PATTERNMAKERS INITIATIVE
Growing Together
A new approach to audience development, for arts organisations who want to grow. Together.
It’s time to approach audience development differently.
Growing Together is Patternmakers' new audience development program, designed for groups of arts organisations who want to build audience connection, amid tough conditions.
We use insights from nature and systems thinking as a springboard for collaborative action. Participants take small actions regularly, developing rituals and relationships for long-term growth, cross-pollinating for collective change.
Audience development, as we see it, is about fulfilling the potential of your creative work to connect with people. More than just 'bums on seats' — it's about making meaningful connections between your work and your community.
Guiding principles
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Working in isolation
Instead of approaching audience development as individual organisations, what if we worked together, to share skills, insights and audiences?
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Fragmented audience
A single campaign will only cut-through to so many people. What if we used ecosystem thinking to reach more people and exchange more value?
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The bandwidth gap
Our resources are stretched thin. Instead of putting it off, waiting for that chunk of time or money, what if we started today and took one small action every week?
THE PHILOSOPHY
Growing a garden, not a project
Growing Together adopts ideas from nature, ecosystems and permaculture. as a grounded and accessible approach to audience development. Here’s why.
| Principle | What it means |
|---|---|
| Care and cultivation | Audience development is not a one-off campaign. It requires ongoing attention and adaptation — much like tending a garden through changing seasons. |
| Systems thinking | Audiences are part of broader ecosystems — including artists, organisations and communities. Gardening is more than just planting or watering. |
| Mutual benefit | Terms like "capturing" or "targeting" audiences can feel transactional. "Growing together" suggests mutual benefit, trust-building and long-term engagement. |
| Current values | The metaphor resonates with contemporary concerns around wellbeing, inclusion and environmental awareness — especially relevant for cultural organisations. |
WHO IT'S FOR
Made for networks
Growing Together is designed for groups of organisations.
It works best when a cohort or network of organisations come together, around their common interest in growing their audiences, whether through a peak body, a funding program, a geographic region or simply a shared sense of purpose.
Performing arts producers and presenters looking to deepen community connections
Regional or state-based networks with members at varying stages of capacity
Organisations where one or two people manage all marketing and engagement
Teams who want to move from collecting data to actually using insights
Organisations who are ready to try something different — in good company.
ABOUT PATTERNMAKERS
Research for good
Patternmakers has been providing research, professional development and management consulting in the arts, culture and community sectors since 2015. We have worked with peak bodies, local governments, State and Territory agencies and the Australian Government.
Growing Together is the culmination of many years of work on audience research, audience development and management consulting. We are eager to share this knowledge with good causes, for the benefit of Australian communities.
Our Director, Tandi Palmer Williams, is an industry researcher with a background in accounting, management, economics and post-graduate psychology. Her approach is bringing people and evidence together, making change one insight at a time.
Curious about this approach?
We’re eager to hear questions and enquiries.