PICA is thrilled to announce that it is one of only two organisations in Western Australia to have been afforded “Lead Organisation” status by the WA State Government’s Department of Culture and the Arts (DCA).

“We always knew it – but it is great boost to be officially recognised in this way! It is a formal acknowledgement of our significant profile and essential role within Western Australia’s cultural landscape” says PICA Director Amy Barrett-Lennard.

It is also is an acknowledgement of PICA’s national and international standing and the leadership role we play in the arts and culture sector. DCA sees Lead Organisations as providing infrastructure and services of scale and strategic significance for the WA arts sector and broader community.

The peer panel for DCA’s recent Organisation Investment funding program which assessed 67 applications from arts organisations around WA ranked us as number 1 in the State – woohoo!

Although the department’s limited funding pool meant that we were not awarded any additional funding, we have managed to maintain current funding levels and up to three, three year funding contracts – nine years in total.

This does mean that the roll out of our new performance model, one in which independent artists are not charged hire fees and PICA takes the risk on productions, cannot happen fully in 2016.  However, the overwhelming support we received for this new model across the country and across the various performance sectors in WA, has made us determined to find the funds to make it happen!  We thank everyone for their unwavering support of this initiative and reiterate our assurance that we will be working with all levels of government over the next year to make this performance model a reality.

Photo: Alessandro Bianchetti