All about Western Edge Youth Arts Inc.
 
Western Edge Youth Arts (WEYA) is a fully incorporated, not-for-profit, organisation that creates original performing arts work with young people from socially and economically disadvantaged and culturally diverse communities in Melbourne’s west, in a variety of school and community contexts.

The in-school program provides an innovative model of research-based arts education practice, in partnership with a cluster of five disadvantaged government schools. WEYA’s work in schools is based on cross-curricular, collaborative practice between teachers and artists and creates high quality, large-scale, original community performances that link schools to communities and challenge, entertain and inform.

WEYA provides pathways for young, emerging artists from diverse cultural backgrounds to succeed in the arts industry.

WEYA grew out of a partnership between two successful performance programs that began in 1996: SCRAYP (Schools, Community, Research, Arts, Youth, & Performance) and Y3P (Young People's Performance Projects) based at Footscray Community Arts Centre.

SCRAYP emerged out of schools outreach projects being run by Footscray Community Arts Centre in 1996. It was established through the dedication and commitment of Dave Kelman, David Everist and Viv Sercombe.

Y3P also began in 1996, established by David Everist when he was Theatre Director at Footscray Community Arts Centre. Y3P runs numerous projects and workshops each year, including Frontier Theatre- the new incarnation of the Sunday Theatre workshops that have been happening for a decade. Y3P has worked with hundreds of young people in performance skills development and has given young people an opportunity to produce over twenty original shows.

With the support of the Department of Victorian Communities Community Support Fund and Footscray Community Arts Centre’s Incubator program, Western Edge Youth Arts Inc. was established in September 2005 and looks forward to a bright and radiant future creating highlights in the lives of the young people we make art with.