December 2023 Message from CEO Dr Pilar Kasat
Regional Arts WA
As we bid farewell to 2023, a year of remarkable achievements and change for Regional Arts WA, I am thrilled to share some of our most cherished highlights with you.
First and foremost, we were delighted to secure increased funding that will support the Western Australian regional arts sector well into 2024 and beyond. We confirmed four years of core support from the WA State Government starting January 2024. We also received a substantial uplift in funds from the Australian Government via Regional Arts Australia, which will flow out in grant money to artists and arts organisations. Funding agreements were renewed with the Ian Potter Foundation and Minderoo Foundation to support the Regional Arts Network.
In very recent and much– awaited news, we can confirm that early in the new year we will be delivering new multi-year funding to support regional arts organisations on behalf of the State Government.
A significant milestone in our journey this year was the revitalisation of our team, with seven talented individuals joining us. Notably, from next month, four of our staff will be based in regional areas, a monumental step toward the decentralisation of our organisation.
After a three-year hiatus, we successfully bought back the Sandtracks music tour in collaboration with NgMedia and Wilurarra Creative. This memorable event reached more than 2,700 individuals across six remote Aboriginal communities surrounding the tri-state border of NT, SA, and WA.
My travels throughout the year took me to Kalgoorlie in the Goldfield-Esperance region, Broome in the Kimberley, Geraldton in the Mid-West, Northcliff in the Southwest, Moora in the Wheatbelt and Christmas and Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. It has been a privilege to connect with, and learn from, artists, organisations and communities about their deep connections to the places in which they live, which is often the wellspring of their work and creativity. And I was proud to be able to bring this experience to Artlands, representing Western Australia at the national regional arts gathering in Canberra.
As the year draws to a close, our team will be taking a short break from December 22 to January 2, with most of us returning on January 8. I thank you for your energy and dedication to the arts and extend my warmest wishes to you for a safe and joyous festive season. May your hearts and minds be filled with the spirit of creativity and here’s to a prosperous and artistic new year!
– CEO Dr Pilar Kasat
Image: Christmas lights at Mandurah foreshore, photograph courtesy of Catherine Driver
