Bodywork boldly reclaims the female body with works from three rising stars of Australia’s art world – Kaylene Whiskey (SA), Amber Boardman (NSW), and Tarryn Gill (WA).  Featuring contorted soft sculptures, a video collage of female celebrity icons, and fleshy paintings, Bodywork explores ideas connected to body modification, self-expression and female empowerment.

We recently caught up with Amber Boardman to find out more about her practice and the incredible paintings she created for the exhibition.

Hi Amber, are you able to tell us about your art practice?

Sure, I make large-scale paintings that examine crowd behaviour and the role of the internet in shaping social norms. I combine my background in painting and animation to create narrative works that draw from the visual language of cartoons. Many of my ideas about the flexibility of the human figure have been influenced by my time working as an animator for Cartoon Network’s [adult swim], Comedy Central and Google.

Can you tell us about the works featured in Bodywork?

The paintings in this show have been selected from multiple bodies of work created between 2014 – 2020. The smaller works mostly contain single figures with leaky or morphing bodies who try to stay on internet trends. Two of the larger works investigate crowd behaviour such as the lethal frenzy that erupts at Black Friday sales events.

The three works made specifically for this show involve the relationship between our bodies and our screens. I think a lot about how we hand over so many of our decisions to algorithms. In Dating App Algorithm, I wanted to show the range of people, emotions and motivations taking place in online dating apps. The swirly dotted lines in the painting are the invisible digital structures – the algorithm – connecting people as they navigate the online profiles of others. Perhaps they are seeking out lifelong partners or one-night stands and everything in between.

In The Internet of Vibes I imagine our unspoken communication and the ‘vibes’ we give off as a kind of ‘internet’. It’s as if the viewer is wearing special glasses that make these communications visible.

Amber Boardman, The Internet of Vibes, 2020, oil on canvas, 183 x 273cm. Image courtesy of the artist. Photography by Pixel Poetry.

For Porn Categories I wanted to push into the idea that if you create shapes with vaguely skin-like colours then it becomes about the body. Some of the imagery references actual pornography, some are imagined, and some is pure abstraction. When I’ve shown this work to people everyone sees something different. Many see body parts in pure abstraction. I think the imagery that comes forward almost becomes like a Rorschach test for the viewer

Amber Boardman, Porn Categories, 2019, oil on canvas, 122 x 153cm. Image courtesy of the artist

Several of your paintings explore women’s beauty rituals – what sparked your interest in that subject?

I have always been amused by advertisements that announce new breakthroughs in mascara and hair dye technologies. As a child I watched these television commercials and then observed women who dyed, curled or straightened their hair. I was confused about why it is that whatever sort of hair people have, they seem to want it to be different. I tried to imagine if there was a perfect hair colour or texture that someone could be satisfied with and not need to alter it.

I spend a lot of time researching internet trends and crowd behaviour on podcasts, memes and blog posts. I use this research to form the basis of ideas that I let play out on the canvas. I’m interested in highlighting behaviours that have become normalised but start to seem strange when you look at them more closely.

As an American-Australian artist do you think messages around female beauty are the same here and in the US?

The emphasis on beauty here in Australia seems blonder and less diverse to me. I also see the less wild variation in hair, makeup and fashion. But there are a lot of similarities too. I see plenty of gargantuan eyebrows and bee-sting lips. I think social media is creating a smaller range of standard beauty practices worldwide. My favourite moments in beauty trends are when they reach a tipping point and somehow, collectively, people no longer consider something like the pencil-thin plucked eyebrow to be beautiful, and now everyone has to get tattoos to make their brows look fuller. In 10 years I’m sure this will shift again. I like how this stuff is always in flux. If you wait long enough you’re bound to possess some bodily aspect that will be fashionable.

Your fleshy colour palette is very evocative. What draws you to the painting medium?

Ah there’s so much to love about painting, including the smell (my drawing and sculpture-based studio mate often comes into my studio just to sniff the fumes). The medium of painting allows that anything that can be imagined can be created. This isn’t true for other media – sculpture is bound to laws of gravity, photographs need to capture moments that exist in time and space. I get to paint whatever I can imagine. I want the compositions and the perspective in the works to be a bit off-kilter because I like painting impossible bodies and spaces. For me, it’s important for a painting to be a painting and not a replica of a photograph. My colour palette involves fleshy tones because all of my works relate to the body in some way. I also feel that the filmy, oily, gooey. medium of oil paint resembles skin and the body in a way that no other medium can.

