Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
If the fickle fun ride of Australian arts funding was a sculpture, it would be shaped like a rollercoaster – one you could put by the beach.
Sculpture by the Sea has returned to Perth for 2026 after 2025’s iteration was cancelled due to a lack of money.
“The Perth public made it very clear how disappointed they were that the exhibition would be no more,” founder David Handley said.
“Within a couple of days, we got a phone call from people in the government saying, ‘How can we make this happen?'”
Installing and displaying 70 artworks at Cottesloe Beach does not come cheap, with just under a third of the event’s $2.7 million budget coming from federal trade and investment agency Austrade.
The export-oriented body has provided a $1.5 million grant to the WA event to cover its staging in 2026 and 2027.
About 20 per cent of the budget comes from WA’s state government through Tourism WA and Lotterywest, and donations make up another 20 per cent.
The original Sculpture by the Sea event in Sydney attracts an audience of about 450,000 people and is billed as the largest free outdoor sculpture exhibition in the world.
It lost $1 million in federal money after 2023, when it was ranked in the bottom third of applicants in a funding round by federal arts funding agency Creative Australia.
In 2025 Handley accused Creative Australia of “indifference” and launched a successful public funding drive so the Sydney event could proceed.
Half the artists on show in Perth are from Western Australia, and Handley said the Austrade funding meant each Australian artist was paid at least $4500 towards the cost of their artwork.
International artists are also on display, from nations including Canada, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Britain and the United States.
“When there is so much strife in the world, and when the world’s so commercial, I think people might recognise that Sculpture by the Sea is a bit of a different beast,” Handley said.
With funding in place for Perth, the biggest challenge has been travel disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East.
Danish artist Jette Mellgren was on a flight to Australia when her plane was turned back, delaying her arrival by several days.
Known for her land art made with natural and found materials, Mellgren was still installing her sculpture as the exhibition opened on Friday.
Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe runs until March 23.
