Ontem eu e Isa visitamos a Sculpture By
The Sea, uma exposição ao ar livre, na praia e nos gramados de Cottesloe, que
acontece anualmente – este ano de 8 a 24 de Março. Já postei sobre ela no primeiro ano que a visitei, logo que chegamos, em 2011.
Idealizada por David Handley e iniciada em Sydney em 1997, a exposição só
chegou a Perth no ano de 2005, mantendo a tradição de um site bastante especial – Cottesloe, uma das mais lindas praias da cidade, onde
o por do sol no horizonte do Índico traduz a beleza e a liberdade que marcam o
estilo livre desse evento comunitário de artes visuais.
O dia estava perfeito!
O céu e o mar disputavam os tons de azul, o sol brilhava e esquentava um dia
que já lembrava o fim do Verão. Um ventinho gostoso soprava do mar quase parado
no cantinho da praia, onde muitos banhistas ainda aproveitavam pra nadar.
Paramos para um café no delicioso Naked Fig e já “abastecidas”,
partimos para visitar a exposição.
Olha essa vista!
Tiramos nossos sapatos e começamos pela areia
branquinha, que contrastava com o colorido das exóticas criações...
E molhar os pés nessa água clarinha é mandatório!
Umas coisas bem esquisitas, né?
Mas bem criativas, devo admitir!
Adorei essa aqui abaixo. Me lembra reverência, oração, um momento de paz e fé!
Essa caveira é bem engraçada, mas ficaria melhor no Sci Tech do que nas ruas da cidade!
Em algumas esculturas, como o buraco da agulha abaixo, é permitido tocar e interagir...
Tudo informado e explicado...
Passamos para o quebra-mar, onde geralmente são
posicionadas grandes esculturas, que precisam de um local alto para se
destacarem a contento.
Também adorei essa aqui embaixo. São caniços (varas de pescar)!!!!
Dali, subimos para os gramados onde encontramos mais
curiosidades...
Essa é no mínimo criativa e crítica...
Vista a exposição, partimos para a votação da melhor
peça, que costuma ganhar destaque em algum ponto da cidade – vejam detalhes
sobre as premiações no site. Disponibilizei várias informações no final do post.
Deixei transparecer novamente a minha “porção criança”
e votei nesse multicolorido móbile. Acho que alegraria muito qualquer lugar
onde fosse pendurado, não acham? Isa
também votou nele. Mas tive dúvidas... Outras tão lindas também!
Ah, e também fizemos a nossa doação, para que a
exposição possa se manter ainda por muitos anos!
E pra quem gosta de viajar e perdeu a expo de Cottesloe,
ela também acontece de 1 a 30 de Junho
na Dinamarca em Aarhus e em Sydney de
24 de Outubro a 10 de Novembro no Bondi to
Tamarama coastal walk.
Excelente programa... Bom para os olhos e para o bolso! Recomendo!
Excelente programa... Bom para os olhos e para o bolso! Recomendo!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INFOS ADICIONAIS
9TH ANNUAL COTTESLOE EXHIBITION
Sculpture by the Sea returns to Cottesloe Beach, Perth, Western Australia. Over 70 local, interstate and international artists will transform Perth's most popular beach into a stunning sculpture park overlooking the Indian Ocean with some of the most glorious sunsets of any major city in the world.
One of the world's largest free to the public events.
What
|
Sculpture
by the Sea, Cottesloe
|
|
When
|
Friday 8 - Sunday 24 March 2013
|
|
Where
|
Cottesloe Beach, Perth, Western Australia
|
|
Enquiries
|
info@sculpturebythesea.com or phone +61 2 8399 0233
|
Visit our artist page for a list of Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe 2013 exhibiting artists.