What to see more of Amber’s work? Visit her Instagram and website. Find out more about Bodywork.

As we edge towards this weekend’s Sunday Music, we caught up with local songwriter Kat Wilson to chat all things music. Blending coastal blues and dreamy folk sounds, Kat has played at WAMFest, Fremantle Folk Festival, Nannup Festival and Fairbridge Festival.

Howdy Kat, can you tell us about yourself and your intro to music?

I’m a ginger living in the northern suburbs and I am currently growing citrus in the backyard. My music is best described as coastal blues. I love to tell stories about what I see in the world around me and what I see internally. I’ve always got a banjo or guitar close by to pencil thoughts and match some melodies up.

You’re playing Sunday Music this weekend. Who’s in your band and who plays what?

The band for Sunday will be a duo. I wanted to simplify the sounds and force ourselves to sonically fill the space. Dan Ablett will be playing drums on Sunday and singing some tasty harmonies, and I’ll be singing and playing electric guitar and banjo.

Kat Wilson performing

What’s your best gig or tour memory?

That’s a hard one to answer. Every gig and tour is so different and unique but three weeks ago I was up in Exmouth playing a bunch of shows and absolutely loved it. I met some really beautiful people and had such fun shows. It was  pretty spesh.

What’s up next? Do you have any new music in the works?

Yes! I’ve got a couple of projects in the works at the moment. A new single, a live EP and something I don’t think I’m allowed to say yet.

What can we expect from your Sunday Music gig?

A roaring guitar, jungle drums and heaps of new songs to share. We’re hoping to create an environment that anyone can feel comfortable swaying a little, sitting on a picnic rug munching cheese or even grooving around like an air dancer at a car yard.

Want to find out more about Kat?

Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Sunday Music runs 2–4pm each Sunday from Oct – Mar

Sunday Music is free and showcases the finest local musicians. Be sure to get down early as capacity is strictly limited. Sunday Music is possible thanks to the ongoing support of Bendigo Bank – Fremantle Community Bank Branch. 2020–21 is the twelfth year of the longstanding partnership.

Following a successful start to the season, Fremantle Arts Centre is excited to announce a brand new batch of Sunday Music acts to round out 2020.

Showcasing the very best of WA’s live music scene, Sunday Music runs on FAC’s South Lawn from 2–4pm every Sunday from October through to March.

November and December highlights include the high pop energy of Soukouss Internationale’s Queency (8 Nov), the jazz and Persian stylings of Kate Pass Kohesia Ensemble (22 Nov), novelist and songwriter Sam Carmody alongside iconic duo The Money War (29 Nov) and Grace Barbé’s (13 Dec) blend of afrobeat, reggae and pop.

“The first few weeks of Sunday Music have been absolutely buzzing,” said FAC Acting Director Marcus Dickson.

“It’s been great to see people are so eager to support WA’s musicians and enjoy live music. Come and discover the talented local acts that round out this year’s program.”

Line Up

1 Nov: Galloping Foxleys
8 Nov: Queency
15 Nov: Felicity Groom
22 Nov: Kate Pass Kohesia Ensemble + No Nomad
29 Nov: Sam Carmody + The Money War
6 Dec: No Sunday Music | Bazaar
13 Dec: Grace Barbe
20 Dec: Tom Fisher & the Layabouts
27 Dec: Adrian Dzvuke

Sunday Music is family friendly and free to attend. Picnics and blankets welcome. Get down early, capacity is strictly limited. Sunday Music is a licensed event.

Sunday Music is possible thanks to the ongoing support of Bendigo Bank – Fremantle Community Bank Branch. 2020-21 is the twelfth year of the long-standing partnership.

Jan–Mar acts will be announced in Dec.

FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT: LIZ WALKER

Jocelyn Gregson is a prominent WA artist. As an exhibiting artist, painting and drawing tutor, and purveyor of prints at FOUND, Jocelyn shares a long history with FAC. We recently caught up with her to chat about the classes she teaches, advice for novice artists and the inspiration behind her Desire series, which is available to purchase at FOUND.

Hi Jocelyn, you’ve had a long involvement with Fremantle Arts Centre. How long have you been teaching art classes at FAC?

It was so long ago that I took my first class at FAC that I’m not sure exactly! I was invited to teach a night painting class for a term in the 90s and it went on from there. I was offered more classes and I eventually gave up any other teaching.

