Tag: Art

NAIDOC Celebrations

NAIDOC CELEBRATIONS. JULY 2024. Keep the fire burning! Blak, loud & proud

Kaya! Wandjoo! Get ready for NAIDOC 2024!

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in July each year to honour the history, culture, language, and many achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Here at the City of Joondalup we’re extending the fun and festivities beyond a week, with a program of events running from 1 – 17 July to give as many people as possible the opportunity to learn more about the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.

Together, let’s celebrate the incredible culture and unyielding spirit of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples!

What’s on?

This July, you’re invited to connect with your community through a program of special events that celebrate Aboriginal culture, held all across the City. Learn Noongar, watch movies, learn a new craft, meet an Aussie icon, and way more fun stuff!

Check out the program below and start booking your activities.

Ernie Dingo sitting on the red dirt

A Yarn with Ernie Dingo

Saturday 6 July 2024, 7.30pm – 8.30pm
St Stephen’s School Theatre, Duncraig

Get to know one of Australia’s most loved personalities in this special event for Joondalup audiences!

Renowned for his laid-back style and earthy honesty, Ernie Dingo has been a fixture of Australian TV since the ‘80s, with roles in Crocodile Dundee 2, Bran Nu Dae and Heartland, plus sixteen years hosting The Great Outdoors.

For one night only, Ernie will share stories and anecdotes from his life and work, followed by a casual Q&A session. Don’t miss your chance to hear from this born entertainer and National Living Treasure.

  • Tickets $18 per person, or $14 with a concession card
  • Suitable for ages 15+

Book now

A young woman in a classroom

Noongar Language Classes

Monday 1 July, 8 July and 15 July 2024, 5.30pm – 6.30pm | Connolly Community Centre, Connolly
Tuesday 2 July, 9 July and 16 July 2024, 6.00pm – 7.00pm | Flinders Park Community Centre, Hillarys
Wednesday 3 July, 10 July and 17 July 2024, 6.00pm – 7.00pm | Mildenhall, Duncraig

Learn to speak Noongar – the official language spoken by Aboriginal people from WA’s southwest!

Start your Noongar language journey in a gentle-paced, engaging and inclusive environment, with lessons led by Noongar Language Teacher Tamara Tucker. All classes are designed to be relaxed and informal, with a different area covered each week. So drop in, grab a cuppa and start Noongar waangkaniny!

  • Tickets $5 per person, per class
  • Suitable for all ages and abilities
  • Pop in for just one class or one every week – the choice is yours!

All classes are now sold out.

A still from the 2023 film, The New Boy

Aboriginal Film Festival

Celebrate the many achievements of Aboriginal film-makers, actors and storytellers, with five free screenings of renowned and award-winning movies.

The New Boy 

Monday 8 July 2024, 6.30pm
HOYTS Cinema, Joondalup

A nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun. Rated M.

This event is now sold out.

Missed out on a ticket? You can still try your luck on the day. Any empty seats will be forfeited and reallocated 15 minutes from the event start time.

The Song Keepers

Tuesday 9 July 2024, 10.30am
HOYTS Cinema, Joondalup

Four generations of songwomen from an Aboriginal choir travel to Germany, where they sing German hymns in their native languages. Rated PG.

This event is now sold out.

Missed out on a ticket? You can still try your luck on the day. Any empty seats will be forfeited and reallocated 15 minutes from the event start time.

Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra

Wednesday 10 July 2024, 3.30pm
HOYTS Cinema, Joondalup

Celebrating Bangarra’s 30th Anniversary, Firestarter tells the story of how three young Aboriginal brothers, Stephen, David and Russell Page, turned a new dance group into a First Nations cultural powerhouse. Rated M.

This event is now sold out.

Missed out on a ticket? You can still try your luck on the day. Any empty seats will be forfeited and reallocated 15 minutes from the event start time.

Sweet Country

Thursday 11 July 2024, 6.30pm
HOYTS Cinema, Joondalup

In 1920s NT, an elderly farmhand shoots a man in self-defence and flees as a posse gathers to hunt him down in this action-packed drama. Rated MA.

This event is now sold out.

Missed out on a ticket? You can still try your luck on the day. Any empty seats will be forfeited and reallocated 15 minutes from the event start time.

Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow

Friday 12 July 2024, 10.30am
HOYTS Cinema, Joondalup

In this intimate mix of documentary and concert film, Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach share their love story through their own words and songs. Rated PG.

Book now

A little girl looking at a doll in a kangaroo skin cloak

School Holiday Activities

Children and young people will love participating in these interactive cultural immersion activities this school holidays.

Yaagan Bidi (Freshwater Turtle Tracks)

Wednesday 10 July 2024, 9.30am – 11.00am
Joondalup Library

In this fun-filled session, children will get to sing, dance, listen to stories, have their faces painted with ochre, make a take-home artwork and more!

  • Tickets $5 per child
  • Suitable for ages 3 – 7 years old

This event is now sold out.

Moorditj Koolangkas (Awesome Children)

Wednesday 10 July 2024, 11.30am – 1.00pm
Joondalup Library

This session will teach children about the Noongar seasons, native plants and bushtucker, with singing and dancing too!

  • Tickets $5 per child
    Suitable for ages 8 – 12 years old

Book now

Deadly Damper-Making

Friday 12 July 2024, 4.30pm – 5.30pm
Heathridge Community Centre

Drop into this workshop to learn how to make some delicious damper – yum!