COTTESLOE 2013 EXHIBITING ARTISTS
Akiho
Tata, Japan
Kathy Allam, WA Ayad Alqaragholli, WA Chloe Banicevic & Archana Murugaser, NSW Toby Bell, WA Bronwyn Berman, NSW Vaughn Bisschops, WA Senden Blackwood, NSW Tom Blake, WA Suzanne Bosanquet & Sarah Foley, QLD David Brophy, WA Tim Burns, WA Robert Butler, WA Imel Cabrera, Puerto Rico Sir Anthony Caro, UK Mikaela Castledine, WA Cave Urban, NSW Madeline Clare, WA Jennifer Cochrane, WA Hilde A. Danielsen, Norway Thomas de Munk-Kerkmeer, WA Ruth Downes & Geoff Webster, NSW Kevin Draper, WA Kate Dunn, NSW Rico Eastman, USA Ben Fasham, VIC Manuel Ferreiro Badia, Spain Fiona Gavino, WA Ghostnets Australia, QLD Ron Gomboc, WA Michael Grau, WA Simon Grimes, NSW Robert Hague, VIC Richard Hammer, NSW Eiji Hayakawa, Japan Veronica Herber, NZ |
Lewis
Horne, WA
Dion Horstmans, NSW Toshio Iezumi, Japan Koichi Ishino, NSW Sui Jianguo, China Greg Johns, SA Ben Juniper, WA Akira Kamada, NSW Subodh Kerkar, India Orest Keywan, NSW Phillip Harry Koch, SA Blaze Krstanoski-Blazeski, NSW Peter Lundberg, USA Ganghadar Mahato, New Delhi Maia Marinelli, USA Stephen Marr, NSW Tim Macfarlane Reid, WA Hugh McLachlan, TAS Keld Moseholm, Denmark Heini Nieminen, Finland Jonas Hallberg & René Dybdahl Pederson, Denmark Holly Pepper, WA Richard Rhodes, USA Geoffrey Ricardo, VIC Sue Roberts, NSW Alessandra Rossi, WA Philip Spelman, ACT Mitsuo Takeuchi, Japan Richard Tipping, NSW Ken Unsworth, NSW Keizo Ushio, Japan Jeannette Vernooij, WA Carmel Wallace, VIC Chen Wenling, China Robin Yakinthou, WA |
HISTORY
Sculpture by the Sea 1997-2012
The concept for Sculpture by the Sea was the culmination of many years thinking, where a new step in the thought process came up every year or so. Essentially the exhibition came from my wish to create a major free to the public arts event for Sydney.
Like so many other people I have always loved large community arts events like 'Opera in the Park' and 'Symphony Under the Stars', especially the way total strangers sit next to each other listening to music while enjoying a picnic dinner and a few glasses of wine. To me this sense of community is too rarely displayed or available in the modern world where there are few opportunities for seriously enjoyable cultural activities that are free and not fringe (but hey, long live fringe!).
Pretty much straight away I thought there was a need for an accessible visual arts event in Sydney but the 'what and where' took some time to nut out especially as I did not have a visual arts background.
While running away from the corporate world and living in Prague in the early 1990's I was taken to an outdoor sculpture park set amongst 13th century ruins near the town of Klatovy in northern Bohemia. Playing amongst the ruins and sculptures one night with my Czech art school friends I had my first experience of the power, if not majesty, of sculpture. From here my thoughts for the 'event' I might one day put on began to turn to sculpture.
Returning to Sydney, in 1996 friends who knew about my idea suggested i take a walk along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk (thanks Marie- Violaine and Matthew). All around me I saw natural plinth after natural plinth where sculptures of all descriptions could be installed. At the time I was expecting to land a major film job any day so the idea for the exhibition was put on hold until I realised the film job was not going to come through. With nothing scheduled in my life for several months, I thought I would set 'Art by the Sea' in motion - as I was still thinking of including paintings. It did not take more than a day to realise paintings would be an absolute liability in the wind and sometimes rain of the cliff-top walk. So that idea was dropped.
The concept for Sculpture by the Sea was the culmination of many years thinking, where a new step in the thought process came up every year or so. Essentially the exhibition came from my wish to create a major free to the public arts event for Sydney.
Like so many other people I have always loved large community arts events like 'Opera in the Park' and 'Symphony Under the Stars', especially the way total strangers sit next to each other listening to music while enjoying a picnic dinner and a few glasses of wine. To me this sense of community is too rarely displayed or available in the modern world where there are few opportunities for seriously enjoyable cultural activities that are free and not fringe (but hey, long live fringe!).
Pretty much straight away I thought there was a need for an accessible visual arts event in Sydney but the 'what and where' took some time to nut out especially as I did not have a visual arts background.
While running away from the corporate world and living in Prague in the early 1990's I was taken to an outdoor sculpture park set amongst 13th century ruins near the town of Klatovy in northern Bohemia. Playing amongst the ruins and sculptures one night with my Czech art school friends I had my first experience of the power, if not majesty, of sculpture. From here my thoughts for the 'event' I might one day put on began to turn to sculpture.