I’ve taught drawing and painting in many guises. Some years ago I was asked if I had any ideas for a new course and I said, “yes, Drawing for a Travel Diary.” I’d just spent a few days teaching a friend to draw so that she could make one during her trip to Europe. The class is kind of simulated travel, as we visit and record the highlights of Fremantle and surrounds.

What have been the highlights of your career at FAC?

I love taking the class Acrylic Painting for Beginners From Realism to Abstraction where people may initially struggle to make a small painting of a capsicum, but through learning about colour and form eventually get there. There is delight in giving information, instruction, and seeing people evolve from often being afraid to begin with, to the thrill of making a painting. What a privilege to be involved.

Probably the most fun was had was in a class called Painting The Moment. Inspired by ideas from meditation and bringing attention to a variety of unexpected subject matter from air and freshly gathered seaweed laid on black plastic, through to Dacron (poly fibre) tossed up for the ceiling fans to fling about.

What would your advice be to someone that is nervous about taking an art class for the first time?

Just do it, you may be surprised.

FOUND sells a range of your art work. Can you tell us about your print series of desserts? How did you make them and what was the inspiration?

The prints are from paintings made following a concentrated period of studying the history and theory of still life painting. These cakes are not displayed elaborately on a table, they exist in the space of the canvas and refer to the store bought moment of the time they were made. There’s an element of desire as well, which is reflected in the name for the series (Desire). The first paintings were the éclair and cream bun, which sold during an Old Customs House Artists exhibition held at the Moores Building. I’m told they now hang in a dining room in Melbourne where they generate some very interesting conversations, how wonderful!

Check out courses Jocelyn is currently teaching and view her print works for sale.

In case you missed it, Sunday Music is back! This free weekly music program is set on the rolling hills of FAC’s South Lawn, making Sunday Music the perfect place to wrap up the weekend. This weekend local rockers Verge Collection and country-inspired Albert Loss take to the stage.

Fronting bands since the age of 12, Albert Loss is a prodigious country songwriter and respected member of the Perth music community. We recently caught up with him to chat about his introduction to music and what we can expect from this weekend’s gig.

Hi Albert, can you tell us your introduction to music?

I was introduced to music as a young kid by my father. Besides having a rock-solid record collection (Cooder, Dylan, The Band, Young, Cohen) he also played in bands – a Chicago blues act called Tin Dog as well as an alt-country line up and a zydeco band. That said when I discovered Down From The Mountain, a documentary about the soundtrack to the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, it was a slippery slope to all things Nashville.

You’re playing Sunday Music this weekend. Who’s in your band and who plays what?

The band is made up of Edo Ekic (Grievous Bodily Calm) on guitar, Joshua Biondillo (San Cisco) on guitar, Tyler Michie (Old Blood) on drums, and Nick Gardner (all-round bloody legend) on bass.

What’s your best gig or tour memory?

Wow, that’s a tough one. I always seem to remember the shockers for some reason… but let’s not go there. I’m pretty easy to please really, so long as I can get up with my band and belt out a couple of numbers I’m happy. Where and to whom doesn’t bother me too much.

Albert Loss performing at Hidden Treasures 2020. Photography by Tashi Hall

What’s up next? Do you have any new music in the works?

There certainly is. At the moment we’re working on an EP with the whole band and a few cameos from some very talented friends. I’m hoping for an early 2021 release.

Everyone has a FAC story. What’s your favourite Fremantle Arts Centre memory?

When I was I kid we lived in rental up the road from the Arts Centre so I spent what feels like a huge chunk of my childhood there. My fondest FAC memories were on the hot summer afternoons when the sea breeze would blow the touring bands’ soundcheck right through my front door. I’m not sure if we just didn’t have enough money to go to many bigger shows or they just wouldn’t let me in because I was too young, but either way, when the bands kicked off in the evening dad would take my brother and me down to the wastelands next to south lawn and we’d watch through the fence. It showed me that art is for everyone and you shouldn’t let anything get in the way of making it or soaking it up.

What can we expect from your Sunday Music gig?

We’re going to serve up a bunch of original country tunes that sound like they were written by a working Australian who pretty much only listens to music recorded in Nashville pre-1976. Josh and Edo usually throws in some Allman Brothers meet Wilco guitarmonies, while Nick and Tyler hold down the rhythm section in the tasteful, restrained way they always do. And you never know there might be a couple of cheeky cameos but I’m not making any promises. I’m looking forward to it!

Want to find out more about Albert Loss? 

You can check out his Instagram and Facebook page.

