If Felix May had been given the chance to do a program like Solid Ground during high school, there’s no doubt they would have graduated year 12.
“My high school was over 2500 kids and pretty high numbers of us mob, but there weren’t many programs for mob, let alone in the arts,” says Felix. “If I’d had something like Solid Ground I would have finished school.”
Fast forward to today, and Felix is a proud and passionate producer of Solid Ground. Established in 2015 by Carriageworks and Blacktown Arts, Solid Ground is a First Nations-led program that provides cultural education, training and employment pathways for Indigenous primary and high school students through year-long artist residencies at schools in western Sydney and Alexandria.
Alberts has been supporting Solid Ground since 2021 through The Tony Foundation, with a focus on Alexandria Park Community School, where Gomeroi man and multidisciplinary artist Shannon Smith, aka Monks, is the 2024 Artist in Residence.
Over six months, the hip-hop artist spent weekly sessions with students in years 7 to 10, teaching them the art of hip-hop and rap, how to structure a song, and choose a beat. The group ultimately recorded their tracks with a professional sound engineer and shot and edited the accompanying film clips.
Students with 2023 Artist in Residence Rhyan Clapham, aka Dobby. (Image: Joseph Mayers)
The impact the program had was profound, in diverse ways. While Shannon and Felix would initially wait while teachers rounded up the students, the students soon began arriving early.
“They began to feel secure in what we were doing, that we’d be there every week, and we built that trust,” Felix says. “It got to the point where Shannon and I would arrive and the kids were already there waiting, in their lunchbreak, making comments that we were late!”
As a result of Solid Ground, school attendance at Alexandria Park improved last year, alongside increased enthusiasm for and understanding of maths and English given their indirect connections to hip-hop.
In addition to the musical collaboration, the cultural mentoring helps make Solid Ground a well-rounded success.
“We work with kids still figuring out who their mob is [and] because of the Voice referendum last year, we got Elders in and created a culturally-safe space where we could have big conversations,” Felix says. “These are our next black voices, so we create spaces where they know their voices matter and are heard so they can continue the right to fight [for cultural recognition], but through different mediums of storytelling and having access to culture they might not necessarily have.”
Felix highlights a group of three year seven girls whose lyrics initially rapped on boys and their crushes, but as they got further into the program, shifted to exploring mental health, addiction, and the Stolen Generations.
“They were getting together on weekends and writing about how they want to do better and understand their culture better. It was so beautiful, and it came about through having this space and writing about real things. One kid said Solid Ground was the one thing keeping him at school.”
Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony led by Uncle Wes Marne at Blacktown Arts. (Image: Joseph Mayers).
The Solid Ground program also indirectly teaches the kids cultural protocol and respect: “They learn to respect their Elders and listen to what they’re saying,” says Felix. “A lot of the kids don’t have access to protocol and it’s a really important part of our culture.”
The Tony Foundation’s director, Ingrid Albert, says the positive impact music is having on local students – not only on school attendance rates, but interest in and better understanding of their First Nations culture – is a really important outcome of the project.
“The Tony Foundation strives to improve the lives of children through the arts and music, and with Solid Ground being First Nations-led and run it provides such an important pathway for our future Indigenous leaders.”
This year’s Alexandria Park program is exploring the visual arts, and with interest in Solid Ground more than tripling, they’ve created two groups, introducing primary students for the first time. Wearing his visual arts hat, Monks has returned as artist-in-residence and is working with the students on various projects – from designing t-shirts to learning lettering and drawing graffiti cartoon characters that will ultimately lead to a giant, permanent in-school mural.
From a touring exhibition of student-designed silk superhero capes created during the 2020 Alexandria Park program with Dennis Golding, to the uploading of the 2023 group’s music videos, and an upcoming collaborative NAIDOC week exhibition at Carriageworks, there’s plenty of positive energy and outcomes.
Students celebrate their 2023 end of year showcase with Solid Ground Producer, Felix May; Artist in Residence, Shannon Smith aka Monks; and teacher Rebecca Campisi. (Image: Joseph Mayers).
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of responsibility,” says Carriageworks’ CEO, Fergus Linehan. “But what I love about Solid Ground and the artists involved this year is not only are they connected to culture but they have significant careers and lives in other areas, so there’s a way for students to see this could be a route to follow in their own lives.”
(Feature image: Chifley College Students with emu feather skirts created in collaboration with 2023 Artist in Residence, Debra Beale. Image by Joseph Mayers).
