Sculpture by the Sea Cottesloe smashes attendance records

Attendance records at the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition have been smashed, with an estimated 215,000 people visiting this year's event at Cottesloe Beach.

Tourism Minister Kim Hames said organisers had confirmed that 75,000 more people had attended the exhibition this year than in 2010.

"The 2011 event had promised to be the biggest and best ever seen at Cottesloe and these figures confirm that," Dr Hames said.

"This is a fantastic free event on Western Australia's events calendar and judging from the figures released by the organisers, it is growing more popular every year."

The Minister said part of the popularity of this year's event could be attributed to exhibits from two internationally renowned sculptors - Britain's Sir Anthony Caro (Aurora and Erl King) and China's Chen Wen Ling (Red Memory Smile).

"'Red Memory Smile' was awarded both the Peoples' and Kids' Choice Awards and certainly captured the imaginations of many visitors," he said.

"Exhibiting these two internationally acclaimed sculptors at Cottesloe was made possible thanks to additional funding from the State Government, through Eventscorp.

"The Government has sponsored Sculpture by the Sea since it was first held at Cottesloe in 2005.  For the past three years, it has supported the event through Eventscorp's Arts and Cultural Events Scheme."

This year's exhibition featured 76 sculptures by artists from all around the world.

Dr Hames thanked the Town of Cottesloe for hosting the event again and the sponsors for their contribution. 

"I would also like to congratulate Eventscorp and Sculpture by the Sea for arranging such an outstanding event," he said.