" title="the map village street editors"> the map village street editors

Growing up in rural Australia, a sensitive and caring young girl experienced the hardship that people often face when they are deemed to be different. When, as a teenager, she moved to the big city and into one of the country’s most culturally diverse communities, the innocent young girl witnessed social injustice on a global scale. Now 28, founder of The Social Studio, Dr Grace McQuilten is determined that Australia must become a more accepting country. In her efforts to help initiate that change, this positive young woman has armed herself with humility, generosity and an infectious laugh that comes straight from a heart of gold.

To reach the cafe at The Social Studio in Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Collingwood, you first have to make your way past a unique selection of original clothing and accessories that have been created from recycled and excess manufacturing materials. Then you walk through a studio filled with sewing machines and the young designers and apprentices who are learning new skills and creating the fashion items. It’s an eye-opening experience that Grace designed to “encourage people to interact with other communities and break down any cultural barriers that might otherwise prevent people from getting to know each other”.

Just six months after opening its doors, The Social Studio is buzzing with productivity, creativity and community. Grace’s idea of empowering through fashion design seems to be paying off with new arrivals and refugees, mainly from Horn of Africa countries, learning and developing new skills, expressing their creativity and connecting with others in this inspiring social enterprise. We have to go back to the historic town of Maldon in country Victoria to trace the roots of the Social Studio. It was there that as a young girl Grace was bullied for being a “sensitive, creative, thoughtful person in a quite rough part of the world where that wasn’t really appreciated.” But a greater influence than her own treatment was Grace’s exposure to other victims of bullying. “I saw little kids who were slightly different who may have had parents of mixed heritage, a couple of Indian kids and Aboriginal kids who were poorly treated, vilified. I don’t know how they survived their childhood,” Grace explains. “I knew then that I wanted Australia to be a more accepting country and I wanted to help initiate that change.”

At 14, after ‘enduring’ life in the small town environment, Grace moved to Melbourne where she attended a public school in multicultural Footscray. “It was a bit of a melting pot,” she says. “It was great being in a much more diverse and accepting environment.” Following high school, Grace went on to attend university where she pursued her interests in creative writing and visual arts, and after a year side-tracked in an industrial relations firm, focused her studies on art history, philosophy and curatorship. At 20, the practising artist spent a year in New York undertaking an internship with the New Museum of Contemporary Art “I just emailed them and told them what I do and asked if they had any opportunities,” Grace explains matter-of-factly when asked how she got the internship. “They seem to have more unpaid internships in the States where they use students for all sorts of things. It’s part exploitation and part opportunity,” she laughs, almost innocently. Fearing that art can be somewhat of an indulgence, and recognising its commodification in the past decade or two, Grace took a new direction with her practice. “There was a tradition of art being a critical and engaged pursuit that reflected on society and challenged society to think differently,” Grace explained. “That critical aspect has started to disappear and that disturbed me as an artist.”

Returning to Melbourne, Grace began her master’s degree exploring consumer culture and design, and how designers were exploiting commercial production to create more questions about society and culture. Asked what may have prompted her shift from the aesthetic practice of art to a social focus, Grace points to her family. Both grandfathers were heavily involved in unions and the socialist party, and her parents were active in the green movement. “I’ve come from a very politically and socially engaged family,” she says. “I’ve always pondered the big questions and worried about the world and the way things work. As an artist, one of the challenges I had was how to make art more socially engaged and more socially valuable.”

While volunteering for a non-profit restaurant operation that employs members of the refugee community, Grace began her PhD in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne where she explored the potential for design to create critical social change. “I guess I’m inspired by a kind of cynical optimism in that I can see so many things that are wrong with the world and I can’t help but see some ways to be able to create something not so wrong.” Her experience with community members was life changing. “I was amazed at how vibrant and exciting these communities were and how much they could teach Australia about generosity and cultural tradition and community.”

But she was also dismayed and frustrated at the challenges many migrants faced getting jobs. Despite great resumes, work experience, good English skills and a strong commitment to work, the opportunities for many new arrivals just didn’t exist. “I knew I wanted to start up a business that would be able to create jobs. But I wasn’t entirely sure what that business would be,” Grace says. “I was working with a lot of people from Horn of Africa communities and one of the things that stood out very strongly was an incredible sense of fashion and love for fashion,” she continues. “The fabric, colours and style of dress were just incredible. I thought why not use the skills that were already there to create a business that was commercially appealing, and empowered people to have confidence. And which would also put out a really positive image to Australia about new and emerging communities, create more jobs and encourage other employers to start changing their attitude when it comes to recruiting these individuals.”

What followed was an unwavering commitment to achieve the goals set out in her business plan and an endless string of emails and cold calls to community members, potential benefactors and philanthropists, architects and designers, and a network of individuals and organisations interested in social enterprise. Grace brought together a group of individuals who had never met before and formed the board of management over a cup of coffee.

The Social Studio came into existence due to the generosity and foresight of many individuals but Grace was certainly the lynchpin. She and two other board members literally built the studio themselves, from the fit-out to the tables and chairs, all made with second-hand equipment and first-hand passion and commitment.

Grace now works six days a week at the studio, making coffee and food in the cafe, looking after the book-keeping, staff meetings, and taking on case work for the young participants – dealing with things like Centrelink, housing, and medical issues. When asked how she measures her success, Grace laughs and says she doesn’t care about her own success. “I don’t care if I’m a raging failure,” she explains. “Seeing so many people involved and happy and being rewarded and being part of a great team – that’s my satisfaction. Don’t take life too seriously but try to do everything with as much integrity and heart as possible.” Somewhat surprisingly Grace’s motivation seems to come from a sense of gratitude.“I have received so much from really amazing, dynamic, creative people and I want to be able to honour that by giving something back – and I really mean that. I’ve learned so much more from the beautiful men and women that I’ve worked with than I have given.”

Interview by Stefan Treyvaud.