Albert Loss

Sunday Music runs 2–4pm each Sunday from Oct – Mar

Sunday Music is free and showcases the finest local musicians. Be sure to get down early as capacity is strictly limited. Sunday Music is possible thanks to the ongoing support of Bendigo Bank – Fremantle Community Bank Branch. 2020–21 is the twelfth year of the longstanding partnership.

Top image: Photography by Tashi Hall

Sunday Music returns to Fremantle Arts Centre with a stellar line-up of WA’s best musicians. Running 2–4pm every Sunday from October through to March, visitors can enjoy a handpicked selection of local music acts in the beautiful surrounds of FAC’s South Lawn. Best of all, Sunday Music is free to attend.

October’s line-up features some of WA’s finest talent including touching singer-songwriters Noah Dillon + Nika Mo (4 Oct), country music troubadour Albert Loss + relatable rockers Verge Collection (11 Oct), guitar-slinging Abbe May (18 Oct) and alt-country performer Siobhan Cotchin alongside the folky sounds of Kat Wilson (25 Oct).

Fremantle Arts Centre Acting Director Marcus Dickson said, “Sunday Music really represents the Arts Centre at its best. After the huge hit to the live music industry this year, we are especially thrilled Sunday Music is back for the people of WA to enjoy, and we can support local musicians.”

Due to COVID19 event restrictions, Sunday Music will run a little differently to keep FAC’s visitors, musicians and staff safe. The concerts will take place under the trees on the larger South Lawn to allow the audience to spread out. There will be a strict crowd capacity, so visitors should head along early and settle in for the afternoon.

Bring a rug, pack a picnic and prepare to spend many lazy afternoons at this free, family-friendly event. With a bar and food available, it’s the perfect summer Sunday.

Sunday Music is possible thanks to the ongoing support of Bendigo Bank – Fremantle Community Bank Branch. 2020–21 is the twelfth year of the longstanding partnership.

Sherry Paddon is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Perth. Her practice focuses on sculpture, collage, installation and photography to explore themes such as memory, the landscape, cultural heritage and overconsumption. Currently an Artist in Residence, we recently caught up with Sherry to find out what she’s been creating over the last couple of months.

Hi Sherry. Can you tell us about yourself and your practice?

I’m a Perth-based multidisciplinary artist who enjoys making sculptures and taking photos. I am of Filipino / Australian heritage and I grew up in country WA in the South Hedland area (Ngarda Ngarli Yarndu) and Mid-west (Yamaji Country).  In 2003 I completed a Bachelor of Art at Curtin University then did a year of museum studies. After that, I went over to Melbourne for a three-week internship and didn’t come back for nine years with the exception of the odd Christmas!

In Melbourne, I worked in the arts and participated in exhibitions in artist-run spaces, commercial spaces, and public galleries locally, interstate, and overseas. I also completed a Graduate Diploma in teaching so I could teach art in schools. I undertook a residency in the Philippines in 2013 and after living in Manila for almost a year I decided it was time to relocate back to Perth.

Although I trained as a sculptor and most of my earlier work is sculpture and installation-based, I decided to move towards a more photo media-based practice at the start of last year. I have been finding that my photos are quite sculptural, I do focus on composition and the process in which I compose is like an assemblage, or a collage, of sorts.

Sherry Paddon, More than words can say. Image courtesy the artist

Tell us about the photoshoots you’ve done during your FAC residency.

I started a few still life photoshoots during my first residency here last year. These were influenced by 80s aesthetics, photos and advertisements in home decor magazines from the 70s and 80s. The arrangements represent fragments of memories of family DIY home-decorating from that era. I’ve included branded, packaged foods as I feel like that was so prominent in my childhood. When I was in Manila, I was bombarded with brands and advertisements. Having branded foreign foods at home is almost like a status symbol, chocolate, for example, is ridiculously expensive to buy locally. According to my family – it may give the impression to others that you have wealth in the form of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) living overseas. So I’ve been continuing those since I’ve been here, as well as organising portrait shoots here and at other locations around Perth with local actors. I started off referencing narrative-based photography and old product advertisements, looking at aspiration and our emotional connection to objects and brands.

Sherry Paddon, The Weight of All Things. Image courtesy the artist

What the best part of being an Artist In Residence at Fremantle Arts Centre?

I have really enjoyed being an artist in residence at FAC. I actually moved out in January then asked to come back as I couldn’t keep away! I have enjoyed the freedom it has given me, being able to work at my own pace and not be tied to any outcomes. The ‘no pressure’ I feel has helped me to create some of my best work and develop a motivated work ethic. Plus – everyone is friendly and accommodating. I like bringing my six-year-old daughter into the studio, and I like having coffee outside in the dappled shade.

