WESTERN Australian companies continue to set new benchmarks in their sponsorship of the arts, with traditional supporter Wesfarmers unveiling a major new program worth $500,000.
Wesfarmers revealed last week that it would partner The UWA Perth International Arts Festival in a project to commission five new works over three years from 2005.
The commitment will not be eligible for this year’s State Arts Sponsorship Scheme Awards, to be announced at a dinner hosted by the Department of Culture and the Arts at His Majesty’s Theatre on November 12.
Wesfarmers managing director Michael Chaney said his company believed it was important for corporations to give back to their communities, although he acknowledged not all companies felt the same.
“There is a debate about this in the boardrooms of Australia,” he said.
Mr Chaney added that significant collaboration with international artists for the project reflected his belief that companies had to be global in their outlook.
The sponsorship is seen as a major coup for festival artistic director Lindy Hume, who has taken over the event after the controversial reign of Sean Doran.
The Wesfarmers sponsorship includes a new production of The Odyssey in collaboration with Black Swan Theatre and Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre, a new dance work to be premiered by the WA Ballet, an original composition for the WA Symphony Orchestra, a premiere of the opera Love of the Nightingale in collaboration with the WA Opera, and a landscape-based art installation in regional WA.
For information on the 10th Anniversary Business & Arts Awards presentation evening on November 12, contact Hillary Lambert at the Department of Culture and the Arts on 9224 7448.