- Four projects to share $355,665 Cook Government funding boost to extend programs
- Creative arts projects designed to develop creative skills through curriculum-based learning extended for six months
- Extension ensures schools continue to provide engagement with arts and culture for Western Australian students
The Cook Government has provided $355,665 in funding to extend four established school-based programs helping disadvantaged students develop creative skills through curriculum-based learning experiences.
The four projects provide opportunities for students to work directly with artists to enrich their learning, while teachers will benefit from professional learning.
The project extensions include:
- AWESOME Arts: AWESOME Schools 2025 - $53,980 to provide a 16-week residency in three metropolitan schools, with two residency artists per school and final projects shared with the wider community at the AWESOME Festival and/or in a community event;
- Spare Parts Puppet Theatre: Expanded Puppet Lab - $53,980 to deliver a digital story-sharing space and regional tour across two regions of Western Australia, with a digital moving map featuring curated collections of digital puppet stories made by Western Australian students;
- Big hART Inc: NEO-Learning: Digital Arts Education, First Nations Perspectives - $97,500 to maintain and expand weekly work with Roebourne District High School and enable the program to extend its reach across WA, as well as support the delivery of a further professional development offering for teachers focusing on digital arts and First Nations Perspectives; and
- FORM Building a State of Creativity: Creative Schools - $125,000 to help deliver the project to three schools (six classrooms) in the 2025 calendar year, with six classroom teachers paired with a creative practitioner to explore the curriculum, with over 200 hours of professional learning provided for Western Australian teachers that will directly impact over 150 students.
The Creative Learning Partnerships Program was developed to establish significant partnerships between arts organisations and schools to provide engagement with arts and culture for students less likely to have such opportunities.
This initiative is part of the Cook Government's 10-year vision for culture, arts and creative industries in Western Australia.
Creative WA aimsto strengthen the culture, arts and creative sector, share stories and celebrate place, and ensure more Western Australians can access and participate in culture, arts and creativity.
As stated by Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman:
"These projects have a proven track record of high value delivery against the overall outcomes of the Creative Learning Partnerships Program and have reached the end of their funding round.
"The WA Government has committed to ensuring that the significant work already done continues, and the established programs are not lost to those students, teachers and communities which are benefiting from them.
"By targeting students who are disadvantaged and less likely to have access to arts and culture opportunities, these projects are helping students develop creative skills through curriculum-based learning experiences."