Returning to Sydney, in 1996 friends who knew about my idea suggested i take a walk along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk (thanks Marie- Violaine and Matthew). All around me I saw natural plinth after natural plinth where sculptures of all descriptions could be installed. At the time I was expecting to land a major film job any day so the idea for the exhibition was put on hold until I realised the film job was not going to come through. With nothing scheduled in my life for several months, I thought I would set 'Art by the Sea' in motion - as I was still thinking of including paintings. It did not take more than a day to realise paintings would be an absolute liability in the wind and sometimes rain of the cliff-top walk. So that idea was dropped.
Fortunately for the exhibition, by now called Sculpture by the Sea, a number of key people fell for the
idea and helped to make the exhibition a reality. Chief among these people were
Anita Johnston at Waverley Council, which is responsible for managing the
coastal walk, and Ron Robertson-Swann OAM one of Australia's most recognised
(if not occasionally controversial) sculptors. From the first phone call Anita was
enthusiastic and guided the exhibition through Council's environmental, safety
and crowd management issues, while Ron advised on matters relating to
installing and siting sculpture in a vast outdoor environment. Of equal
importance Ron put his reputation behind the exhibition introducing many other
substantial artists toSculpture by the Sea and thereby ensuring from year one that we had an exhibition of a high
standard. Obviously many more people were crucial for getting the first
exhibition off the ground but without Anita and Ron nothing would have
happened.
In the exhibition's first year, 1997 (and still far from resolved now) our biggest problem was financing the show. Run from my lounge room and staffed entirely by volunteers, none of whom knew each other before hand, the first exhibition started with a bank account of $100. Some of the volunteer crew were sensational and within no time we had over 100 artist submissions for the show, media interest, Council approval and a principal sponsor in Sydney Water which put up $5,000 for the first Sydney Water Sculpture Prize and also assisted with advertising costs.
Produced on a shoe-string budget of $11,000, of which $8,500 went to the exhibiting artists in the form of the artist awards, the first exhibition was hustled together in 10 weeks. Given that we had no budget for security the first exhibition had to be limited to daytime and therefore to one day only, but this had the advantage of allowing Waverley Council to see how we produced the show before being prepared to authorise us to stage a multi day exhibition in 1998.
That 25,000 people visited the 1997 exhibition, the quality of the show and the media interest gave the impetus required for the future development ofSculpture by the Sea. But given the fact our first major sponsor dollars did not show up for nearly 12 months it was a very hard time.
For 1998 the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) through the Artistic Director of "A Sea Change" Andrea Stretton, commissioned five Sculpture by the Sea exhibitions around Australia for the 1998 Olympic Arts Festival. This was a huge step up for us and one which artists really responded to with over 260 sculptures being installed among five locations around Australia (Darwin, Noosa, Albany, Bondi and the Tasman Peninsula).
It was a pity not to be able to maintain each of these interstate exhibitions but without the SOCOG funding - which was fairly limited any way - it was not feasible, though we tried to keep Tasmania running with an exhibition included in the 2001 Tasmania wide arts fest "10 Days on the Island'. I loved this Tasmanian show and it was a pity that it was not financially feasible to keep it going. At least we now do the smaller, lovely 'Ephemeral Art at the Invisible Lodge', so we keep our ties with Tasmania.
From 1998 on the challenge of producing the exhibition was to attempt to stay in tune with the artists' and the public's expectations while growing our financial resources. To this end our major developments have been: (i) extending the exhibition over three weeks; (ii) significantly increasing the support we provide to the artists in the form of awards and in some cases subsidies, in 2007 this was over $300,000 (thank you to our sponsors and private donors); (iii) developing ties with overseas sculpture organisations that see two dozen overseas artists exhibiting every year; (iv) developing the exhibition's sales, which totalled over $1 million for the first time in 2007; (v) encouraging those artists who incorporate the sun, sea, wind and rain to continue working in this area by developing an Environmental Sculpture Prize; and (vi) developing our schools education program in which over 1,600 students participated in 2007.
The most substantial development in terms of our organisation has been the establishment of Sculpture by the Sea incorporated (SXSINC) as a not for profit incorporated association to run our exhibitions. In this regard the company that previously produced the shows has given the rights to the exhibitions to SXSINC.
