Arts Alive has a rich history of fostering new talent; since 1997 the show has seen many bright young up-and-comers pass through it’s doors. Here a few such alumni talk about their time on the AA team.
DIN HEAGNEY
RMIT School of Design, Monash University Art, Design & Architecture (MADA)
“I cut my baby teeth working on Arts Alive, where I learned the craft of journalism and how to tell people’s stories. Covering events like NAIDOC Week opened a whole world, giving me a deep appreciation of our Aboriginal and Indigenous cultures, for which I am still grateful. It was a privilege to go out to engage with communities and organisations working with the arts, meeting and interviewing some brilliant creative talent. One of my fondest memories is cutting a story old-school-style on Vincent’s kitchen table while he regaled me with tales of famous and infamous Australians. One particularly valuable lesson learned under Vincent’s patient mentoring was how a softly spoken word delivered at the right time can open doors that might otherwise remain closed. Congratulations to the entire Arts Alive team and alumni on two decades of celebrating Australia’s diverse communities and creativity!”
FIONA PARKER
ABC Radio (ABC Central Victoria)
“I started working on Arts Alive while I was studying Journalism at RMIT University, and continued for a number of years. I found it invaluable in terms of the practical experience it gave me with radio equipment and radio technology (including editing), and also the experience it gave me in conceptualising radio stories and packages, skills in interviewing technique, news reading and presenting. (I still think of Arts Alive every time I hit the street for vox pops, which was one of my regular segments on Arts Alive for a long time!) There is nothing like actually working on a real radio show to learn the ropes in the profession you’re hoping to succeed in. Nothing in the university course could teach me exactly what it was like to meet those deadlines, or how to conduct multiple interviews each week, write copy quickly and efficiently, be reliable, research stories, formulate questions, react to answers during interviews and be on top of everything in order to produce an actual proper radio show each week.
RMIT University students are extremely lucky to have a national radio program to contribute to, with the mentoring of Vincent O’Donnell, who brings his vast experience, knowledge and radio nous to the show and also to the guidance of the students. He was a wonderful mentor for me not only while I was studying journalism, but also in my early years of freelancing and other media work. His teaching me the importance of attention to detail and also teaching me to respect the craft of radio have stuck with me all these years, and they are something I bring to my current role as presenter 6.15am – 10.00am on ABC Local Radio in Bendigo, every day.
In my early years, being able to present Arts Alive as experience on my CV was most important in getting past the first hurdle in job applications (ie. It looks good on the resume!), but it’s also what I got out of it both professionally and socially, that I will remember fondly forever.”
NICOLE FINDLAY
Director, Indigenous Employment Partners
“Working on Arts Alive gave me a great entry point in to several broadcasting opportunities including a long-standing talk show on Triple R and a role teaching sound production.
Under the tutelage and mentorship of AA Program Director, Vincent O’Donnell, I learnt many things including old-school broadcasting techniques like reel-to-reel editing, which has now been phased out by digital editing software.
Vincent also taught us about the need to be resilient in the Australian media and when faced with extreme funding cuts to the arts and broadcasting sectors, Vincent encouraged us to think creatively and innovatively to keep Australian Arts news and voices being heard on Arts Alive.
We relied heavily on the goodwill of Arts Alive partners such as RMIT, their tech staff and The Aboriginal Program Exchange (TAPE) who helped feed our weekly show to the CBAA.
Watching so many Arts Alive contributors go on to become big names on big networks, it feels like quite a privilege to have been part of a program that’s still growing and thriving today.”
ALICE WALKER
ABC Radio (ABC Great Southern)
“I read the arts news bulletin for a time in 2015. Besides the opportunity to practise my newsreader voice, working with Vincent allowed me to glean some insight into the machinations of the world of arts media – the excitement of musical previews, but also the need to look past the fun fluff to the hard stuff aka arts NEWS. I learned the importance of taking opportunities on hand for short interviews (never be afraid to talk to people!), and that every story has a significant backstory you should do your best to get to know. Nothing beats experience – so talk to people who have it, and build your own. Right now I produce for The Hub on Art and Stop Everything! – RN’s dedicated visual art and pop culture programs. Not a bad gig!”
NICOLE FOOTE LENOIR
Social Media and Digital Officer, Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation
“Arts Alive helped me forge an 18 year career as a radio producer and presenter, most notably with Triple J and ABC local. As a RMIT media production student with a love of arts, one of my university lecturers, Vincent O’Donnell asked me to help out with the editing of his community radio show Arts Alive. Happy to help out, I would cut and edit the show, laying it all down to minidisc (oh the technology of the day!) Not only did this hone my editing skills it allowed me to meet and collaborate with other students with an interest in arts, like Fiona Parker and Fergus Pitt. One day, the Arts Alive presenter was ill and so I stepped in to present. From then on I was the presenter as well. The program spawned a number of opportunities for me from here. Fiona Parker and I worked on arts show “Love Your Work” for triple R and I became arts reporter and produce for narrow caster Kiss FM. Vincent also encouraged me to enter the youth arts media festival LOUD – I won my category which led me to work for triple J as a presenter and producer and the ABC for over 14 years. I also got the opportunity to interview many interesting artists, including my most memorable, author Terry Pratchett (vale).
It’s wonderful the show is still going strong, offering a platform for students to learn craft and for artists to talk about theirs.
Thanks Arts Alive!”
Arts Alive 