  • Free, no registration required
  • Suitable for ages 12- 17 years old

A pair of hands weaving a basket

Creative Workshops

Sit, yarn and mindfully make a special keepsake at these two special craft workshops hosted by talented local Noongar creatives.

Keep the Fire Burning!

Thursday 11 July 2024, 6.00pm – 8.30pm
Peppermint Green, Joondalup

Join in a painting workshop with Fiona Reidy from Djinda Kaal Aboriginal Art. Using traditional and contemporary methods, create your take-home masterpiece inspired by fire and its significance to Aboriginal people throughout history.

  • Tickets $13 per person
  • Suited to adult participants
  • All materials supplied + bushtukka treats

This event is now sold out.

Weaving Evening

Saturday 13 July 2024, 6.00pm – 8.30pm
Peppermint Green, Joondalup

Learn the ancient and meditative art of basket weaving with Whadjuk artist Julianne Wade. Make a small woven basket using a traditional coiling technique, with a dilly bag of extra supplies provided so the project can be finished at home.

  • Tickets $13 per person
  • Suited to adult participants
  • All materials supplied + bushtukka treats

This event is now sold out.

A group of people planting a tree

Community Events

Gather your mob and get ready to listen, learn and laugh together with these special community events for friends and families.

NAIDOC Community Canvas

Saturday 6 July 2024, 10.00am – 1.00pm
Warwick Grove Shopping Centre

Help paint a beautiful group artwork with Noongar artist Justin Martin from Djurandi Dreaming.

  • Free event (no registration required)
  • No set schedule, drop in any time
  • Suitable for all ages

NAIDOC Week Flag-Raising Ceremony

Monday 8 July 2024, 5.00pm – 6.00pm
City of Joondalup Administration Building, 90 Boas Avenue, Joondalup

Join us as we proudly raise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to mark the official start of NAIDOC Week, with a powerful “Acknowledging Country Together” speech from Sharon Wood-Kenney, Chair of the City’s Reconciliation Action Plan Community Reference Group.

  • Free event (no registration required)
  • Suitable for all ages

Djoorabiny Moort (Happy Family)

Saturday 13 July 2024, 10.00am – 1.00pm
Duncraig Community Centre

Gather your loved ones and join us for a relaxed and fun-filled morning of laughing, learning and art-making, capped off with a tasty morning tea of bushtukka treats from All Good Grub.

After finding out about the distinctive symbols and shapes used in Aboriginal art you’ll use these ideas to tell the story of your own family or friendship circle, creating a meaningful canvas artwork to take home and treasure.

You’ll then learn more about the deep significance of kinship and the role of family in Noongar culture, while you use salted dough and native herbs to mindfully make special ornaments.

This special event is designed to be laid-back and inclusive for all sorts of families – the kind you’re born into and the ones that you choose. Duncraig Community Centre features an undercover playground where restless little ones can play, as well as quiet spaces where you too can take a break at any time.

  • Tickets $13 per family
  • Suitable for all ages
  • All materials and morning tea provided

Book now

Community Tree Planting Day

Sunday 14 July 2024, 1.00pm – 3.00pm
Lake Goollelal, Kingsley (corner of Tanah Close and Goollelal Drive)

Help to regenerate the area around Lake Goollelal with Friends of Yellagonga – a team of passionate volunteers who dedicate their spare time to protecting the precious ecosystem of Yellagonga Regional Park.

After a Welcome to Country and cleansing smoking ceremony, you’ll learn about the local animals and plants, plant 300 endemic trees, and then celebrate your hard work with some bushtukka treats from All Good Grub.

  • Free (Registration required)
  • Suitable for all ages
  • Check the weather, prepare for mud and dress accordingly

Book now

An artwork called 'Keep the fire burning! Black, loud and proud' by Kambarni

Our NAIDOC 2024 Artwork

This year, our NAIDOC Celebrations campaign features the striking artwork of local artist Kambarni (Kamsani Bin Salleh), a descendant of the Ballardong Noongar people of WA’s south-west region, and Nimunburr and Yawuru peoples of the Kimberley.

Kam’s artworks tell stories about his rich Aboriginal heritage and reflect the natural world through their intricate designs and bold line work. The featured artwork is inspired by this year’s NAIDOC theme – Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud.

“The flicking tails from the flames tell a tale of belonging.
Raging fires, here ignited, connected many through dance and song.

And stories that stretch beyond us, all the way back to the beginning.
Flickering across the continent and seas, embers paint members of you and I.
The first people here, still here,

carrying the torch lit by us, passed on by us, to us.
Custodians of these lands, these waters, caring for our sons and our mothers.
All those under the light of the sun or the flame.
Our Ancestors forged in this place, guided by lyrics and the natural rhythm.
Beating, our hearts continue the conversation with our creators.” – Kambarni

You can check out more of Kam’s work on his website kambarni.com or via Instagram.

An elderly Aboriginal couple laughing together

NAIDOC Resources

For more information and news about National NAIDOC Week, head to the official NAIDOC website.

You can also download the Supporting NAIDOC Toolkit for guidance on how to hold your own NAIDOC Week celebrations in your classroom, workplace or local community group.

