Shorewell Presents: when a community takes the lead in telling its own story
In Shorewell Park, a suburb of Burnie too often defined by outsiders for its deficits rather than its many assets, the answer has been connection, confidence, and a creative legacy that continues to resonate.
A long table dinner under the stars
In 2019, Ten Days on the Island joined forces with Burnie Community House and Urban Theatre Projects to create a multi-year project connecting the community to the rest of Burnie. It started with a long table dinner where fifty Burnie locals and fifty guests from Shorewell Park shared food, stories, and laughter.
One guest summed it up simply: “What that arts event did was connect the two parts of the city… only arts can do that.”
That night set in motion a strong desire to do more together.
Staying connected through COVID
When COVID hit, the project pivoted to Dear Friend, a letter-writing initiative that kept people connected during isolation. Those letters inspired Gallery of Hopes and Dreams, an outdoor exhibition of billboards designed by residents and displayed proudly in Shorewell Park. Guided tours during the 2021 Festival shared the deep pride and sense of belonging the project had built. Burnie Community House noted that it helped increase participation in health and social programmes, especially among men.
“Cultural creativity may well be the saving grace of community revitalisation into the future,” said Dr Tracy Edington Mackay, Burnie Community House.
From letters to the big screen
In 2023, Shorewell Presents turned to film. Take 3 featured two short films by award-winning filmmaker Lara van Raay alongside community-led projects Moment Behind the Photo and Dream Box. It premiered with Ten Days on the Island before securing further support to reach wider audiences. In late 2025, Take 3 was selected as part of the opening programme for the new Burnie Arts centre. For a project that started with a dinner in a suburban park, that was a fitting milestone.
What Shorewell built
Over six years and three festival cycles, a dinner under the stars became a letter-writing project, an outdoor gallery, a film programme, and an opening night at a new arts centre. Each stage was shaped by the people of Shorewell Park, not delivered to them.
What started as a question about how to connect two parts of a city became proof that long-term creative partnerships can shift how a community sees itself, and how others see it. That work now sits in the story of Shorewell Park permanently.