Grants continue recovery of WA’s arts and culture sector

Kalyuku Ninti — Puntuku Ngurra is among 14 organisations receiving funding from the latest round of the Arts 15k-plus grants program, with a $59,995 grant for its ‘Walk to Gather, Learn to Gather’ initiative. 

A collaboration between Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa and Martumili artists, the project will preserve and communicate traditional Martu knowledge and skills specific to bush foods and medicine through the delivery of a dedicated on-Country camp.  

Theatre 180 will receive $45,000 from the same grants program to present a double bill of female playwrights; the award winning ‘I and You’ by Lauren Gunderson, with Lucy Kirkwood’s ‘The Children’. 

The presentations will explore intergenerational themes, connecting youth and seniors in employment and mentor opportunities between the two casts, and for audiences.

Among the three projects receiving grants from the latest round of the Contemporary Music Fund 15k-plus category, Phillip Walley-Stack will use $48,824 funding to perform on the Phil Walleystack Tour, with the Perth Symphony Orchestra. The Perth concert will be recorded, with the tour also taking in Mandurah, Merredin and Margaret River. 

The Arts 15k-plus grant program provides grants between $15,000 and $60,000 for one-off projects or programs of activity. It supports Western Australian artists and enables communities to participate and actively engage in high quality arts and cultural experiences.

The Contemporary Music Fund Grant Program 15k-plus category assists WA contemporary music artists with a broad range of projects that enable them to produce and promote their work, building links nationally and internationally. Applications are invited for $15,000 to $60,000 for one off projects or programs of activities. 
Both grants programs are administered by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. 

The full list of successful applicants for the September 2020 round are:

Arts 15k-plus successful recipients September 2020 round

• Aboriginal Art Centre Hub of Western Australia Aboriginal Corporation, Midland, $59,470
  The funding will support the first stage of a major capacity building and exhibition project that surveys the output of WA art centres, telling stories about WA from an Aboriginal perspective.
• Audioplay Australia Pty Ltd, Highgate, $39,551
  Audioplay will collaborate with some of Australia’s leading children’s theatre-makers for the Big Exciting Audioplay Co-lab: Connecting artists with audiences through immersive audio experiences. 
• Georgia King, Wembley, $36,353
  Georgia King will produce Mama Stitch, a work made with community members from Thornlie, Kalamunda and Bunbury, to explore their relationships with their mums.
• Jackson Harvey, Fremantle, $27,340
  Multidisciplinary artists Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler of LEGO Masters will develop an innovative new body of work to be presented as part of the 2021 Scribbles Festival.
• John Curtin Gallery, Bentley, $45,609
  The grant will support regional artists to attend the opening of Alternative Archive: Survey Exhibition and the production of a virtual exhibition for regional audiences. 
• Justin Randall, Aubin Grove, $25,860
  Justin Randall will use this funding to write and illustrate CAVITY, a 96-page full colour graphic novel that engages with themes of isolation, regional hardship, prejudice and otherness. 
• Kalyuku Ninti - Puntuku Ngurra Limited, Newman, $59,995
  The funding will support Walk to Gather, Learn to Gather an initiative to preserve and communicate traditional Martu knowledge and skills specific to bush foods and medicine through an on-Country camp, and creation of art and other resources.
• Martine Perret, Margaret River, $59,749
  The grant will assist the creative development of Wuyurpa (working title) - a multi-sensory exhibition about the cultural significance of Indigenous languages in Western Australia and Northern Territory. 
• Mundaring Arts Centre Inc., Mundaring, $30,000
  The funding will go towards presenting Finders Keepers at the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial, artist Nalda Searles’ first solo exhibition in eight years.
• Performing Arts Centre Society Inc, Perth, $59,391
  The funding will support a skills development program for culturally diverse WA artists in directing, playwriting and performing for theatre. 
• Theatre 180 Inc, Mount Hawthorn, $45,000
  This grant will support the presentation of the award-winning and world-class production of Lauren Gunderson's theatre piece I and You - an ode to youth, life, love and human connection.
• The Museum of Freedom and Tolerance — Western Australia Limited, Perth, $30,000
  Funding was received for In Visible Ink - a digital platform and annual festival to be held in the Perth Cultural Centre this year.
• Tura New Music Ltd, Subiaco, $60,000
  Tura New Music will use this funding to build their capacity to deliver programs in some of the most remote communities in the Kimberley and the Pilbara.
• UWA Westerly Magazine, Crawley, $29,910
  The funding will support the creation and publication of new literary work in 2021 editions of Westerly Magazine. This includes two print issues and two online special issues.

Contemporary Music Fund Grant Program (15k-plus category) successful recipients September 2020 round

• Country Music Club of Boyup Brook WA Inc, Boyup Brook, $29,849
  The Country Music Club of Boyup Brook will develop a marketing strategy and undertake a brand refresh across their activities, but particularly for the Boyup Brook Country Music Festival and WA Country Music Awards.
• Phillip Walley-Stack, South Lake, $48,824
  Funding will support the Phil Walleystack tour on a series of performances across WA with the Perth Symphony Orchestra. The grant will also include a marketing campaign for the tour and performance recording.
• Recipe Records Pty Ltd, Nedlands, $22,760
  Perth-based singer-songwriter Riley Pearce will record his debut full-length album in regional WA with long-time collaborator and highly regarded WA producer Andy Lawson. The album will then be released globally through Riley’s record label Nettwerk Music Group.