Establishing SXSINC and its listing on the national cultural register has enabled us to provide our private patrons and friends with tax deductions for their donations, aswell as allowing access to grants from philanthropic foundations. In this regard we are very appreciative of the support of the Balnaves Foundation with Neil and Diane Balnaves our Bondi exhibition Patrons.
In 2005 we launched Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, held annually at Cottesloe Beach, Perth on Australia's Indian Ocean coastal. With its sunsets, long horizon and the gorgeous pocket of beach near Indiana Tea House it's a wonderful location.
It has been an exciting, frightening and busy time and to everyone involved and in particular to the exhibition's staff, sponsors, Waverley Council our Board and most of all to the sculptors, thank you for coming along for the ride.
David Handley, Founding Director
In the exhibition's first year, 1997 (and still far from resolved now) our biggest problem was financing the show. Run from my lounge room and staffed entirely by volunteers, none of whom knew each other before hand, the first exhibition started with a bank account of $100. Some of the volunteer crew were sensational and within no time we had over 100 artist submissions for the show, media interest, Council approval and a principal sponsor in Sydney Water which put up $5,000 for the first Sydney Water Sculpture Prize and also assisted with advertising costs.
Produced on a shoe-string budget of $11,000, of which $8,500 went to the exhibiting artists in the form of the artist awards, the first exhibition was hustled together in 10 weeks. Given that we had no budget for security the first exhibition had to be limited to daytime and therefore to one day only, but this had the advantage of allowing Waverley Council to see how we produced the show before being prepared to authorise us to stage a multi day exhibition in 1998.
That 25,000 people visited the 1997 exhibition, the quality of the show and the media interest gave the impetus required for the future development ofSculpture by the Sea. But given the fact our first major sponsor dollars did not show up for nearly 12 months it was a very hard time.
For 1998 the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) through the Artistic Director of "A Sea Change" Andrea Stretton, commissioned five Sculpture by the Sea exhibitions around Australia for the 1998 Olympic Arts Festival. This was a huge step up for us and one which artists really responded to with over 260 sculptures being installed among five locations around Australia (Darwin, Noosa, Albany, Bondi and the Tasman Peninsula).
It was a pity not to be able to maintain each of these interstate exhibitions but without the SOCOG funding - which was fairly limited any way - it was not feasible, though we tried to keep Tasmania running with an exhibition included in the 2001 Tasmania wide arts fest "10 Days on the Island'. I loved this Tasmanian show and it was a pity that it was not financially feasible to keep it going. At least we now do the smaller, lovely 'Ephemeral Art at the Invisible Lodge', so we keep our ties with Tasmania.
From 1998 on the challenge of producing the exhibition was to attempt to stay in tune with the artists' and the public's expectations while growing our financial resources. To this end our major developments have been: (i) extending the exhibition over three weeks; (ii) significantly increasing the support we provide to the artists in the form of awards and in some cases subsidies, in 2007 this was over $300,000 (thank you to our sponsors and private donors); (iii) developing ties with overseas sculpture organisations that see two dozen overseas artists exhibiting every year; (iv) developing the exhibition's sales, which totalled over $1 million for the first time in 2007; (v) encouraging those artists who incorporate the sun, sea, wind and rain to continue working in this area by developing an Environmental Sculpture Prize; and (vi) developing our schools education program in which over 1,600 students participated in 2007.
The most substantial development in terms of our organisation has been the establishment of Sculpture by the Sea incorporated (SXSINC) as a not for profit incorporated association to run our exhibitions. In this regard the company that previously produced the shows has given the rights to the exhibitions to SXSINC.
Establishing SXSINC and its listing on the national cultural register has enabled us to provide our private patrons and friends with tax deductions for their donations, aswell as allowing access to grants from philanthropic foundations. In this regard we are very appreciative of the support of the Balnaves Foundation with Neil and Diane Balnaves our Bondi exhibition Patrons.
In 2005 we launched Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, held annually at Cottesloe Beach, Perth on Australia's Indian Ocean coastal. With its sunsets, long horizon and the gorgeous pocket of beach near Indiana Tea House it's a wonderful location.
It has been an exciting, frightening and busy time and to everyone involved and in particular to the exhibition's staff, sponsors, Waverley Council our Board and most of all to the sculptors, thank you for coming along for the ride.
