochure lists photography, music, dance, embroidery, poetry, writing, big band, leather work, choral, woodwork, stained glass, wood sculpture, communication, cooking, painting, clowning, weaving & dying, acting, theatre design and pottery.

The tenth camp in 1996 had bestselling author Bryce Courtney as Patron, and Gillian Helfgott, the wife of famous pianist David Helfgott, as President. Bill Lockley was Vice-President, Irene Glassop was Secretary and Christine Fahey was Treasurer. Kerry Child was Camp Coordinator.

But the peripatetic nature of the camp was becoming problematic. The ambition to spread the benefits around the region was admirable but not practical, said Rob Stockton, who joined the committee in 1999. “It was clearly losing ground as it moved from town to town,” Rob said.

In 2001, Camp Creative returned to Bellingen and has been there ever since. The story of the modern era Camp Creative will be told in Part 2.

This article was written by Janene Carey, in collaboration with Rob and Michelle Stockton.

It has been featured here in full, with permission from the author.

Originally published in the Bellinger Valley Herald 15 May 2024

The first Camp Creative was held January 16–26, 1987. It offered courses in acting, movement (related to acting), painting, music (strings, woodwinds, brass, choral) and weaving. It cost $15 a day and 168 people came along.

The acting course started five days before the others. Its first week coincided with a run of 40-degree, high humidity days, so the thespians moved to the RSL Club, the only large air-conditioned building in Bellingen at the time.

Unlike modern Camp Creative courses, which generally cater for all ability levels, in 1987 participants for each course except weaving were expected to have at least two to three years of experience in their chosen field.

The tutors were top calibre. Actor and director Hayes Gordon, founder of the Ensemble Theatre and its training school, was recruited to run the drama segment. Archibald Prize winner Guy Warren took the painters. Musicians handpicked by the Sydney Conservatorium taught the singers and instrumentalists. Bellingen resident Diana Conroy, one of Australia’s top tapestry artists, taught the weaving.

Familiar components like the welcome dinner, the tutors’ concert, the arts and crafts exhibition, the have-a-go bash and the grand finale performance were all part of it from the beginning.

In his detailed account of the 1987 camp, Bill Lockley conservatively estimated that the 200 visitors would have pumped $10,000 into Bellingen’s economy via their spending on accommodation, food and other items. These days, the annual boost Camp Creative gives to Gross Regional Product is estimated to be $1.12 million, given 1200 attendees, with 80 per cent of them coming from outside the local area.

Hayes Gordon, Jenny Hammond, Neil Flottman, Paul Weir, Susan Collins, Errol & Dorrilyn Collins

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Check in & out

Young people under 16 will need to be taken directly to their classrooms by a parent or guardian each day.

Their tutor will be noting their attendance on the roll, when they arrive to the classroom each day.

Tutors will have the contact information you provided when you purchased your ticket. If this information has changed, you must inform the tutor.

Please don’t send any adults aside from the ones on you have informed them of to pick them up as this puts the tutor in a bit of a spot!

Lunch time supervision

Tutors are not responsible for students during lunchtime.

All students under 14 will go to supervised kid zones unless otherwise advised to the tutor by the parent/guardian.

Kid Zones located at the following venues:

  • Bellingen High School

  • St Mary’s Primary School

  • Bellingen Youth Hub

There is NO lunch time bus taking students from outside venues into the High School. Unfortunately the logistics of this undertaking in the past have made it prohibitive.

Eating at camp creative

There is a 1 hour lunch break from 12pm until 1pm.

There are not allocated morning and afternoon tea breaks.

If your child is doing a full day course or two half day courses, meal options are as follows:

  • BYO lunch box and water bottle

  • Purchase from the High School canteen (delivery available to all offsite venues, except St Mary’s if there is a canteen there)

  • Purchase from the St Mary’s Primary School canteen (availability of this facility is currently TBA)

  • Young people aged 14+ are permitted to leave their classroom and go to town for lunch (this permission must be provided directly to the tutor, by their parent/guardian)

Full canteen and dining information can be found here.