DC MAN CAVE LIMITED
What is DC Man Cave?
DC Man Cave is an innovative not for profit company running workshops and programs, designed for disabled and disadvantaged people within the local community, with a new approach to vocational and social engagement.
We are a Democratic Collective and actively pursue the input and wishes of our participants to dynamically change with their needs. What they want as a group or an individual is what we seek to facilitate. Their ideas and dreams are what we are here to become reality as best we can.
Our friendly trades qualified instructors will take small groups of participants for a minimum of 4 days per week, and introduce them to a wide range of innovative experiences and activities with a hands-on approach. Activities are designed to increase life skills, knowledge base, self-confidence, self-reliance, and independence.
DC Man Cave Limited is a not for profit charity, registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission.
We offer trades based activities to disabled and disadvantaged adults of all genders.
Instructors become your workmates.
The trade qualified instructors engage and instruct participants.
Activities are physical and mental applications of hands on workplace activities.
Our instructors will be both mentors and friends.
Programs running include..
MAN CAVE ACTIVITIES.
Opportunities to participate in farming, animal care, beekeeping, landcare, revegetation, erosion prevention, weed control, grounds keeping, food production, fuel reduction, landscaping, and more.
Building and construction activities include, decking and pergola construction, paving, pizza oven building, greenhouse construction, furniture building, house renovation and bee hive box construction.
Mechanical refurbishment of tractors boats farm machinery vintage trucks and cars are also carried out on our premises. We have vintage vehicles ranging from 90 to 50 years old as well as boats of which some date back to the 1900's.
Educational tours of industry and manufacturing include dairy farms, agricultural businesses, metal fabrication, manufacturing industries and construction sites. We regularly go on field trips to source projects and materials, a lot of which are repurposed or recycled.
Life skills are positively encouraged to develop personal communication, independent decision making and confrontation resolution. Food preparation and cooking, consumer education and money management are taught to empower individuals.
Recreational and environmental activities like bushwalking, fishing, kitchen gardening, recycling, stargazing and astronomy, sculpting and music are also important.
We also carry out programs aimed at helping the wider community. Being involved in Primary School education programs like constructing poultry enclosures and playgrounds.
We aim to provide substantial vocational style workshop activities to engage unemployed, disabled and disadvantaged young adults in the community.
Our objective is to provide opportunity for those who don't get access to trades based activities and work sites.
ART CAVE ACTIVITIES.
Art Cave is a program set up to foster creativity and individual expression under the same principles of social inclusion as Man Cave activities. It aims to build on your life skills in a creative arts program.
Participants will be immersed in Art and creativity including clay, painting, sewing, sculpture, mosaic, jewellery, cooking and gardening, studio visits, gallery visits, market stalls, community projects and exhibitions.
The program is based in a well resourced Art Studio in Buln Buln. We facilitate participants artistic passions well beyond the walls to include the wider local art community.
We will foster creativity by conducting the following programs:
CERAMICS- Terracotta garden sculpture, decorating earthernware crockery, slip casting, glazing and firing.
PAINTING- Acrylic, watercolour, canvas painting, abstract, landscape, portraiture, animals, including framing plus pastel and more.
JEWELLERY- Beading, making polymer beads, paper beads, threading and more
MOSAICS - design and create your own mosaic stepping stone, mosaic mirror
SCULPTURE- Plaster bandage, plaster casting and painting, concrete casting, assemblage and hebel brick carving
SEWING- Designing own soft toy/furnishing, alterations for clothes and bags and more
PHOTOGRAPHY- Using a camera to compose an image and edit them digitally then take them to be printed.
COOKING/GARDENING- Life skills. Growing the seeds and preparing the food following the Paddock to the Plate Program, including making fresh pasta, breads, soups, stir fries and fruit based deserts.
A large part of the programs is dedicated to this activity in order to best prepare individuals for independent living. We teach methods of low cost healthy lfestyles with both self dependence and self sufficient methods of day to day living.
GALLERY VISITS
Each term we visit a local gallery/Art Show
STUDIO VISITS
We visit some of the 20+ Artists studios in the Baw Baw Shire, including painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, mosaics, jewellery and more.
EXHIBITION- Participants will be given the opportunity to exhibit their art at art shows, have a stall at the local market and or prepare for a group exhibition.
COMMUNITY PROJECTS -Participate with the wider local art community on local projects and social art groups.
Our motto is "WE DO STUFF, WE GIVE A STUFF"