David Handley, Founding Director
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & MYTH-BUSTERS
| ||||
1. Where did the idea come from?
“I love the idea of staging free events as they make us all feel a bit better about the world and help to create more of a sense of community. At the same time I wanted to create an event that captured the essence of Australia with the ability to project an image of Australia internationally that is cultured, sophisticated yet laid back. The third element in the idea was that sculpture as an art form is dramatic and almost theatrical and it is meant to be seen in a spectacular and beautiful location where it looks it best. In this way the exhibition helps facilitate the dreams of artists and to foster the Arts in WA and Australia.” David Handley, Founding Director
2. How do the sculptures get installed?
It’s actually a huge logistics operation to install 70 sculptures in 3 days. Many of the sculptures have as much going on under the ground from an engineering point of view as they do artistically above the ground. Several sculptures need engineering certificates and every artist has to clearly detail how they will install the sculptures on site and the equipment they need to use.
3. What do you do the rest of the year?
Actually we have 10 full time staff and 6 permanent part time staff working the Cottesloe and Bondi show. We liaise with the artists, supervise the safety and logistics of the show, seek corporate sponsorship and philanthropic donations, run our schools education programme, event production management, sculpture sales, accounts, marketing including our website (www.sculpturebythesea.com). On top of this we have 4 – 6 volunteer interns at any one time.
4. How do the artists get selected? How do they choose their sites?
Anyone in the world can apply and increasingly architects, designers and engineers are joining artists in submitting proposals. This year we had over 200 submissions from more than 20 countries which were considered by our curatorial panel. This year’s panel is Stefano Carboni, Director, Art Gallery of WA; Helen Carroll-Fairhall, Manager, Wesfarmers Arts; and Geoffrey Edwards, Director, Geelong Gallery and former Senior Curator, Sculpture & Glass at the National Gallery of Victoria. Once selected the artists have 6 months to make their works and we work closely with them to make sure they are built safely and can be installed safely.
When the artists apply we ask them to nominate where they want their sculptures to be sited. Once they are selected we meet with all the local artists at Cottesloe beach to get to know more about their sculptures and we discuss with the artists where it is best to site their works. We then have similar discussions by phone and email with the interstate and overseas artists. Our Site Logistics & Technical Manager and Founding Director then finalise the place for each sculpture taking the artists’ views in account as much as possible.
5. Who puts it on?
The Australian exhibitions are run by a not-for-profit organisation set up in 2003 specifically to run Sculpture by the Sea in Australia called Sculpture by the Sea Incorporated. Prior to then they were run by the Founding Director’s company which gave the Australian rights to the not-for-profit organisation in 2003. In this way we can give our donors tax deduction receipts for any donations they make to help us stage the exhibitions.
6. Does the Government pay for everything?
The Federal Government does not provide any funding. This really, really causes us problems with raising enough funds for the exhibition and it means we get limited support for the artists. Our grant applications to the Australia Council for the Arts keep getting knocked back, which we cannot understand as we satisfy all the reasons for which the Australia Council for the Arts was established under the Australia Council Act.
Happily the WA Government through Eventscorp helps providing an important part of our income which amounts to about13% of our budget. In the last few years Lotterywest has funded our access program for people with disabilities which we run with DADAA.
7. Isn’t someone making a lot of money?
All the money raised goes towards staging the exhibition. This includes all donations, sponsorships and sculpture sales. By definition a not-for-profit organisations cannot pay any profits to its members or to anyone else, which is one of the reasons why we set up Sculpture by the Sea as a not-for-profit organisation. Most years the exhibition is produced for a small loss or at best a small profit.
8. Are the sculptures for sale?
Yes they are and this is the main means by which the exhibition is able to raise funds for the artists. We also have an exhibition of small works in the Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club called ‘Sculpture Inside’. The artists receive 65% of each sale and our organisation receives a 35% commission which is an important contribution towards the costs of staging the exhibition. We don’t overly market that the sculptures are for sale because first and foremost Sculpture by the Sea is a free to the public event, so except for at the indoor show, you never see a sale price next to a sculpture because we want everyone to enjoy themselves not to think we are trying to sell them something.
9. How do we secure the sculptures at night?
We have night time security guards. Each evening the senior security guard walks around the site with one our senior site crew to check each of the sculptures before the security guards take responsibility for the site for the night. Despite what happened to Chen Wenling’s sculpture in 2012 it is reasonably easy to see almost all of the site from key vantage points. The Cottesloe Police and Town of Cottesloe Rangers also include the site in their patrols. Much of the site is covered by CCTV cameras.