Threaded Perspectives

Threaded Perspectives
Monday 15 April – Saturday 20 July
Joondalup Library

Threaded Perspectives is a temporary art exhibition being held at Joondalup Library. The event is part of a series of never-before-seen exhibitions that feature works from the City of Joondalup Art Collection, commemorating Joondalup’s 25-year anniversary as a local government. This special milestone program celebrates the diversity of the City’s Art Collection, showcasing its unique identity and make-up of Western Australian artists, and providing an insight into the immeasurable cultural value it holds.

William Leggett, Module Exo 3 (A Knowledge of Gravity), 2022. City of Joondalup Art Collection.

Image credit: William Leggett, Module Exo 3 (A Knowledge of Gravity), 2022. City of Joondalup Art Collection.

About the exhibition

Within the span of 25 years, three major themes – or threads – have emerged within the City of Joondalup Art Collection. These are ‘suburbia and the Northern Corridor’, ‘materiality and form’, and ‘interpretations of landscape’. For the first time, Threaded Perspectives brings together a selection of highlights from the collection, offering a unique insight and exploration of these themes.

Reflecting on the history and geography of the Joondalup region, it is evident to see how these themes have developed prominently within the collection. Rapid and expansive suburban growth since 1998 has had significant impact on artists that engage with Joondalup and similar high growth areas within the Perth metropolitan region. These artists are keen observers of everyday experiences of suburbia, often drawing upon local suburban aesthetics or playful moments they stumble upon.

Similarly, artists have often been intrigued with the City’s breadth of natural environments, with the region boasting landscapes as diverse as wetlands, coastline, and bushland. Some artists dive deep into a specific place and their relation to it, while other artists channel their ongoing engagement with landscape and its presence into works that speak more broadly about their feeling and connection to place.

Artworks that engage with ideas of materiality and form have risen steadily over the Collection’s lifespan, with most acquired through the City’s annual Invitation Art Prize and possibly symptomatic of a broader trend among Western Australian contemporary artists. Central to these works is a sharp awareness of the artists’ chosen media’s materiality and how it can be manipulated, stretched, pulled, or corrupted to create an artwork. These works are often characterised by a sense of material play, unexpected moments, and questions of “how did they do that?”.

A central role of the artist is to observe and consume the world around them, filter it through their own experiences and generate an artistic outcome that offers a compelling interpretation of their interests. Threaded Perspectives highlights the different approaches artists take from similar departure points, offering reflections on varied experiences and providing viewers a chance to look at the world through different lenses, enrichening their own perception of suburbia, landscape, and materiality.

Large Composition with Brick Fragment by Ron Nyisztor

Image credit: Ron Nyisztor, Large Composition with Brick Fragment, 2010. City of Joondalup Art Collection.

About the City of Joondalup Art Collection

The City’s Art Collection was formed with the inception of the City in 1998, with Joondalup inheriting the contemporary artworks from the City of Wanneroo’s Art Collection. With a primary focus on the work of Western Australian contemporary artists, the Collection includes sculpture, drawings, paintings, print works, textiles, ceramics, glass work, video, photography, and installation. Along with standard collecting avenues, acquisitions are actively informed through the City’s annual exhibitions, including the $25,000 Invitation Art Prize, as well as a biennial $20,000 Visual Arts Commission. The Art Collection today is comprised of over 290 artworks and worth over $1.2million.

Subscribe to the City’s Arts in Focus eNewsletter

Header image features ‘Sky Piece 2, wet (Melbourne, Helsinki), November 2020 – March 2021’, by Teelah George.

New Inside-Out Billboard installed

The exterior of the Joondalup Library has undergone a transformation in recent weeks, starting with the installation of the stunning new Inside-Out billboard on Boas Ave. The artwork entitled Still Life on my Studio Table was created by Katie Gordon, winner of the Inside-Out Billboard Commission in 2023, which was awarded through the 2023 Community Art Exhibition.

About the Artwork

Katie’s subject is a quotidian moment of serenity – a shell, a vase and a banksia branch. It is one that could easily be overlooked and yet is soothing in its simplicity and familiarity. Each item of ordinary beauty is rendered in warm tones that reflect the surrounding Joondalup buildings and bushland. Bathed in balmy sunshine filtering through the window blinds, and casting long and striking shadows, the scene offers a meditative moment for a public busily engaged in their daily lives.

The presented work at the Inside-Out Billboard site is a digital print of Gordon’s original acrylic painting on carved wood. In considering the billboard site, she says, “I have chosen to create an image that is dynamic and easily recognizable, and able to be understood and appreciated quickly in passing. My intention is for the billboard to be visually soothing by conveying a fleeting moment of stillness and serenity amidst the busyness of the everyday.”

Image credit: Still Life on my Studio Table, Katie Gordon, 2023. Installation view, City of Joondalup Inside-Out Billboard program. Photo: Aaron Claringbold.

 

Applications open for Arts Development Scheme

Performing artists and arts lovers will get a $50,000 boost from the City of Joondalup’s launch of its increased Arts Development Scheme.

The scheme will provide monetary support for artists and arts organisations to deliver a performing arts project for local audiences and is designed to bolster the performing arts sector in Perth’s northern city.

This year the funding pool has been increased from $10,000 to $50,000, providing a significant opportunity to entice a range of high-quality and diverse performances to the Joondalup region.

