Funds for western suburbs arts activities

21/10/97

Arts Minister Peter Foss today announced State Government funding of $889,000 to support arts activities in Western Australia next year.

The funding recommendations were made by ArtsWA s three new assessment panels (Aboriginal Arts Panel, Young People & the Arts Panel, Arts Development Panel). Each panel considered applications from individuals, groups and organisations working across all artform areas other than film and television.

There were 99 successful applicants, with at least 20 residing or based in the western suburbs. The average grant was $8,980.

One of the three recipients of the prestigious $30,000 Creative Development Fellowships was Nedlands-based dancer/choreographer Stefan Karlsson.

"It is pleasing to see such artistic diversity reflected in the list of successful applicants," Mr Foss said.

"Artists and organisations based in the western suburbs are again well represented and there are a number of projects designed to take our distinctive west coast creativity beyond our shores."

A total of more than $213,000 was allocated to companies or performers located in the western suburbs and the key investments were:

·      $30,000 to the Artists Regional Exchange for tripartite residencies for artists between Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong;

·      $30,000 in a Creative Development Fellowship to dancer Stefan Karlsson;

·      $23,140 to the Fellowship of Australian Writers and Katharine Susannah Prichard Foundation for their collaborative Western Writers program in 1998;

·      $16,500 to Penny Young for the creation of a musical theatre production for children aged between two and five years;

·      $16,310 for Catherine Hope to create an original collaborative work for dance and music featuring Western Australian performers;

·      $15,000 to Theatre West for a co-production with Black Swan Theatre of Andrew Bovell s play "Speaking in Tongues";

·      $14,346 for Josephine Wilson to research and develop a new performance work in collaboration with four other Western Australian artists;

·      $10,210 for Youth Arts Incorporated for the development of a cross-art performance following collaboration with young actors, dancers and musicians;

·      $8,000 to Paola Anselmi to develop a Web-based arts event involving Perth artists in international collaborations;

·      $8,000 for Sally Richardson for career development in the area of artistic direction;

·      $8,000 to Galerie Dusseldorf for its participation in the 6th Australian Contemporary Art Fair in Melbourne;

·      $7,287 for Gillian Berry to develop Christina Stead's novel For Love Alone as a work for the theatre;

·      $6,000 to author John Mateer for the creation of a new body of work;

·      $5,000 to author Michael Heald for the development of a collection of poetry;

·      $5,000 to the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery to mount a retrospective of the work of Tom Gibbons;

·      $5,000 to the musical group Primavera for the production of a CD of renaissance music for international audiences;

·      $5,000 to the Visual Arts Foundation of WA to assist in the placement of professional artists in WA schools as artists-in-residence; and -

·      $1,000 to the group Dances With Madness for an exhibition and series of arts events for young people.

Media contact: Chris Morris 9321 2222