What’s up next for you? 

I’m currently working on a piece for the Joondalup Invitation Art Prize in October. After that, I’ll be starting a new project about a girl’s coming-of-age tradition from the Philippines which is actually also practiced here. I hope to work directly with the local Filipino community, starting off as a mix of photography and recordings which will then lead to some new work.

Want to find out more about Sherry? Check out her Instagram and website.

Three rising stars of Australian art boldly reclaim the representation of women’s bodies through a series of defiant and at times humorous artworks which simultaneously acknowledge and critique the influences of popular culture and mainstream beauty standards, in Bodywork – Fremantle Art Centre’s new exhibition.

Opening 6:30pm Friday 25 September, Bodywork brings together for the first time Kaylene Whiskey (SA), Amber Boardman (NSW) and Tarryn Gill (WA).

Featuring contorted soft sculptures, a video collage of female celebrity icons and fleshy paintings, Bodywork explores ideas connected to body modification, self-expression and female empowerment.

Kaylene Whiskey

Kaylene Whiskey is a Yankunytjatjara artist who lives in the remote Aboriginal community of Indulkana in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in north-west South Australia. Whiskey is rapidly gaining national acclaim for her joyous, detailed paintings of strong kungkas (women). Heavily influenced by her surroundings, her paintings depict a mix of bush tucker and community life alongside music and screen idols. In Bodywork her works are playful, drenched with colour and feature celebrities like Dolly Parton, Tina Turner and Cher within her world on the APY Lands.

Kaylene Whiskey, Wonder Woman in the Night Time, 2017, acrylic on linen, 67 x 91cm. Courtesy the artist, Iwantja Arts and Ernst Family Collection

“I like to listen to rock music and Tina Turner, and I paint with really strong colours, I put in lots of the special details, and everyone likes it. I paint strong stories too, paintings about heaven and Jesus, and sometimes Mintabie (local mining town,) and paintings about my country Indulkana. Sometimes my paintings tell hard stories, but my paintings are always colourful and painting them makes me happy.” – Kaylene Whiskey

Amber Boardman

American-born, Sydney-based artist Amber Boardman has created a suite of large-scale oil paintings that blend humour, empathy and a critical eye. Drawing on her previous career as an animator, Boardman’s paintings in Bodywork depict morphing, leaking and changing bodies going through acts of extreme ‘self-care’, taking aim at the internet-based beauty ideals and the pressures of conformity women face in today’s social media age.

Amber Boardman, Be Your Own Plastic Surgeon, 2018, oil on polyester, 91 x 71cm. Image courtesy & copyright the artist

“I try to look at the normal things people do, but with a curious mind, and then I imagine ways I can characterise them. An example is my long-standing fascination with women’s beauty rituals and the industry around them. I think of the women I paint as artists who use makeup, spray tan, hair dye, plastic surgery, etc. as their art mediums.” – Amber Boardman

Tarryn Gill

Perth artist Tarryn Gill has created her largest works to date for Bodywork, a series of large, voluptuous soft sculptures covered in glitzy dance fabrics. Drawing on a recent trip to Java, where she experienced the winding forms of the colossal Trembesi trees, and her background in competitive calisthenics, Gill’s contorted, multi-limbed feminine forms blend nature with the art of performance and continue her exploration of the uncanny body.

Tarryn Gill, Limber (1) (detail), 2020, mixed media, including hand-stitched Lycra, EPE foam and fibre fill, artificial eyes, steel, dimensions 1.1m x 3.7m x 1.25m. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Sally-Dan Cuthbert. Photograph by Pixel Poetry

“The sculptures I make are hand-carved and hand-stitched and are made from sparkling, dance materials and trims, which are influenced by my experience doing calisthenics – I performed from when I was 5 to 25 years old. I’m assembling these materials now in a way that asserts their femininity and makes them darkly powerful in an uncanny way.” – Tarryn Gill

In presenting these rich series of works together Curator Erin Coates tells a powerful story in Bodywork. The exhibition is funny, at times perverse and ultimately empowering because it rejects the notion of one ideal female body.

“Bodywork offers audiences a rich and complex array of approaches to the ways we view our bodies. Kaylene, Amber and Tarryn come from strikingly different backgrounds yet their artworks each act to reclaim women’s bodies; as a site for celebration, self-expression and contestation,” Coates said.

