Arts grant program record broken as $830,000 goes to 17 applicants

Recipients will receive funding of between $15,000 and $60,000 for a range of art forms such as literature, visual arts, theatre and circus in metropolitan and regional Western Australia.

The total Arts 15k-plus funding allocation in 2021-22 has now reached $3.2 million - the highest level of annual funding ever provided as part of the program.

This round of grants will support local actor Julia Hales to develop a new play based on the TV show, The Bachelorette, while artists Ian Wilkes and Poppy van Oorde-Grainger will further their virtual reality work, Galup, about the history of Galup (Lake Monger) in Perth.

Other funding recipients from regional WA include Sky River at Margaret River for its new puppet show and Theatre Kimberley's Broome performance of its new physical comedy experience.

Arts 15k-plus recipients - Round 2, 2021-22:

• Abdul-Rahman Abdullah (Mardella) - $28,424
  The funding will support the development and production of a new sculptural installation for presentation at the 9th Tarrawarra Biennial, Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Victoria.
• Alisa Blakeney (Myalup) - $20,160
  The funding will support an international residency in Paris to contextualise Australian experimental digital practices globally.
• CS Akindele-Obe & MA Baxter & QM Saad & GK Sanyangore & J Van Der Merwe (Parkerville) - $60,000
  The funding will support planning for the 2024 Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024.
• Brooke Leeder (Perth) - $56,406
  The funding will support the second stage creative development of a new contemporary dance work.
• Children's Book Council of Australia WA Branch Inc (Nedlands) - $57,429
  The funding supports CBCA Book Week 2022 which encourages reading, literary creativity and promotes quality children's/young adult literature.
• Guy Ben-Ary (Darlington) - $36,824
  This project will develop a neural interface connecting the late composer Alvin Lucier's living brain cells to a sound producing body at Symbiotica, University of Western Australia.
• Julia Hales (Subiaco) - $60,000
  This grant will assist the development of a theatre work based on the reimagining of a blockbuster American television franchise with Julia Hales dating men with differing abilities live on stage.
• Kylie Howarth (Floreat) - $22,750
  Funding to research, write and illustrate the first book in a new series of fictional books for children.
• Michele Gould (Victoria Park) - $40,912
  The grant will support the development and presentation of a queer musical comedy.
• Nathan Beard (High Wycombe) - $59,573
  The funding will be used to produce a large-scale sculptural, two dimensional and video work for a solo exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts.
• Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts Ltd (Northbridge) - $53,684
  The funding will be used for a skills development program for artists to access training and expert advice in an extended reality format.
• Regional Arts WA Inc (Perth) - $56,000
  This funding allows regional Western Australian participants to complete a creative leadership workshop plus online sessions.
• Same Drum Pty Ltd (North Perth) - $58,760
  This funding will support phase three of the artists' virtual reality work about the history of Galup (Lake Monger) in Perth.
• Sky River (Margaret River) - $59,669
  This funding allows for a skilled team of regional artists to use their specialty skills to make the artistic elements needed to realise a magical new puppet show.
• Spare Parts Puppet Theatre Inc (Fremantle) - $59,859
  This puppetry training initiative will support the delivery of high-quality training and improve the practice of puppetry across WA. It includes the commissioning, design and creation of 72 specialty training puppets.
• STRUT Dance Incorporated (Perth) - $40,000
  Eight new works will be developed by Western Australian artists to take place in disused spaces across the Perth central business district.
• Theatre Kimberley Incorporated (Cable Beach) - $59,999
  This funding will be used to create a physical comedy experience bringing together some of the country's skilled circus makers with a local team.