COTTESLOE’S Sculpture by the Sea event attracted record numbers this year, with 250,000 people attending the annual event, more than 35,000 above last year.
Tourism Minister Kim Hames said the attendance figure was “great news”.
“The event’s busiest day was the first Sunday when more than 33,700 people attended,” he said.
“It is fantastic to see West Australians embracing this international exhibition and making it one of the brightest features on the state’s exciting and diverse events calendar.”
The state government events department Eventscorp sponsored the event, along with Woodside and Crowe Horwath, which is in its eighth year at Cottesloe.
“Sculpture by the Sea Cottesloe continues to grow each year and I believe that is a reflection of the hard work of founding director David Handley and his dedicated team,” Dr Hames said.
He added that the 2012 event also attracted more interstate and international artists than ever before.
“This year more than half the works on display were submitted by artists from interstate or overseas demonstrating the exhibition’s popularity in the international artistic community,” Dr Hames said.
The exhibition was in the media for all the wrong reasons for its last week, after one of the sculptures was damaged and stolen. Two men have now been charged over the incident.
