Shopfront Arts Co-op will mark its 50th anniversary with a youth-led conference at the Sydney Opera House and a 50-hour fundraising act-a-thon aimed at securing the organisation’s next chapter.

The Youth-Led Conference, on 12 October, will bring young artists together to ask “How do we define success?”

The free, day-long program, curated entirely by Shopfront’s young members, will feature workshops, panels and performances examining conventional measures of success and imagining alternatives.

Shopfront Youth Conference at Sydney Opera House. Photo © Joshua Morris

Among the artists appearing are ARIA-nominated singer-songwriter grentperez, rapper DOBBY, actor and playwright Thomas Weatherall and actor Sofia Nolan.

The program will also include a performance of The Lies We Were Told, Shopfront’s award-winning production exploring the impact of messages about sexuality, gender, ability and identity. The work won Best Production for Young People at the Sydney Theatre Awards and has subsequently toured more than 30 schools.

The conference follows the 50-hour Act-a-thon, running from 10 to 12 October, which aims to raise $50,000 to support Shopfront’s pay-what-you-can programs and scholarships.

Beginning at the organisation’s Carlton home and concluding at the Opera House, the event will feature performances by current members, alumni and artists including performance collective POST – Nat Rose, Zoe Coombs Marr and Mish Grigor – and dancer-choreographer Martin Del Amo.

The act-a-thon revives a tradition from the late 1970s and 1980s, when Shopfront’s young members staged marathon performances to raise money and awareness as the organisation faced funding cuts and threats to its Carlton home.

Founded in 1976, Shopfront is Australia’s only arts company owned and led by young people, with members aged eight to 26 helping determine what work is made and how the organisation operates. Its alumni include playwright and novelist Andrew Upton, playwright Hilary Bell and actors Trevor Ashley and Paul Capsis.

Shopfront 50-hour Act-A-Thon: Starting at Shopfront, 86-88 Carlton Pde Carlton; ending at Sydney Opera House, Saturday 10 October 9am to Monday 12 October 11am (register online).

Youth-Led Conference Monday 12 October: 9am-6.30pm, Sydney Opera House: Studio and Centre for Creativity (free to attend; register online).