The Department of Culture and the Arts was part of the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

Preceding authorities

The earlier governmental agencies or authorities concerning the arts were advisory boards or councils; it was not until 1986 that the department for the Arts was created. The Department of the Arts was to co-ordinate and review the major cultural institutions, incorporating the Censorship Office and absorbing the activities of the Western Australian Arts Council. The department was given the responsibility of ensuring artistic and financial evaluation and accountability from receipts of arts grants. It was followed by the Ministry for Culture and the Arts, which existed between 1997 and 2001.

The department

The department was known as the Department of Culture and the Arts and it commenced operating on 1 July 2001 and was amalgamated into the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries on 1 July 2017. The Culture and the Arts department portfolio included the

Art Gallery of Western Australia The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is a public art gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia and is supported and managed by the ...

, the

State Library of Western Australia The State Library of Western Australia is a research, education, reference and public lending library located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. It is a portfolio agency of the Western Australia Department of Culture and t ...

, the

Western Australian Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, now known as WA Museum Boola Bardip, officially re-ope ...

, the

Perth Theatre Trust The Perth Theatre Trust is a statutory authority which manages and operates cultural venues in Western Australia. It manages His Majesty's Theatre, the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, the Subiaco Arts Centre (leased from the City of ...

, and

Screenwest Screenwest is Western Australia's screen funding and development organisation, working in partnership with the screen industry to develop, support and promote film, television and digital media production in Western Australia. Screenwest receives ...

State Living Treasures

Former Minister for Arts, The Hon.

Peter Foss Peter Gilbert da Conceição Foss KC (born 24 March 1946 in England) is a former Australian politician, who represented the Liberal Party. Elected to parliament in the 1989 state election, he was a member of the Western Australian Legislati ...

QC MLC, initiated the State Living Treasures Awards in 1998 to honour artists whose lifetime work had enhanced the artistic and cultural life of Western Australia. The Minister presented the awards at a special ceremony at Kings Park on

Western Australia Proclamation Day Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

, 21 October 1998. The awards were also presented in 2004 by The Hon. Sheila McHale MLA, former Minister for Culture and the Arts. In 2015 they were awarded by The Hon. John Day MLA, former Minister for Culture and the Arts at a ceremony at the Art Gallery of Western Australia in October 2015.

2015 Recipients

*Faith Clayton, Actress *Stephanie Coleman *

Robert Drewe Robert Duncan Drewe (born 9 January 1943) is an Australian novelist, non-fiction and short story writer. Biography Robert Drewe was born on 9 January 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria. At the age of six, he moved with his family to Perth. He grew ...

Pippin Drysdale Pippin Drysdale (born 18 May 1943) is an Australian ceramic artist and art teacher. She is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the Australian landscape in the field of ceramics. Her works are known for their intensity of colour and linear m ...

* Alan Griffiths * Joan London Author *Dr Mary McLean *Noriko Yoshimoto, Puppeteer *Chrissie Parrott, Dancer, Choreographer, Director, Teacher *Herbert Pinter, Production Designer *Nalda Searles, Visual Artist *Lew Smith, Musician *

Miriam Stannage Miriam Stannage (1939–2016) was an Australian conceptual artist. She was known for her work in painting, printmaking and photography, and participated in many group and solo exhibitions, receiving several awards over her career. Her work was ...

Painter, Photographer, Printmaker *Dr Richard Walley, Musician, Dancer, Painter, Writer, Director, Indigenous Activist, Educator * Dave Warner Musician

Past recipients

2004

Alan Alder Alan Richard Alder (14 September 1937 - 15 July 2019) was an Australian ballet dancer and ballet teacher. Alder was born in Canberra in 1937. After training that included a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School, twelve months with the Covent ...

, * Dr Lucette Aldous, Ballerina *Janangoo Butcher Cherel, *

Jimmy Chi James Ronald Chi (1948 – 26 June 2017) was an Australian composer, musician and playwright. His best known work is the 1990 musical ''Bran Nue Dae'' which was adapted for film in 2009. Early life Chi was born in Broome, Western Australia in ...

, Composer, Musician, Playwright * Professor Jeffrey Howlett AM, Architect *

Tom Hungerford Thomas Arthur Guy Hungerford, AM (5 May 191519 June 2011) was an Australian writer, noted for his World War II novel '' The Ridge and the River'', and his short stories that chronicle growing up in South Perth, Western Australia during the Gr ...

AM - journalist, novelist, playwright *Doris Pilkington Garimara - writer *Dr Carol Rudyard - visual artist *Professor Roger Smalley - composer, musician, conductor *Leonard 'Jack' Williams - Aboriginal custodian, storyteller, craftsman *

Richard Woldendorp Richard Leo Woldendorp AM (1 January 1927 – April 2023) was a Dutch-Australian photographer known for his aerial photography of Australian geography. Early life Born in Utrecht in The Netherlands and brought up by his mother, a sole parent, ...

- photographer *

Fay Zwicky Fay Zwicky (4 July 1933 – 2 July 2017) was an Australian poet, short story writer, critic and academic primarily known for her autobiographical poem ''Kaddish'', which deals with her identity as a Jewish writer. Life Born Julia Fay Rosefield ...

- poet, fiction writer, editor

1998

* Madame Kira Bousloff, *Madame Alice Carrard, * Peter Cowan, Writer * Jack Davis, Playwright *Margaret Ford, *Vaughan Hanly, *

Elizabeth Jolley Monica Elizabeth Jolley AO (4 June 1923 – 13 February 2007) was an English-born Australian writer who settled in Western Australia in the late 1950s and forged an illustrious literary career there. She was 53 when her first book was publishe ...

, *

Robert Juniper Robert Litchfield Juniper, AM (7 January 192920 December 2012) was an Australian artist, art teacher, illustrator, painter, printmaker and sculptor. Early life Juniper was born in the wheat-belt town of Merredin, Western Australia. He studied ...

, *

Queenie McKenzie Queenie McKenzie (Nakarra) (formerly Oakes, or Mingmarriya) (c. 1915 – 16 November 1998) was an Aboriginal Australian artist. She was born on Old Texas Station, on the western bank of the Ord River in the East Kimberley. Early life M ...

, *Paul Sampi, *Howard Taylor.

Distinguished artists

(having passed away prior to the 1998 awards) *

Joan Campbell Joan Ruth Campbell MBE (1925–1997) was a Victorian born potter/ceramic artist. Joan Campbell was born in Geelong, Victoria in 1925. At the age of fifteen, in 1940, her family relocated to Western Australia. She took up pottery later in li ...

, *

Rover Thomas Rover Thomas Joolama (1926 – 11 April 1998), known as Rover Thomas, was a Wangkajunga and Kukatja Aboriginal Australian artist. Early life Rover Thomas was born in 1926 near Gunawaggii, at Well 33 on the Canning Stock Route, in the Grea ...

Notes

{{Government departments of Western Australia Culture and the Arts 2001 establishments in Australia

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

2017 disestablishments in Australia Government agencies established in 2001 Government agencies disestablished in 2017