Sculpture by the Sea scuppered, 'feels like a funeral'

A seaside sculpture exhibition that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to an iconic beach has been forced to cancel because of a funding failure. The annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition at Perth's Cottesloe beach, scheduled for March, won't proceed because federal arts agency Creative Australia declined to fund it, ranking it in the bottom 30 per cent of grant applications. Founding director David Handley is hoping the federal government will support the free exhibition so it can return in 2026. Since the exhibition began in 2005 with 35 sculptures, 596 artists from 44 countries have exhibited 1329 sculptures. But as the scale of the event grew, so did the cost of staging it, Mr Handley said. "Sadly Creative Australia, as the only source of federal arts funding, does not want to support the exhibition and it is simply not possible to stage an exhibition of this scale without federal funding," he said on Tuesday. Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the government had already invested $2 million in the event through the RISE program to help it recover post-COVID. "We then created Creative Australia to keep those decisions at arm's length," she said. "What you don't want is politicians like me making decisions about what funding should go to arts events or not." It was "disappointing" the funding application had failed "and I hope there is a pathway forward for them to continue", she said. In a letter to federal Arts Minister Tony Burke, dozens of artists requested direct multi-year funding to the not-for-profit organisation that stages the exhibition "that is commensurate with the importance of the exhibition to the people and artists of Western Australia". Ten thousand school students visit the exhibition every year, as do thousands of people living with disability, the letter says. Perth-based artist Denise Pepper who has exhibited at Cottesloe 10 times, says it was a "game changer" for her career. "I could engage in a conversation with the people of Perth about my work and for once, the Western Australian arts sector finally got an exhibition that showcases sculpture," she said. The cancellation "felt like a funeral", WA artist Jon Tarry said. "We can't believe it's happening and how anyone responsible for the public arts in Australia could let this happen," he said. The exhibition is one of Perth's largest public events, attracting an estimated 230,000 visitors each March. Expenses associated with the event hasn't deterred exhibiting artists, who collectively contribute $1 million towards the cost of displaying their sculptures, with 50 per cent of the artists not recovering any of their costs. The artists selected for the 2025 event will be invited to one of the next two Sculpture by the Sea events at Bondi, or the next Cottesloe exhibition, if funding is secured.