Joondalup Mayor Albert Jacob said the Arts Development Scheme cements the City of Joondalup’s reputation as Perth’s northern home of the arts.

“This scheme continues the momentum of the viral fame of Joondalup Festival earlier this year,” Mayor Jacob said.

“We’re incredibly proud of the vibrant offering of cultural events we put on each year, including Music in the Park, the Valentine’s Concert and of course our premier arts event, Joondalup Festival.

“With this year being our celebration of the City’s 25 years, I am excited to see us mark the occasion with a range of bold, creative and diverse performances that activate spaces and create impactful engagement opportunities for our local community.”

Applications for the Arts Development Scheme are open until Sunday 3 September. Visit joondalup.wa.gov.au for more information and to apply.

Invitation Art Prize looks back on 25 years of WA talent

The City of Joondalup’s Invitation Art Prize (IAP) celebrates its silver jubilee this year, sharing the impressive milestone with the local government itself having launched in the City’s inaugural year.

Exhibiting this October, the prestigious acquisitive art prize will look different in 2023. Instead of brand-new artworks, for the first time the IAP will feature each year’s winning artwork since the prize’s inception in 1998.

The retrospective exhibition will feature winning artworks by artists of prominence including Erin Coates, Teelah George, Kate McMillan and Brendan van Hek, alongside renowned Indigenous artists Shane Pickett and Mandy White.

Viewers will get another opportunity to see last year’s winning artwork, a beaded roast chook bag by artist Emma Buswell that went viral on social media across the country.

Buswell has since followed up her original winning creation with the controversial Vegemite basted version of the supermarket classic.

Joondalup Mayor Albert Jacob said the IAP provides a moment to reflect on the changes to WA contemporary art over the last quarter century.

“Over the past 25 years, the IAP has showcased artworks by 732 artists from across the state, many who are now recognised on a national and even international level,” Mayor Jacob said.

“In this year’s retrospective iteration of the IAP, we proudly look back at the winning artworks, celebrating both the evolution of this prestigious prize and of WA’s contemporary art offering.”

The Invitation Art Prize: 25 Year Retrospective will be on public display at Westfield Whitford City from Monday 2 October – Saturday 21 October during shopping centre opening hours.

Full list of exhibiting artists:

Nicole Andrijevic, Graeme Burge, Emma Buswell, Susanna Castleden, Erin Coates, Trevor Bly and Patrick Doherty, Ellhan Eshraghian-Haakansson, Teelah George, Lee Harrop, Paul Hinchcliffe, Bevan Honey, Paul Kaptein, Richie Kuhaupt, Jarrad Martyn, Kate McMillan, Mark Parfitt, Concetta Petrillo, Meeyakba Shane Pickett, Trevor Richards, Susan Roux, Jon Tarry, Brendan van Hek, and Lynette Voevodin and Rodney Glick.

Public Art Masterplan Consultation

The City acknowledges the important role played by public art in creating a vibrant and appealing place to live, work and visit. Public art shapes and develops a sense of community and identity, contributing to our understanding and appreciation of our cultural and natural heritage, enhancing our built environment, and creating more meaningful public spaces. The City’s Public Art collection has been acquired since 1998 and includes over 20 artworks.

Setting the Vision for New Public Art

The City is currently undertaking consultation to develop a new Public Art Strategy and Masterplan.

This Masterplan will define the vision for Public Art in the City and help guide resources and funding towards future projects. Such projects aim to enhance the City’s significant Indigenous sites, built environment, distinctive natural assets, historic locations and key destinations. The Masterplan will also provide a guiding framework for all new commissions, ensuring that Joondalup’s Public Art collection creates a sense of place, promotes the expression of local identity, and reflects on the shared values and needs of the community.

Community Consultation Surveys and Workshops

The City sought community feedback in August 2023 to set the direction for the Public Art Masterplan. The survey received phenomenally high engagement, with more than 200 responses received. The results of the survey are currently being collated, along with findings from various community workshops and pop-ups.

Further information and next steps for the Public Art Masterplan will be shared shortly. To stay in the loop, subscribe to the City’s Arts in Focus eNewsletter.

Banner image: Bridget Norton, Untitled, 2009, digital print on acrylic. Craigie Leisure Centre, Craigie. 

Little Feet Festival

Little Feet Festival

Sunday 13 October, 10am – 3pm
ECU Joondalup Pines

Don your boots and grab your straw hat because Little Feet Festival is back this October with a day of farm-tastic fun! Whether you’re a country connoisseur or a city slicker, Perth’s favourite FREE children’s festival promises a day of laughter and learning, with stacks of things to see and do.

Free fun activities

    • Learn how to milk a cow with no risk of spilt milk.
    • Climb aboard a real-life tractor.
    • Make some delicious healthy treats at the Junior Kitchen.
    • Play all day in a mini growers’ market and warehouse at Little Land.
    • Discover the wonderful world of bees with Spare Parts Puppet Theatre at The Hive
    • Dig for worms and learn about composting.
    • Spy The Heap – a gigantic pile of green waste that takes composting to new heights… literally!
    • Make a farmyard friend, a wacky windmill, a trash tractor, a crazy cowboy hat, or a peg veggie patch to take home!
    • Face painting, roving sheep, scarecrows, plus many more fun activities.

