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The WA Government's landmark funding investment marks the beginning of a new era for the State's creative workforce — helping fuel bold ideas, expanding career opportunities and empowering artists and emerging arts workers to take their practice to the next level.

Designed to elevate WA's artistic excellence, the two new programs will deliver direct support for individual artists to deepen their craft, while opening paid pathways for emerging practitioners inside some of the State's most dynamic arts organisations.

The programs will help fast-track excellence, offering significant career development and contributing to job creation and employment pathways in the creative industries. Together, they will strengthen local skills, accelerate professional growth and help build a thriving, resilient creative ecosystem.

The Fellowships program includes two streams, with up to 11 fellowships awarded each year:

• Arts Fellowships for Young People — $26,000 grants for artists aged 18-25 to support skills development, mentorships, new work or residencies; and
• Arts Development Fellowships — $50,000 grants for emerging, mid-career and established artists with at least five years of professional practice.

The Internships program will provide up to three grants each year for WA-based creative organisations to host paid internships for emerging arts workers or recent graduates. Each grant is capped at $70,000, with a minimum of $50,000 paid directly to the intern.

Recipients for the inaugural Creative WA Fellowships 2025-26 program include:

• Gita Bezard — $50,000 for An Imperfect Trilogy: Three Plays for Young People by Gita Bezard
• Emma Buswell — $50,000 for international and national residencies for textile-based visual arts
• Rachael Dease — $50,000 for 2026 Creative Skills Development
• Jacky Cheng — $50,000 for Ashes & Afterlives: Joss Paper, Craft Lineages, and Climate-Conscious Rituals
• Rachel Arianne Ogle — $50,000 for research development program fellowship
• Shire of East Pilbara for Corban Clause Williams — $50,000 for Corban: from Kaalpa to beyond — grant administered by the Shire for Corban Clause Williams
• Hugo Flavelle — $26,000 for THE WONDERCHAIR
• Rachel Phillips — $26,000 for international professional development in circus arts: Hula hoops and aerial
• Lucinda Rose Young — $26,000 for a year-long local and national personal professional development to support rural communities
• Natasha Pearson — $26,000 for developing and expanding puppetry skills, international research and new work development
• Naoko Uemoto — $26,000 for an electroacoustic mentorship through baritone saxophone.

Recipients for the inaugural Creative WA Internships 2025-26 program include:

• Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts — $70,000 for the PICA: Arts Program Internship
• Encounter Theatre — $70,000 for the Encounter Creative Internship — Harry Hamzat
• The Last Great Hunt Inc. — $70,000 for the internship with The Last Great Hunt.

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