A FORMER 1930s mechanical garage and showroom being transformed into a community space is just one of the North Midlands Project's positive impacts on regional communities.
Founded in 2015 by Andrew Bowman, the North Midlands Project turned an old historically building in Carnamah into The Exchange in 2018 - making it a warm community space which is now enjoyed by local and regional residents and community groups.
Mr Bowman said the building had been chosen because it had character, charm and most importantly history and heritage.
"It was already woven into the local story," Mr Bowman said.
Now accommodating a community lounge room, arts studio, free book exchange, digital learning hub and bushtucker garden, The Exchange is used several times a week for seniors' computer classes, creative groups, writing groups and kids clubs among other things.
Providing free Wi-Fi to the community, The Exchange also screens movies, hosts large events and houses the local tourism office.
However Mr Bowman said the most significant role of The Exchange was being a space for people to come together, talk, be creative or to learn - or ideally all of those things.
"Groups have actually been established to fill the space...and they can operate within the North Midlands Project all under our insurance and use The Exchange at no cost," Mr Bowman said.
"This greatly facilitates reducing volunteer burnout, as it lessens the need for administrative meetings, financials and time consuming tasks."
Although the North Midlands Project has strived to market The Exchange as a regional asset rather than a local one, Mr Bowman said it had taken some time for that message to filter out to Carnamah's neighbouring communities.
"Like our organisation, we see the space as a continual work in progress," Mr Bowman said.
Receiving in-kind support from the Shire of Carnamah and individuals in the community, the establishment has also received financial support from the CBH Group and the Australian Governance Building Better Regions fund.
Since being founded, the North Midlands Project has used the arts, creative activities and common groups of interest to help bring people together, reduce social isolation and make regional communities more dynamic.
"Not everyone is into sport or going to the pub so we just diversify the offer of things that people can do and connect over," Mr Bowman said.
"Our catch-cry is that we are striving towards happy and healthy communities and vibrant and connected towns."
This year the organisation is also running the 'Urban Flow Residence Program' in which an artist or creative from a different region of WA visits Carnamah for four weeks to run workshops in the local community, at local schools, provide exhibitions and contribute to a range of regional events.
"We have 10 four-week artist residencies spread throughout the year, spanning a variety of artforms including visual arts, writing, photography and performing arts," Mr Bowman said.
"Due to the implications of COVID-19 we have transitioned away from some of our larger events and are instead delivering a series of smaller community days in all six LGA's (Local Government Areas) of the North Midlands.
"These days and some instances evenings have included things like music, giant games, art workshops and outdoor movies and have occurred alongside contributions from a lot of community organisations."
Although the North Midlands Project is based in Carnamah the organisation delivers activities and programs across the six LGAs of the Mid West region; Carnamah, Coorow, Mingenew, Morawa, Perenjori and Three Springs.
"We're not an arts, heritage, community development organisation - we are a little bit of all of those things, which allows us to do a lot of different things and also makes us eligible for a lot of different types of funding," Mr Bowman said.
Sponsored by HealthWay to promote the Act, Belong, Commit message, the North Midland Project survives through grants, philanthropic donations and some of the organisation's business operations are partly self funded as well.
"Starting from scratch we have worked hard to make our income as diverse as possible," Mr Bowman said.
Since its inception, the North Midlands Project has partnered with local governments, community resource centres, schools, other community organisations and many individuals.
"We are not funded by the local government and we strive to attract new investors into our region," Mr Bowman said.
"We radiate to where there are centres of energy and where great impacts can be achieved."
