WESTERN Australia stamped its authority as the leader of business arts sponsorships at the recent Australian Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) awards.
WESTERN Australia stamped its authority as the leader of business arts sponsorships at the recent Australian Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) awards.
WA partnerships scooped four of the 12 awards on offer, including the Richard Pratt Business Leadership Award, awarded to Janet Holmes à Court.
Mrs Holmes à Court is chairman of Heytesbury Pty Ltd and established the Black Swan Theatre Company in 1991.
She is chairman of the board of the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation and contributes her art collections to art exhibitions.
Chaired by former Qantas chief executive James Strong, the AbaF awards have been operating annually for three years and WA has been a strong contender from the outset.
“The strength of the west is outstanding,” Mr Strong said.
Among the winners at this year’s awards were Alcoa World Alumina Australia, Rio Tinto, Wesfarmers and Woodside Energy.
The Rio Tinto/Wesfarmers and Craftwest partnership won the Councillors Community Award for its Designing Futures program.
The strategy aimed to boost the WA timber industry and add value to Australian timber products. It included a series of publications, artist residencies, design consultancies and a major international arts forum held in the South West last year.
Rio Tinto also received a commendation in the Caliburn Corporate Strategy Award category, which was won by Alcoa World Alumina Australia.
A statement from the judges of the AbaF awards said that Alcoa had made supporting the arts a central part of its corporate strategy.
“Alcoa’s arts partnerships link to what the company is trying to achieve as a whole. We are impressed by the nominations’ depth and comprehensiveness,” the statement says.
The judges also praised Woodside Energy for its business arts partnership with the Western Australian Museum.
The two organisations have come together to explore and expand knowledge of the Dampier Archipelago region.
Woodside’s investment has enabled the Western Australian Museum to gather data in the region.
The data has been publicised through exhibitions, a web site and a documentary and video.
“This partnership is about our future. It brings together communities across the world and it is great in its scale,” Mr Strong said.
