THE state’s arts and culture sector needs a greater degree of support from business, according to Australian Business Arts Foundation WA director Henry Boston.
THE state’s arts and culture sector needs a greater degree of support from business, according to Australian Business Arts Foundation WA director Henry Boston.
Support for the arts in Western Australia has reduced in recent times after growing at an average of 14 per cent since the Australian Business Arts Foundation began recording levels of sponsorship and giving in 2001.
Since 2001-02, annual sponsorship of the arts has increased from $7.1 million to $13.2 million, $300,000 of that in the past year, while giving and philanthropy has increased 152 per cent from $1.2 million in to $2.9 million in the same period, despite a decrease of $700,000 in 2008-09.
Mr Boston told WA Business News that, while the level of sponsorship – monetary and in-kind – from corporations had almost doubled since 2001, there was potential for sponsorships from contractors that worked for larger corporations, such as BHP Billiton and Woodside.
He said the majority of corporate sponsorship of the arts came from the larger corporations such as Rio Tinto (see page 23) and Woodside.
“There are a number of people that do the heavy lifting – Rio, BHP Biliton, Woodside, Wesfarmers – they are the people that appear a lot on the lists of corporate partners,” Mr Boston said. “What you don’t see as much ... (is) the number of the service providers to those organisations.”
He said the arts and other sectors would garner more support if large corporations implemented a compliance model where service providers were awarded contracts based on their similarly aligned values of corporate social responsibility.
One example of this was the recent Good Heart art exhibition sponsored by Oakajee Port and Rail and affiliated companies inclusing JFA consultants, Crosslands Resources, AECOM, Blakiston and Crabb, Worley Parsons and Oceania.
“Around the space was banners for most of the providers because OPR’s view is, we work together for the common good,” Mr Boston told WA Business News.
Mr Boston said while there had been steady growth in sponsorship for the arts, he hoped philanthropists would start to favour the arts as well as health-related causes.
“Generally philanthropists will give to something that is dear to their hearts,” Mr Boston said.
“For instance with health areas, a lot of those foundations are set up because a member of the family has past away from a particular disease. But in the arts, cause related philanthropy still has a way to go.”
WA accounts for only $2.9 million of the national $111.4 million of ‘giving’ – classed as giving private foundations, trusts, non-government grants and donations from individuals.
“We have got a long way to go. It would be lovely to see a new generation of philanthropists,” Mr Boston said.
“By and large the younger generations are much more aware and savvy about the environment, the world.
“I believe the secret of sustainable philanthropy is when you start engaging people at a fairly early age with the process of giving.”