Stage shows

10am – 10.15am Little Lions Live
10.25am – 10.50am Miss Red Lasso
11am – 11.30am Woody’s Ukulele School
11.40am – 12.25pm Magic Dale (Auslan interpreted)
12.35pm – 1.25pm Woody’s Bush Cabaret (Auslan interpreted)
1.35pm – 2pm Miss Red Lasso (Auslan interpreted)
2.10pm – 2.50pm Woody’s Bush Dance

 

Little Lions Live: Join a qualified Speech Therapist and character friends from the Little Lions team for an interactive and action-packed singing and dancing session to kick off the festival fun.

Miss Red Lasso: Giddy up and join Miss Red for an unforgettable demonstration of world-class lasso skills, with some spinning and juggling thrown in for good measure. This performance will rope you in and leave you wanting more.

Magic Dale: Marvel at Magic Dale as he shows you all the terrific tricks he’s got up his sleeves. You’ll be left scratching your head and wondering, “How did Dale do that!”

Woody’s Ukulele School: Learn to play the ukulele with Woody in this interactive workshop for kids and parents that makes music-making fun and inclusive.

Woody’s Bush Cabaret: Join Woody and his colourful friends for a kaleidoscope of fun that blends music, puppetry, theatre, ukulele playing and loads of participation.

Woody’s Bush Dance: Do-si-do and away we go! Woody is back to teach you all the steps to his favourite dance that will have you heel and toeing ’til the cows come home.

St Stephen’s School Farm

Explore your favourite farming nursery rhymes with St Stephen’s School. Can you help Little Bo Beep find her sheep? Or Mother Duck, who is looking for her five little ducklings that went for a walk? Explore Mary, Mary Quite Contrary’s Garden and Old McDonald’s farm in this fun interactive activation.

Little Lions Play

Find your roar through sensory and language-enriching activities. Join the experienced and engaging team of Speech and Occupational Therapists to discover the power of play in learning and language development. Plus, keep your eye out for Lionel the Lion.

Fun on the music stage at Little Feet Festival

Accessibility and inclusion

Little Feet Festival will take place in an area approximately 160m by 140m. There are connecting paved paths around the site that are smooth and well-maintained, with some areas of inclination. The site features a small lake that will be fenced off for the event. Most of the activities take place on grass, although a few will be held on soft soil and pine needles.

ACROD parking is available in Car Park 14, off Prilep Drive.

Three accessible toilet blocks are located on the south and east sides of the event site.

A Sensory Zone will be available, featuring quiet activities away from the hustle and bustle.

Three of the stage shows will feature Auslan interpretation:

  • Magic Dale at 11.40am
  • Woody’s Bush Cabaret at 12.35pm
  • Miss Red Lasso at 1.35pm

Read the Little Feet Festival Social Story

Getting there

ECU Joondalup can be accessed via Joondalup Drive and Grand Boulevard. The best parking can be found in Car Park 14. Look out for the signs to find your way.

Consider taking public transport! The free Blue Cat Bus from the CBD will drop you right on University Drive, or the 463 and 464 both stop on nearby Grand Blvd.

Fancy some exercise? Take a scenic ride around nearby Lake Joondalup on your way to Little Feet Festival! Bike racks are available outside Building 18.

Food and drink

What’s a festival without food!? A selection of tasty treats will be available to purchase at the event from Wally’s Tacos, Chips On A Stick, Happy J Corn Dogs, The Fire Truck Pizzeria, Juice Station, Beachside Barista, Take 5 Ice Cream and The Sweet Box Cart.

Partners

Thank you to our incredible partners who help us bring Little Feet Festival to life.

Major Partner

St Stephen's School - Serve God Serve One Another

Key Partner

Little Lions - Empowering Kids, Equipping Parents

Invitation Art Prize

Image: ‘Creatures of the Crystal Caves‘ (detail) by Mandy White. Winner of the 2021 Invitation Art Prize.

The Invitation Art Prize is a major acquisitive award for West Australian professional artists with winning artworks acquired into the City’s contemporary art collection.

The program is on pause in 2024 while a review is being undertaken. Please visit this page again in October 2024 for updates or subscribe to the monthly Arts in Focus eNewsletter.

The 2023 Invitation Art Prize celebrated its 25-year milestone with a never-before-seen retrospective edition. Presented at Westfield Whitford City, it featured the winning artwork from each year of the award. Exploring diverse art forms and trends in Australian art practice, the 2023 Invitation Art Prize found connections across its 25-year history, proudly looking back at the evolution of this prestigious prize and contemporary art in WA.

Take a virtual tour of the exhibition

View the exhibition floor sheet

Inside Out Billboard Commission

Congratulations to Erin Coates, the winner of the Inside Out Billboard Commission, with her artwork Microeconomics (paradise spent). Using imagery from international coinage, including human figures, animals, plants and elements of landscape architecture, Coates recreated the centre panel of Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, presenting a subversive take on nationalism, wealth and greed. Erin will be awarded $3,000 to create a new artwork that will be displayed outside the Joondalup Library in 2024. 

Winner of the Inside Out Billboard Commission, Erin Coates, in front of her winning artwork ‘Microeconomics (paradise spent)’. Photo: Becky Felstead – Soco Studios.

Popular Choice Award

Congratulations to Richie Kuhaupt who has been awarded $500 after receiving the most votes in the Popular Choice Award for his eye-catching sculpture, Woman in Red.

