$766,966 in grants boost vast range of WA culture and arts projects

Previous Perth Festival Director Wendy Martin received $59,855 from the Arts 15k-plus program to deliver a significant program of community development to inform content for the festival.

The funding will also be used to consult with government, arts, corporate sector and community organisations to build strategic alignment and partnerships to drive the project.

Other projects receiving funding through the program include Freeze Frame Opera ($59,877) who will create, design and perform new productions of two classic Puccini operas using a WA cast of opera professionals, to be performed at Claremont Showgrounds.

Helen Shanahan received $25,806 funding from the latest round of the Contemporary Music Fund Grant Program (15k-plus category) to work remotely with Nashville producer Brad Jones to record 10 original songs. The recording process will be filmed in both Nashville and Perth to create online content.

Other grant recipients from the Arts 15k-plus program are:

• Theatre Kimberley Incorporated ($59,550) for The Dummies Splash Out in Broome circus collaboration.
• Nyamba Buru Yawuru Ltd ($54,099) Celebrating our pearling culture in story, art, dance and song.
• Southern Forest Arts ($47,600) For Mycelium, a connection and collaboration project within WA’s regional art sector. It nurtures resilience, sustainability and vibrancy in the wake of COVID-19.
• L Frere-Harvey & M.R Harvey ($47,262) For MindCon Presentation. An exciting new work created by artists Mitch Harvey and Louis Frere-Harvey pushing the boundaries of dance and sound.
• Stephen Eastaugh ($35,864) for Traveless, a creative development project where new skills will be acquired in order to produce a complex digital art film-work alongside a body of mixed media artworks.
• Gogi Dance Company Pty Ltd ($29,345) for Siren, a unique multi-disciplinary seaside performance that explores our concern for the care of our ocean.
• Julie Weston ($55,904) Hickey Hardware branding and online marketing project to raise profile and generate online fashion sales in new national and international markets.
• John Mateer ($22,600) for the development: research, writing and editing of a new book of linked poems based on ten years of travel.
• Children's Book Council of Australia Western Australian Branch ($55,000) Children’s Book Council of Australia WA Book Week 2021 activities.
• Upswell Publishing ($43,548) a new outlet for writers providing support and advice.
• Margaret River Region Open Studios Inc ($41,843) Margaret River Region Open Studios will promote over 100 artists and artisans in the City of Busselton and Shire of Margaret River.
• Fremantle Biennale ($60,000) The Fremantle Biennale presents a festival of site-responsive public art focussed in the wider Fremantle region.
• Enterprise Development Australia Pty Ltd ($39,468) for the Midwest Music Development Program which provides specialist music skills workshops across key music industry segments.
• S Akindele-Obe & MA Baxter & QM Saad & GK Sanyangore & J ($29,345) van der Merwe Indian Ocean Craft Triennial will commission Singaporean ceramic artist Jason Lim to create a new performance work at Fremantle Arts Centre.

The next round for these grant programs open 31 August 2021 for projects starting from 1 February 2022.