10. How hard is to work with artists?
Most people think it is impossible to work with artists, children and animals! But seriously, some artists are the most professional and organised people you could ever hope to work with. While, like the rest of society, there are those at the other end of the spectrum. Being a group show a lot of the artists help each other and several have developed strong professional relationships. Among the most significant of these is the work of Keizo Ushio from Japan and Ron Gomboc from Perth. Ron invites Japanese artists to live and work at his studio and to exhibit at the Gomboc Sculpture Park in Middle Swan in June each year. In exchange Keizo has organised several WA sculptor symposiums in Hyogo, Japan, which has a sister province relationship with WA.
11. Why doesn’t the exhibition run for longer?
We don’t have the funds to run for any longer. We would like to run the show for at least an extra week but this would cost us tens of thousands of dollars more, partly for security and hire charges. We would also need several more staff because by the end of the 3 week show our staff have worked long 6 day week for 7 or more weeks in a row and are exhausted, with another long week of wrapping up the show to go.
12. Can you touch the sculptures?
In general sculptures can be touched and it great to touch them because sculpture is such a tactile art form. We put ‘Please Do Not Touch’ signs out for those sculptures which are fragile. Unfortunately, some people seem to think they can climb on the sculptures, and except in very rare cases this is not the case, so we put ‘Please Do Not Climb’ signs on some sculptures that children (and others) are tempted to climb on. We really appreciate parents helping to keep curious children off the sculptures.
13. How can anyone help us put on the exhibition?
Please consider making a gold coin donation or buying a $10 catalogue or a $6 kids’ guide. Catalogue sales make up 8% of our total income.
Any donation of $2 or more is tax deductible so please ask for a receipt.
We also have a Patrons & Supporters program for people who want to meet the artists, come to functions in artists’ studios and to donate the amount of $250 or more to help us stage the show while increasing the support for the artists.
If you run a small or large business please consider becoming a sponsor of one of the artists.
Our aim is to be able to afford to cover the artists’ freight and installation costs. This seems only fair as it’s the artists whose works everyone comes along to enjoy and whose works get shown all around the world promoting WA as a great place to live and visit.
“I love the idea of staging free events as they make us all feel a bit better about the world and help to create more of a sense of community. At the same time I wanted to create an event that captured the essence of Australia with the ability to project an image of Australia internationally that is cultured, sophisticated yet laid back. The third element in the idea was that sculpture as an art form is dramatic and almost theatrical and it is meant to be seen in a spectacular and beautiful location where it looks it best. In this way the exhibition helps facilitate the dreams of artists and to foster the Arts in WA and Australia.” David Handley, Founding Director
2. How do the sculptures get installed?
It’s actually a huge logistics operation to install 70 sculptures in 3 days. Many of the sculptures have as much going on under the ground from an engineering point of view as they do artistically above the ground. Several sculptures need engineering certificates and every artist has to clearly detail how they will install the sculptures on site and the equipment they need to use.
3. What do you do the rest of the year?
Actually we have 10 full time staff and 6 permanent part time staff working the Cottesloe and Bondi show. We liaise with the artists, supervise the safety and logistics of the show, seek corporate sponsorship and philanthropic donations, run our schools education programme, event production management, sculpture sales, accounts, marketing including our website (www.sculpturebythesea.com). On top of this we have 4 – 6 volunteer interns at any one time.
4. How do the artists get selected? How do they choose their sites?
Anyone in the world can apply and increasingly architects, designers and engineers are joining artists in submitting proposals. This year we had over 200 submissions from more than 20 countries which were considered by our curatorial panel. This year’s panel is Stefano Carboni, Director, Art Gallery of WA; Helen Carroll-Fairhall, Manager, Wesfarmers Arts; and Geoffrey Edwards, Director, Geelong Gallery and former Senior Curator, Sculpture & Glass at the National Gallery of Victoria. Once selected the artists have 6 months to make their works and we work closely with them to make sure they are built safely and can be installed safely.
When the artists apply we ask them to nominate where they want their sculptures to be sited. Once they are selected we meet with all the local artists at Cottesloe beach to get to know more about their sculptures and we discuss with the artists where it is best to site their works. We then have similar discussions by phone and email with the interstate and overseas artists. Our Site Logistics & Technical Manager and Founding Director then finalise the place for each sculpture taking the artists’ views in account as much as possible.