Winner of the Popular Choice Award, ‘Woman in Red’ by Richie Kuhaupt. Winner of the 2000 Invitation Art Prize. Photo: Christophe Canato.

Keep Up To Date

The Invitation Art Prize has impacted the careers of over 700 exhibiting artists in its history. It continues to support the agency of contemporary artists working across different practices, career stages and lived experiences. To be informed of upcoming artist callouts and information about future exhibitions, please subscribe to the City’s monthly Arts in Focus eNewsletter.

Acknowledgements

The City of Joondalup wishes to thank all the artists who contributed to the history of the Invitation Art Prize, as well as all those who have attended the exhibitions over the years.

Thank you to Westfield Whitford City, Exhibition Venue Partner for the Invitation Art Prize: 25 Year Retrospective.

Inside-Out Billboard Project

Image: Still Life on my Studio Table, 2023, by Katie Gordon. Artwork photo by FoxLab Fine Art. Installation photo by Aaron Claringbold.

The Inside-Out Billboard Project is a commission program for West Australian visual artists to create a large outdoor billboard at Joondalup Library and Joondalup Courthouse. The project offers artists an opportunity to play with scale and site, and consider how their practice may translate into a large-scale digital print in the public realm.

Artists are invited to the commission by exhibiting in one of the City’s annual art awards, the Community Art Exhibition (held in June) and the Invitation Art Prize (held in October).

The Inside Out Billboard Project aims to add vibrancy to the City Centre, providing a chance for the community to discover new artworks by West Australian artists.

The latest artworks on display are: Still Life on my Studio Table, 2023, by Katie Gordon at the Joondalup Library; and Lake Joondalup, 2021 by Naomi Grant at the Joondalup Courthouse.

New Commission at Joondalup Library

Image: Still Life on my Studio Table, 2023, by Katie Gordon. Artwork photo by FoxLab Fine Art.

Katie Gordon’s artworks aim to elevate the everyday, and her latest work Still Life on my Studio Table takes the intimate, small and familiar – in this case the items bathed in light on her studio table – and places them into the context of the exposed, large and foreign – the 6 x 3 metre billboard outside Joondalup Library.

Gordon’s subject is a quotidian moment of serenity – a shell, a vase, and a banksia branch. It is one that could easily be overlooked, and yet is soothing in its simplicity and familiarity. Each item of ordinary beauty is rendered in warm tones that reflect the surrounding Joondalup buildings and bushland. Bathed in balmy sunshine filtering through the window blinds, and casting long and striking shadows, the scene offers a meditative moment for a public busily engaged in their daily lives.

Gordon began this artwork by arranging a photographic composition, utilizing light and shadow as a key element of the design. After a selection and editing process, she then started a drawing process to translate the photograph. Key outlines of the design were drawn onto plywood and etched out using a powered rotary instrument, before larger infill areas of shadow were hand-carved away using linoleum cutting tools. The result is a form of relief carving that provides subtle depth to the artwork and further exposes the texture of the wood grain. Gordon completed the work with a painted layer via an interpretative process, rather than holding fast to the reality of the photograph.

The presented work at the Inside-Out Billboard site is a digital print of Gordon’s original acrylic painting on carved wood. In considering the billboard site she says, “I have chosen to create an image that is dynamic and easily recognizable, and able to be understood and appreciated quickly in passing. My intention is for the billboard to be visually soothing by conveying a fleeting moment of stillness and serenity amidst the busyness of the everyday.”

In this subtle way, Still Life on my Studio Table is an anti-hype invitation to simply notice the significance of the present. Regardless of how mundane, Gordon asks viewers to look at the old in new ways, with heightened sensitivity that life is here, right now, and not elsewhere.

Gordon has created this 18th Inside-Out Billboard commission, which was awarded through the 2023 Community Art Exhibition, and will be on display from Saturday 17 February 2024 – Saturday 22 February 2025.

About the Artist

Born in 1989, Katie Gordon spent her formative years living in Zimbabwe, before immigrating to Perth in 2001. Her dual strengths in both art and math, saw Katie study theatre design at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, before going on to graduate with a Bachelor of Business from Edith Cowan University in 2012.

Following 3 years working as an accountant, Katie began creating art in earnest again in 2016. Working mostly in coloured pencil and depicting flowers from her garden in hyper-realistic detail, Katie began to exhibit and sell her work locally. Alongside her art practice, Katie worked as gallery coordinator at the Joondalup Art Gallery before the birth of her son in late 2018.

Recently, the subject matter of Katie’s work has expanded to include portraits and landscapes alongside still-life and interior depictions of her immediate home environment. Katie particularly enjoys juxtaposing natural and human-made objects of familiar beauty into visually dynamic arrangements. She photographs these from varying angles to capture fleeting shadows as a key element of the composition. The most impacting images are edited and then either delicately rendered into photorealist drawings or carved onto plywood and painted in a looser and more graphic style.

Katie has regularly participated in the City of Joondalup’s Community Art Exhibition, winning the Celebrating Joondalup Award in 2022 and the Inside-Out Billboard Commission in 2023.

Rotated Commission at Joondalup Courthouse

Image: Lake Joondalup, 2021, Naomi Grant.

