GascoyneThe Gascoyne is the most sparsely populated region in the state. It is a major tourism destination, welcoming over 200,000 visitors a year. The coastal area incorporates internationally recognised features such as the Ningaloo Reef, the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, Monkey Mia and Coral Bay, while the hinterland includes the outstanding features of the Kennedy Range and Mt Augustus. The region’s four local government areas are Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and the Upper Gascoyne.

Size: 137,938 km² Population: 9,865 Regional centres: Carnarvon and Exmouth

Key industries: Tourism, Mining, Horticulture, Fishing and Pastoral

Arts and culture across the region

• The Carnarvon Regional Library and Art Gallery opened in 2013. Funded through Royalties for Regions, the facility functions as an educational, social and cultural centre for Carnarvon and provides library services throughout the Gascoyne to the shires of Exmouth, Upper Gascoyne, Shark Bay and Carnarvon.

• Burlgarnyja Wanggaya – Old People Talking is an award-winning permanent interpretive exhibition at Gwoonwardu Mia, the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre in Carnarvon.

• The Gascoyne Development Commission (GDC) has commissioned a feasibility study to guide the provision of public artworks for sites of the Tropic of Capricorn and the 26th Parallel.

• The recently concluded Gascoyne Focus Region Initiative was a four-year arts and cultural development partnership between County Arts WA and the GDC. Program outcomes included the development of GascoyneArts: An Arts and Cultural Plan for the Gascoyne in partnership with the community, Country Arts WA, the GDC and the four shires of the Gascoyne.

• Country Arts WA has engaged Fieldworks to evaluate the Gascoyne Focus Region Initiative

• Gascoyne in May (GiM) is a coordinated circuit of five festivals held on consecutive weekends in the month of May across the region. It is organised by an intra-regional committee comprising representatives from the GDC, Country Arts WA, Australia’s Coral Coast, each local government authority and communities of the Gascoyne.

• The GiM program includes the Burringurrah Festival of Fire, the Gascoyne River Music Festival at Gascoyne Junction, Barefoot Black Tie in Denham, the Carnarvon TropiCool Festival and the Exmouth Ningaloo Whaleshark Festival. Each festival program presents local work and activities alongside national and international acts. GIM was identified as a community priority in GascoyneArts.

• The Carnarvon Civic Centre has two indoor venues: the 300-seat proscenium arch Camel Lane Theatre, and The Wool Shed, a 450-person capacity multipurpose hall with a cabaret stage.

• The Shark Bay Interpretive Centre houses a unique collection of marine, terrestrial, cultural, pearling and Aboriginal heritage with an extensive exhibition space for visual arts.

• The Exmouth Cultural Arts Centre is the only arts and culture organisation on Australia’s remote North West Cape. The Centre coordinates and represents performing arts and fine arts groups, as well as individual artisans of Exmouth.

• Investment in the region’s heritage and cultural infrastructure includes the One Mile Jetty Interpretive Centre in Carnarvon and the Ningaloo Centre in Exmouth.

• The Jilinbirri Weavers have developed a style unique to the Gascoyne region. In 2013, they worked with contemporary designer Helena Bogucki to develop work suitable for casting, and with Melbourne-based Coates and Wood Fine Art Foundry to translate their intricate woven designs, patterning and objects into bronze and aluminium. This work will tour WA in 2014.

Department of Culture and the Arts funding in the region

• DCA, through the Looking Forward Fund, made a $257,093 strategic investment in the Gascoyne in May Initiative.

• DCA provided funding to enable staff of Gwoonwardu Mia and members of the Jillinbirri Weavers to attend the Revealed: Emerging Aboriginal Artists showcase.

• DCA funded the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of Western Australia through the Looking Forward Fund to provide services to members in the Gascoyne region.

Jade Mills and Junkadelic (background) at Whaleshark Festival; Gascoyne in May. Photo by Anton Blume.

Arts and cultural priorities in the region

Outcomes from focus group consultations provide valuable insight into regional priorities that will guide the collaborative development of future initiatives by government, arts organisations and the local community. Regional priorities as identified by participants of the Gascoyne focus group include:

• Development of an action plan to encompass the whole spectrum of arts practice, not just the professional.

• Addressing barriers to information dissemination posed by the isolation and remoteness of the region.

• Provision of training and assistance in grant application writing skills to increase success rates in competitive rounds.

• Provision of increased funding for local arts infrastructure and essential maintenance/operational costs in the region.

• Increasing the availability of venues/spaces for performance, exhibition and sale of work across the region.

• Provision of access and assistance for the community to attract philanthropic sponsorship for arts and culture.

• Provision of funded intra-regional networking meetings to facilitate sharing of information and resources.

• Development of programs for young people and children, which are a priority for the community.

• Increasing investment in human capital, training and small business development in the region.

• Provision of ongoing funding to enable Gascoyne in May to reach its potential to become a major cultural tourism event.

Region-specific actions

Priorities Key Partners Actions Timeline

Objective 1: Creative People

1.6 Support for strategic regional arts and cultural programs, activity and organisations.

Gascoyne in May Committee

DCA will provide advice and support to the Gascoyne in May Committee.

2014–15

Objective 3: Creative Environments

3.3 Regional Partnership Model

Gascoyne Development Commission

DCA will partner with the GDC to support the development of arts programs and professional development opportunities for artists at Gwoonwardu Mia.

Exmouth

Carnarvon

Denham

32

87

5

9

1

6

4

1

3

2

1

2

Arts and Cultural Infrastructure

Carnarvon 1 Carnarvon Regional Library and Art Gallery 2 Carnarvon Civic Centre 3 Gwoonwardu Mia Aboriginal Cultural

Heritage Centre 4 Gascoyne in May 5 Gascoyne Arts Council6 Pundara Performance Group7 One Mile Jetty Interpretive Centre 8 Gascoyne Circus & Physical Theatre!9 Jilinbirri Weavers

Denham1 Shark Bay Arts Council 2 Shark Bay Interpretive Centre 3 Yadgalah Aboriginal Corporation Exmouth 1 Exmouth Cultural Arts Centre2 Ningaloo Centre