THE Footscray Community Arts Centre has a long and promising future, says outgoing director and chief executive Jennifer Barry.
Having farewelled the centre on Friday, Ms Barry believes it is more than capable of flourishing after the changing of the guard.
She is moving to the United States this month after more than three years at the helm.
“When you inherit something like that there is a great responsibility; you feel the history of that, you feel the community’s expectations.
“I’ve certainly put a lot of my energy into it and feel really proud of what we’ve achieved in the past three years.”
Ms Barry has seen the popularity of the centre expand beyond Footscray through events such as the annual Laneway Festival.
She said a recent play for the Ethiopian community in Dinka may have been a first for Melbourne and showed the centre was keeping up with the changing face of Footscray.
Ms Barry also noted the success of the ArtLife program for artists with intellectual disabilities. This group won the ‘best original Australian work’ award at the Melbourne Fringe last year with their very first theatre piece.