Naomi Grant is a contemporary indigenous artist and was the 14th artist commissioned to produce an artwork for display as part of the Inside-Out Billboard project. Lake Joondalup is based on a setting at Picnic Cove. For this commission, Grant explored her interests in the landscapes and waterscapes of Australia. Her intention was to capture the beauty, tranquility and regeneration of the lake that so many people, animals and plants rely on. With a background in textiles, Grant often relays the beauty, pattern and colour she sees in the environment and creates her artwork by painting in acrylic and incorporating collage, layering coloured tissue paper over the painted surface. Grant was selected for the commission through the City’s 2020 Invitation Art Prize.

About the Artist

Naomi Grant is a descendant of the Wiradjuri people of central New South Wales and was born in Sydney. She previously lived in Perth and now resides in Queensland. Her successful career as a practicing artist and designer spans the past 40 years, including a Bachelor of Art in Design from W.A.I.T. (now Curtin University).

Grant’s works are held in private and public collections in Australia and overseas, including Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, Tourism Australia, Oxfam Australia and Ronald McDonald House. Her many awards include the inaugural Hawkesbury Art Award in Sydney, as well as awards and purchases from City of Belmont, City of Bayswater, City of Midland, Town of Victoria Park, and City of Blacktown in New South Wales.

Inside-Out Billboard Commissions

Public Art: Inside-Out Billboard City of Joondalup Library

The Inside-Out Billboard artwork is commissioned for the site and changes bi-annually.

Artists are invited to participate following recommendations from the judges at the annual Community Art Exhibition and the Art Prize.

The printed canvas is 6 x 3 metres and is back-lit at night.

The artwork is installed again at the City Courthouse after a period of 18 months in storage.

 

Arts Development Scheme

Junkyard Orchestra performing at the Kambarang Concert

Apply for up to $50,000 to deliver a performing arts project within the City

At the City of Joondalup, we’re committed to presenting a vibrant array of cultural events each year, from music concerts to large-scale festivals, art exhibitions and more. In addition to our annual program, we are proud to offer a significant funding opportunity for external arts organisations to bring their performance or activation to our region via our Arts Development Scheme.

The Arts Development Scheme is designed to bolster the performing arts sector in our region, with up to $50,000 in monetary support available for professional artists and arts organisations to bring a performing arts project to our local audiences.

Applications for the 2024 Arts Development Scheme have now closed.

Key dates

  • 2024 application window: Monday 5 August 2024 – Sunday 8 September 2024
  • Assessment period: September – November 2024
  • Shortlisted candidates notified of outcome: December 2024
  • Funding awarded: January 2025
  • 2025 application window: August 2025 – September 2025

Who can apply?

To be eligible for funding under the Arts Development Scheme, the applying artist or arts organisation must be either:

  • A recognised legal entity with an Australian Business Number (ABN), such as an incorporated body, company, or trust; OR
  • An independent professional performing arts practitioner or non-legal entity, such as an artist collective, which has sought the services of an incorporated body (sponsor) to auspice the project on their behalf

The following entities are NOT eligible for funding:

  • Government departments or agencies
  • Amateur groups such as hobbyist choirs or dance groups that do not pay their performers

These groups are encouraged to enquire about the City’s Community Funding Program instead.

What sort of projects are suitable for funding?

All projects must be delivered within the City of Joondalup, providing opportunities for engagement with the local community.

The project’s primary medium should focus on the performing arts, such as theatre, dance and movement, spoken word, music, puppetry or circus arts. Film, multi-media, projection, and electronic arts projects will be considered where they can demonstrate how they engage the community in participatory arts experiences. Applications incorporating emerging, hybrid or other art forms are welcomed if there is a substantial performing arts component.

How do I apply?

  1. Read the Information Pack linked below for the full terms and conditions of the funding.
  2. Schedule a chat with the City’s Community Arts Officer to discuss your application.
  3. Return to this webpage during the application window to complete your submission.

View Arts Development Scheme Information Pack

To stay updated on arts opportunities and events, sign up for the City’s Arts in Focus eNewsletter.

Pictured: The Junkyard Orchestra performing at the Kambarang Concert at Penistone Park in Greenwood.

Mural Arts Program


Image: Artists Sam Bloor (L) and Trevor Bly (R) at work making “Heathridge”, 2022 at Admiral Park, as part of the City of Joondalup’s Mural Arts program. Photo: Shot by Thom. 

City of Joondalup Mural Programs

The City’s Mural Arts Program features a range of mural styles that reflect the diversity of the local community, region and identity of Joondalup. It also provides community access to high-quality mural arts for place-making, education and appreciation purposes. 

 The City commissions murals through two program streams: 

  • Artist-driven mural programs, whereby an artist is commissioned to install a mural in reference to the location and the surrounding community. This is through a curated shortlisting process or a public expression of interest. 
  • Community-driven murals engaging the community through programs such as the City’s Schools Connections Program in the design and installation of the mural. 

The City has over 20 active murals across City buildings, community centres and public outdoor locations. Previous commissioned artists include Amok Island, Horatio T. Birdbath, Hayley Welsh, Jon Ismailovski, Sara Winfield, Mike Bramford, Emma Margetts, Elizabeth Maruffo, David Ledger, Trevor Bly and Fraser Greg, Anya Brock, Andrew Fraser, Peter Ryan, Kyle Hughes Odgers, Jeremy Lane, Kerise Delcoure, Esty Nagy, Jack Bromell, Darren Hutchens and Trevor Bly and Sam Bloor. 