5. Who puts it on?
The Australian exhibitions are run by a not-for-profit organisation set up in 2003 specifically to run Sculpture by the Sea in Australia called Sculpture by the Sea Incorporated. Prior to then they were run by the Founding Director’s company which gave the Australian rights to the not-for-profit organisation in 2003. In this way we can give our donors tax deduction receipts for any donations they make to help us stage the exhibitions.
6. Does the Government pay for everything?
The Federal Government does not provide any funding. This really, really causes us problems with raising enough funds for the exhibition and it means we get limited support for the artists. Our grant applications to the Australia Council for the Arts keep getting knocked back, which we cannot understand as we satisfy all the reasons for which the Australia Council for the Arts was established under the Australia Council Act.
Happily the WA Government through Eventscorp helps providing an important part of our income which amounts to about13% of our budget. In the last few years Lotterywest has funded our access program for people with disabilities which we run with DADAA.
7. Isn’t someone making a lot of money?
All the money raised goes towards staging the exhibition. This includes all donations, sponsorships and sculpture sales. By definition a not-for-profit organisations cannot pay any profits to its members or to anyone else, which is one of the reasons why we set up Sculpture by the Sea as a not-for-profit organisation. Most years the exhibition is produced for a small loss or at best a small profit.
8. Are the sculptures for sale?
Yes they are and this is the main means by which the exhibition is able to raise funds for the artists. We also have an exhibition of small works in the Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club called ‘Sculpture Inside’. The artists receive 65% of each sale and our organisation receives a 35% commission which is an important contribution towards the costs of staging the exhibition. We don’t overly market that the sculptures are for sale because first and foremost Sculpture by the Sea is a free to the public event, so except for at the indoor show, you never see a sale price next to a sculpture because we want everyone to enjoy themselves not to think we are trying to sell them something.
9. How do we secure the sculptures at night?
We have night time security guards. Each evening the senior security guard walks around the site with one our senior site crew to check each of the sculptures before the security guards take responsibility for the site for the night. Despite what happened to Chen Wenling’s sculpture in 2012 it is reasonably easy to see almost all of the site from key vantage points. The Cottesloe Police and Town of Cottesloe Rangers also include the site in their patrols. Much of the site is covered by CCTV cameras.
10. How hard is to work with artists?
Most people think it is impossible to work with artists, children and animals! But seriously, some artists are the most professional and organised people you could ever hope to work with. While, like the rest of society, there are those at the other end of the spectrum. Being a group show a lot of the artists help each other and several have developed strong professional relationships. Among the most significant of these is the work of Keizo Ushio from Japan and Ron Gomboc from Perth. Ron invites Japanese artists to live and work at his studio and to exhibit at the Gomboc Sculpture Park in Middle Swan in June each year. In exchange Keizo has organised several WA sculptor symposiums in Hyogo, Japan, which has a sister province relationship with WA.
11. Why doesn’t the exhibition run for longer?
We don’t have the funds to run for any longer. We would like to run the show for at least an extra week but this would cost us tens of thousands of dollars more, partly for security and hire charges. We would also need several more staff because by the end of the 3 week show our staff have worked long 6 day week for 7 or more weeks in a row and are exhausted, with another long week of wrapping up the show to go.
12. Can you touch the sculptures?
In general sculptures can be touched and it great to touch them because sculpture is such a tactile art form. We put ‘Please Do Not Touch’ signs out for those sculptures which are fragile. Unfortunately, some people seem to think they can climb on the sculptures, and except in very rare cases this is not the case, so we put ‘Please Do Not Climb’ signs on some sculptures that children (and others) are tempted to climb on. We really appreciate parents helping to keep curious children off the sculptures.
13. How can anyone help us put on the exhibition?
Please consider making a gold coin donation or buying a $10 catalogue or a $6 kids’ guide. Catalogue sales make up 8% of our total income.
Any donation of $2 or more is tax deductible so please ask for a receipt.
We also have a Patrons & Supporters program for people who want to meet the artists, come to functions in artists’ studios and to donate the amount of $250 or more to help us stage the show while increasing the support for the artists.
If you run a small or large business please consider becoming a sponsor of one of the artists.
Our aim is to be able to afford to cover the artists’ freight and installation costs. This seems only fair as it’s the artists whose works everyone comes along to enjoy and whose works get shown all around the world promoting WA as a great place to live and visit.
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