‘Businesses of Banyule’ presents Busybird Publishing, Montmorency

“I’ve had my business for over 15 years. I first started out as a photographer and in the last 5-6 years chose a career in publishing. I started as a home-based business, though as an artist I felt isolated. It was my dream to have a place with like-minded artists to share the creativity and motivation.

In the last 5 years we found local spaces to bring artists and the community together to share artists’ stories. We felt we were able to give people a voice. It was rewarding to break through some of the challenges artists faced and watch their confidence and skills grow. This is why we introduced ‘open-mic night’, held every month. It is an open, social event for anyone in the community to listen to stories and readings from inspiring artists. People come from all over Melbourne to see artists flourish with the opportunity to share their story. To this day, we have run over 30 nights. It is our pay it forward initiative for the artist to win a ‘creative fellowship’ at the end of each year.

In the last 3 years, we found an old 1950’s building with a gallery area, perfect for our creative staff and any artist from the community to come along and share the space and motivate each other. Our community hub inspires us to keep going from our daily core business. It has been evident that our initiatives have built resilience and a sense of belonging to artists and the community”.

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