Featured Murals

Community Sporting Facility, Admiral Park, Heathridge
“Heathridge”, 2022, Trevor Bly & Sam Bloor (pictured) 


Photo: Christophe Canato 

This mural investigates the suburban narrative and how the mechanics of suburbia create places rather than spaces. As a resident of Joondalup, living in Craigie, Trevor Bly explores the links between place-making and the activation of urban buildings and how this impacts our understanding of the suburbs, identity and home. 

Bly and fellow artist, Sam Bloor, have depicted local observations of suburban life, observed by the artists during weekend visits to the oval, and how it is activated with families watching local community sports. The artists have incorporated three design features into this work: the use of suburban iconography (the chair), place-making through text (Heathridge) and a sports drill element (the bullseye game). These three features highlight the Heathridge neighbourhood and how leisure and sport is valued in this community. 

Falklands Park, Kinross
“Edges”, 2021, by Darren Hutchens 2021 (pictured) 


A response to the idea of “the edge” and surrounding landscapes, flora and fauna, this mural was inspired by a collaboration with kids from The Edge Youth Centre. The mural explores the edges around us, the places we inhabit and the boundaries we place on the natural world. The distant horizon, the sun and sky, waves breaking on the shoreline, rocky outcrops, sand dunes and the coastal highway form the composition of the mural. Contours of the land and surrounding lake systems are overlapped with stylised depictions of endemic bird and plant species such as Balga, Banksia, Zamia, Grevillea and Kangaroo Paw. 

Central Park Toilet Block, Joondalup
“Rhythm of the Lake”, 2021, by Jack Bromell (pictured) 


This mural is a striking homage to the beauty of the natural environment within the City of Joondalup. The artist’s choice of royal blue as the dominant colour of the work represents both water and sky. Over this vibrant background appears illustrations of various leaves and flowers from native local plant species, including Eucalyptus recipients, Melaleuca preissiana and Eucalyptus todtiana. Native bird species also feature, including Eastern Great Egrets and the White-faced Heron, two prominent, native water birds, and two Tree Martin Swallows, one perched and one in flight. 

POPP Tables 

Neil Hawkins Park, Joondalup
“Flight of the Black Cockatoo”, 2020, by Karise Delcoure 

Picnic Cove, Edgewater
“Carnaby’s Wa-ee-lah Song”, 2020, by Karise Delcoure 

Geneff Park, Sorrento
“Rain Bird”, 2020, by Karise Delcoure (pictured) 


These murals feature birds and plants native to Western Australia whilst also celebrating the landscape, energy, and movement in each of these very active community spaces. The birds are captured in a movement of flight to reflect the movement and energy of the ping pong games. Repeated patterns, reflecting shapes from the local landscapes and weather patterns, are also incorporated into each of the mural designs. 

The ‘hero’ of each mural is the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, which is an endangered, protected and much-loved bird in Western Australia. The artist’s inclusion of the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo is particularly relevant in the wake of Australia’s devastating bushfires in early 2020. The bushfires at Yanchep during this time destroyed the nesting and feeding grounds of a large colony, putting the species at further risk. The series also features banksias which are a source of food for the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos. 

Marmion Anglican Aquatic Centre (MAAC) Car Park, Sorrento
“Marine Life of Marmion Marine Park”, 2016, by Amok Island (pictured) 


This mural depicts a selection of iconic marine fauna found in the Marmion Marine Park area from invertebrates, crustaceans and molluscs, fish and marine mammals. The artist conducted extensive research, including spending time in Marmion Marine Park photographing marine creatures and drew inspiration from vintage scientific identification charts in the creation of the design. 

Eddystone Underpass, Heathridge
“Untitled”, 2013 by Jon Ismailovski (pictured) 

Ismailovski’s 40-metre-long mural combines fish and fowl, flora and fauna, in monochromatic tone as though Hieronymus Bosch was designing a set for the Wiggles on black and white TV. A hybrid mix of creatures all co-habit in the strange world of Ismailovski’s mural, which addresses the hierarchy of humans and animals, and playfully undermines the control that humans have in this world.  

To receive information about the Mural Arts Program and future callouts, sign up for the Arts in focus eNewsletter. 

For further information please email visualarts@joondalup.wa.gov.au or call 9400 4000. 

Celebrating Joondalup

The City of Joondalup invites local schools to participate in its annual art competition, Celebrating Joondalup School Art Competition. Prizes are awarded to the winning artist, their school and the runners up.

Student outcomes

  • This is an opportunity to meet some of the requirements of the Arts curriculum while learning about Local Government and community.
  • The competition offers the chance to exhibit to the whole school and the wider community.

2024 Competition

Students were invited to participate the Celebrating Joondalup School Art competition. One artwork was selected as the winner of the Celebrating Joondalup competition and will be used to represent the City of Joondalup in the annual Showcase in Pixels competition.

The artwork will be on display in Yagan Square in November 2024 along with entries from other Local Governments across Western Australia.

Registrations for the 2025 competition will open in term one 2025. 

Keep up to date on what the City has available for schools and subscribe to the School Connections eNewsletter.

2024 Award winners

The 2024 Celebrating Joondalup and Showcase in Pixels, secondary school winner was Aitutaki Houghton from Kinross Primary School.