Services

Strategic Business Planning 

Overton Creative is now a leader in the development of integrated strategic business plans for Art Centres and Arts Organisations.

Andrew’s recent work has concentrated on the development of comprehensive strategic business plans for leading Art Centres and organisations across NSW. With an increasingly complex and changing environment for both local government and not-for-profits good business planning is essential.  Recent changing policy environment, particularly with both State and Federal arts funding bodies that call for greater accountability and capacity to demonstrate impact of programs and services delivered, has presented many Art Centres and Arts Organisations the opportunity to review and change, to remain relevant and responsive and become more effective and efficient to ensure their sustainability.

A business plan is the confident expression of your organisation’s chosen direction. Effective business planning is made up of strategic planning – vision, strategy and objectives – and business planning – marketing, financial and operational plans for achieving objectives and includes the following core components:

  • Purpose (also known as Mission or Vision);
  • Executive Summary;
  • Context (your internal and external environment, markets and competition);
  • Goals;
  • Key Performance Indicators;
  • Strategies;
  • Artistic Program;
  • Marketing Plan;
  • Financial Plan; and Management: Organisational Structure, Governance, Succession Plan, Risk Management.

Cultural Planning & Policy

Overton Creative has extensive experience in integrated cultural planning and arts policy development with over 20 years experience in Local Government in NSW.

Andrew’s experience in developing and writing strategy has involved not only the development of cultural policy but also has covered broader areas including the preparation of other key strategic planning documents such as land use planning, urban design, master-planning and social policy. This has included:

  • Facilitating workshops and forums with stakeholders, councillors, senior staff including the City of Sydney, Parramatta and Blacktown Councils.
  • Design, methodology for consultation, and development of strategies for Parramatta & Blacktown Cultural Plans
  •  The development of cultural outcomes in statutory planning and land use documents such as REP’s, DCP’s, and LEP’s.
  • The development of cultural neighbourhood frameworks, public art strategies, small spaces & laneways projects,  to major capital works and infrastructure projects in a variety of contexts.

Sustainability has been an underlying objective of arts and cultural policy that Andrew has delivered to date. Much of the development work has adopted not only cultural but also social, environmental and economic development principles. This broader approach, along with open consultation with the community, service providers and staff co-responsible for implementation has insured that projects have come to reality and importantly remain effective and relevant.

Andrew project managed both the Parramatta Public Art Plan Policy and the Parramatta Arts Facilities & Cultural Places Framework, both recognised as best practice in the NSW Local Government Cultural Awards in 2005 and 2006.

Research

A key strength of Overton Creative is the methodical approach to research.

Overton Creative has a strong working knowledge of issues and a solid network of arts professionals and key stakeholders. Research projects can involve cultural, social, economic and environmental outcomes.

Services include:

  • Desk based research including web, policy and literature reviews and suitable benchmarking plans
  • Reviewing and analysing existing consultation and data outcomes
  • Issues identification on internal & external processes/capacity with the delivery of cultural programs locally (SWOT Analysis)
  • Analysis of integrated planning processes to ensure that strategies, plans and projects are consistent with key planning documents locally, nationally etc.

Public Art & Placemaking Projects

Overton Creative’s specialist area is in the development of Public Art Policy, Plans, and Projects.

Director of Overton Creative, Andrew Overton has developed and project managed of over fifty integrated public art projects over the past 15 years. These public art projects importantly have been underpinned by the desire to encourage innovation, creativity and collaboration and value the contribution of artists to the public domain.

Integrated Urban Art

Overton Creative’s approach to public art projects has been to the highest degree to treat arts development as not a stand alone course of action – but a process of being very much interdisciplinary, holistic, challenging and bringing a critical awareness of history, local distinctiveness and traditions of creativity, cultural expression and narrative to the forefront.

The integration of public works of art into urban renewal and development projects has involved the promotion and development of collaborative planning partnerships between design professionals (planners, architects, urban designers), businesses, artists and the community.

Temporal and Site-Specific Art

Overton Creative has had extensive experience with the development and delivery of temporal and site specific public art projects.

Services include:

  • Public Art Policies & Strategies including “Art in Private Development Programs”
  • Development of Site Specific Arts Plans
  • Project and Artist Briefs
  • Site Analysis
  • Project Management
  • Evaluation of Public Art Programs

Arts & Cultural Infrastructure Planning

Overton Creative has a broad knowledge of recent trends and developments in Arts & Museum practice.

Andrew has a long demonstrated and consistent history in turning strategic objectives into reality particularly within arts and cultural development having worked with for a number of small, medium and large institutions both in metropolitan and regional contexts. Andrew has brought to fruition a number of key arts and cultural infrastructure projects. In many instances this has involved managing projects from the initial stages of developing and authoring  concept/feasibility studies through to business planning, budget preparation, funding,  construction and completion.

Key projects have included undertaking extensive consultation in developing detailed feasibility studies and business plans for the development of a broad range of contemporary arts infrastructure including:

  • Blacktown Arts Centre
  • New Generation Centre, Parramatta
  • Parramatta Artists Studios 
  • Parramatta Connect  Performance Studios
  • “Pop Up” Parramatta projects

Arts & Cultural Projects

Overton Creative has managed a broad range of small, medium to large contemporary arts projects.

The process of developing successful arts & cultural projects involves the  establishment of an ongoing relationship between policies and objectives, planning and information,  analysis and needs, justification and negotiation, and then coupled with monitoring and evaluation.

Services include:

  • Project initiation and briefs
  • Project management
  • Developing and negotiating critical partnerships with key stakeholders and funding bodies including Arts NSW, Australia Council and other key government departments etc
  • Implementing contractual agreements for sponsorships/partnerships for a variety of cultural programs

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