“The exhibition imbues the body with uncanny power, the allure of celebrity and the absurdist humour of failed beauty regimes.”

Bodywork is curated by Erin Coates, FAC Acting Curator.

For media enquiries please contact Liz Walker, Communications Officer and download the full media release.

Top image: Tarryn Gill, Limber (1), 2020, mixed media, including hand-stitched Lycra, EPE foam and fibre fill, artificial eyes, steel, dimensions: 1.1m x  3.7m x 1.25m. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Sally-Dan Cuthbert. Photograph by Pixel Poetry

Bridget Baldock is an emerging artist from Geraldton, WA. Studying Visual Art online at Curtin University, she is currently an Artist in Residence at the Moores Building. We recently caught up with Bridget to find out about her artwork, art workshops, and what she has planned for her time in Fremantle.

Hi Bridget, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your practice?

I live in Geraldton with my parents and two sisters on a 20-acre property. I have always been fitness-driven, winning school sports carnivals every year, going on early morning runs and bike rides. I was so sure of having a career as a dietitian or personal trainer, however, in 2018 my aspirations changed completely and that’s when my art journey started.

Going to school wasn’t working for me so I left at the start of year 11 to complete a Diploma of Visual Art at Geraldton TAFE. This led me to Curtin University, where I am studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts online. I am currently working towards a future in art therapy and educating young minds on how to handle mental health issues. I have been doing a lot of regional youth art workshops on how to make and use your own natural brushes.

My artworks are abstract and non-representational, recent pieces have been mark-making created by handmade natural brushes. The nature that surrounds me inspires me the most. I find that when making my own brushes I really connect to my artworks more than I would if I used an ordinary paintbrush. The aspect of the unknown and unpredictability of what way the ink will flow motivates me to explore and push each brush further and further.

Works by Bridget Baldock. Image courtesy the artist

What will you be working on during your stay in Fremantle?

My stay in Fremantle is all about professional development. Recently I won the Next Level Regional Grant, which will go towards mentoring sessions in Perth with Art Psychotherapist Janeen Cameron. I will also be working towards expanding my professional networks as the Youth Ambassador of the North Midlands Project and hope to explore local art shops, buying materials that are not available to me in Geraldton.

Does this work feed into an exhibition or longer-term project you’re working on?

The work I’ll be doing with Janeen includes twelve sessions that will go over eight months. We will develop two frameworks for art activities and workshops. One for general art workshops where people can walk away with a new skill and a more mental health-oriented framework that I would co-facilitate with schools, Headspace and disability support organisations. The mental health workshops will be for children, youth, and people with disabilities. I will also hold at least one workshop in collaboration with the North Midlands Project through their 2020/2021 program.

Want to find out more about Bridget? Check out her Instagram and Facebook.

Fremantle Arts Centre’s long-serving Director Jim Cathcart today announced his resignation.

Director since October 2005, Jim has led the growth and expansion of every aspect of Fremantle Arts Centre’s operations.

The City of Fremantle, Manager of Arts and Culture Kathryn Taylor commented “The local, state-wide and national credibility and success Fremantle Arts Centre enjoys today is largely due to Jim’s leadership.”

“Driven by Jim’s ambition for the organisation Fremantle Arts Centre has evolved into a vibrant and relevant arts organisation simultaneously committed to artists and audience.”

City of Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt said “Fremantle Arts Centre has boomed under Jim’s leadership and I believe is a leading model for Arts Centres across Australia. We are so proud of having Fremantle Arts Centre as part of our City. Jim’s passion for supporting and profiling artists and ensuring FAC remains a welcoming hub for the community is why it’s so cherished locally and beyond.”

Jim said “My fifteenth-year anniversary and the widely felt disruptions caused by COVID-19 seems like a time for renewal. I was delighted at how successful we were in moving the 2020 Revealed Exhibition online, and how FAC has been re-embraced by the public, and artists, since we re-opened. What we do at FAC continues to be valued by those communities we aim to serve. I have no fears for FAC’s future – the future is bright and full of possibilities.”

“This has not been an easy decision. Running FAC has been the greatest and most rewarding chapter of my career. It has been an honour to lead the FAC team and contribute to FAC’s substantial development, however the time is right for me, and it’s time I let go and moved on.”

Mr Cathcart’s last day will be Friday 4 September.

Long-standing FAC General Manager Marcus Dickson will be FAC’s Acting Director while a recruitment process takes place.