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The key to a more successful transition from government to private support for the arts lies in finding business partners that are appropriate and compatible, and developing relationships that are collaborative, creative and equitable, writes Louise O?Halloran.

One such unique collaboration in Australia was between Griffin Theatre Company and SANE, a national charitable organisation for people who are seriously affected by mental illness. Griffin Theatre Company is a small theatre company in Kings Cross, Sydney, dedicated to the development and production of new Australian plays. In 1999, SANE Australia provided significant financial support for the sponsorship of a new, autobiographical Australian play written by politician Neil Cole about an MP in Victoria discovering and living with bi-polar disorder (manic depression).


Neil Cole wrote the play during a period in which he was publicly ?outed? as having a mental illness in the early 1990s, after which he resigned as the Victorian Shadow Attorney General. During this time, he became associated with SANE and wrote the play ?Alive at Williamstown Pier? which attracted the attention of SANE board member and writer/ broadcaster Anne Deveson. Also a board member of Griffin Theatre Company, Deveson brought the parties together to discuss how SANE might help Griffin Theatre bring the play to production. SANE?s board members used their corporate connections to facilitate the donation of a substantial sponsorship fee via SANE to Griffin Theatre.

Griffin Theatre Company General Manager, Catherine Carey (now Marketing Manager at English National Opera), recalls the negotiation period: ?SANE saw this opportunity as a way to communicate all sorts of things about mental illness, most importantly that it can happen to anyone, even a Member of Parliament. They hoped that by promoting their brand image in association with the play, that people would feel more inclined to reach out to them for help. The results for SANE were tremendous.?

It is a key strategic objective of SANE to actively seek out ways in which education and information can be made available and relevant to a variety of different geographic and demographic groups. In order to achieve its educative objectives, SANE disseminated literature to theatre patrons and material was displayed in the foyer. The sponsorship also allowed SANE to invite guests to view the production, giving it an opportunity to educate and create awareness about serious mental illness amongst pharmaceutical companies, physicians, welfare workers, politicians, funding agencies, press and colleagues.

SANE also achieved the much wider goal of giving serious mental illness a public platform through a significant article on the play in the Sydney Morning Herald. In addition to this major feature article, the press were unusually supportive of the association and often listed contact details for SANE in coverage and even reviews of the play.

Louise O?Halloran is Marketing Manager at NSW Art Gallery.