At a 2012 house party in suburban Brisbane, where music thrummed, artists painted, people danced and neighbours grumbled about the noise, an idea took hold.

Over a decade, this idea grew and took shape, as did the ambition and determination of its creator, Lincoln Savage.

The house parties became warehouse events, then multi-day outdoor festivals, and then a temporary space in a decommissioned government building before finally evolving into Superordinary, the sprawling multi-arts space on the bank of the Brisbane River at Northshore Brisbane.

The 10-year journey from idea to reality was occasionally bumpy and necessitated detours – including the sector-shifting COVID pandemic – but in October 2024, Superordinary celebrated its first birthday and its increasing foothold in Brisbane’s arts, culture and events scene.

Lincoln was studying technology innovation at QUT – having returned from travels to London – when he first set out to rectify a deficit of experimental and authentically multi-artform events in Brisbane.

“I started putting on my own shows while I was studying and those house parties became notorious. They ended up outgrowing the houses but that was my first experience as a curator and producer,” he recalls.

“I started using warehouses and unused urban spaces and did organise a lot of shows in established venues but they didn’t really accommodate the experimental and emerging arts nature of what I was doing across multi-arts, like having street artists paint while bands were playing.”

Admiring the blank canvas afforded by industrial sites, Lincoln continually scoured maps and drove the back roads of southeast Queensland to find the perfect home for his dream.

When he ventured upon the maritime warehouses at Northshore Brisbane, he knew he’d found Superordinary’s home, so began the complex process of stating his business case to Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) and negotiating a lease.

“It’s so unique over here – there are big, open areas quite close to the CBD but you’re far enough away to have music and events without annoying any residents.

“It was very tough to get everything sorted but EDQ were amazing and have navigated some really big challenges with us to keep us here so I’m grateful for the support they’ve given.”

The challenges Lincoln alludes to are familiar to most independent arts organisations: securing funding, growing new audiences, rising costs and the ongoing impacts of COVID on the industry.

They are also responsible for the hiatus of Lincoln’s Sunshine Coast-based event: the multi-arts Yonder Festival.

Undeterred by these setbacks, Lincoln pours his experience, resilience and passion for experimental and independent arts into Superordinary and Brisbane Street Art Festival (BSAF) which he co-founded in 2016 and runs from Northshore Brisbane.

Planning is underway for BSAF’s 10th birthday in 2025 with Lincoln teasing a bumper program, international guest artists and even a coffee table book documenting a decade of urban art.

BSAF’s attention-grabbing response to COVID lockdowns in 2020 is sure to feature in the tome.

Lincoln and his team were granted occupancy of a former state government building in Brisbane’s Mary Street, earmarked for eventual demolition, in return for delivering public artwork projects.

When the city – and indeed the world – shut down, BSAF pivoted.

“We were allowed to have artists in there, painting, but no audiences because of social distancing, so we taught ourselves to livestream and came up with a project,” Lincoln says gleefully.

“We painted every surface inside that three-or-four-storey building and had heaps of artists involved, and then we livestreamed it on Twitch and got millions of views, which was really fun.

“It was actually in that space that we sat down with our team, our designer and a bunch of artists and we made a proper plan and came up with the name Superordinary.”

Northshore Brisbane’s versatile and stylish multi-arts venue also has a string of entertaining highlights from its first fledgling year of operation.

Superordinary is purpose-designed to host multi-arts events across visual art, music, performance, theatre, dance, circus and more.

Yet, with more people discovering its adaptability and accessibility and falling in love with its industrial-chic aesthetic and enviable inner-city riverfront location, Superordinary is the venue of choice for some extraordinary events.

“One of the most interesting things we’ve done here is probably the roller-skating rave – we’ve had two of those now – as well as Mexican wrestling, CULT burlesque shows and SEANCHOÍCHE, which was this absolutely beautiful, really amazing Irish storytelling event,” Lincoln lists.

“We’ve also got some corporate events coming up that are awesome, award ceremonies and even a big truck event for the launch of an electric truck.

“What is really cool about these events is that we’re still funding artists and the arts through them. We’ll put paintings in the space or organise live music for the event to help artists bring in money.

“Every week we do walkthroughs with tour promoters, and event organisers and artists are coming through all the time and what’s really great to see is more and more people finding out about us.”

While immediate growth is top of mind, Lincoln is also looking further afield.

“I’m looking 30 years ahead. I want Superordinary to be here for 30 years in some form as a really valuable part of the city and shaping the future of Brisbane.

“I see Superordinary contributing to the Northshore Brisbane vision and connecting to the bigger vision of Brisbane (in) how culture, arts and music connect with urban design.”

See what’s on at Superordinary and explore its creative spaces at superordinary.com.au

Follow us on our social channels to see how Northshore Brisbane supports an ecosystem of innovators who inspire creativity, new ideas, fresh perspectives and new imaginings.