Western Australia regional festivals receive funding boost

February 2, 2021

Eight Western Australian regional organisations will share in $289,381 to deliver events and activities - from literature to arts and crafts to music - at regional festivals.

The funding comes from the Western Australian Government’s latest round of the Regional and Remote Festivals Fund - a program delivered as part of the Regional Arts and Cultural Investment Program (RACIP), which supports arts and cultural activity at regional and remote festivals in Western Australia.

Esperance Community Arts will receive $47,080 for the Kaddatji Nyungar Boodja Community Sculpture project, a series of workshops for artists and community members to share knowledge of local plant species and cultural issues.

Artists will work with community members to create large scale sculptures of four culturally significant plant species from recycled textiles over three months to be displayed at the Esperance Wildflower Festival in September 2021.

Other initiatives receiving grants through the program are:

City of Greater Geraldton ($24,950) to assist with the curation and delivery of the artistic program which will form the basis of the Big Sky Festival 2021 (The WA Government has also made a $300,000 contribution to support ‘Shore Leave’ - a new festival of seafood, culture and adventure in Geraldton from 6th to 9th May 2021);
Shire of Yalgoo ($20,000) to run the Open Air Sculpture Gallery, part of the Emu Festival 2021;
Shire of Mount Magnet ($14,100) for SciArt & Astro-Photography Activities, drawing on local Indigenous artists and culminating in an Astro-Photography Exhibition;
York Arts and Events ($48,541) for presentation of the 7th annual York Festival;
Shire of Merredin ($35,000) for War Stories Illumination Projections. The creation of illuminated war stories that connect the past and the present, as part of the inaugural Memorial Festival;
Big hART Inc ($50,000) for Songs for Peace 2021, a month-long series of events featuring song writing workshops, community feasting and intimate acoustic performances culminates in a showcase concert of headline artists and local musicians including elders and young people; and
Annette Nykiel ($49,710) for the We Must Get Together Sometime exhibition and related events.

Funding of up to $50,000 per applicant is available towards the direct costs associated with delivering arts activity that is part of a series of events comprising a festival.

The Regional and Remote Festivals Fund is open to WA groups, organisations or individual artists, WA regional local government authorities and Aboriginal communities in WA.

Western Australian Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman noted "we know that our arts sector, particularly in regional WA, has had a tough year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

"So, it's great to know that these initiatives will be providing an outlet for artists, and opportunities for community members to get involved and be creative."

Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan added "The RACIP continues to be an important grants program for arts in regional WA, as it contributes to our regions' vibrancy and the initiatives it funds generate economic activity.

"Driving creativity among artists and their communities, it is giving people in regional WA a unique opportunity to take part in the development of local festivals."

For more information on the fund, visit the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries' website.

Image: York Festival 2019 - York Arts and Events to receive $48,541 for presentation of the 7th annual York Festival. Image courtesy of yorkfestival.com.au/about/

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