FORM has offices and galleries in Perth and the Pilbara, and projects across the State. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of all these lands, particularly the Whadjuk Noongar people of Boorloo/Perth and Kariyarra people of Marapikurrinya/Port Hedland. We pay respect to community Elders and to their ancestors whose enduring connection to this Country and ongoing contributions to our collective culture and communities we appreciate and honour. We are deeply grateful for the privilege of working on these lands.
Level 4, 99 St Georges Terrace Perth, Western Australia, 6000 E: mail@form.net.au
T: +61 8 9385 2200
Designed and published by FORM Building a State of Creativity Limited.
Warning: Members of Aboriginal and Islander communities are respectfully advised that this report contains names and images of people who have passed away. These people’s families have generously approved the use of this content.
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Cover image: Blue Crane and Friends, Twoone, 2024. River Country Art Trail, Moama, NSW.
Photograph by Mitchell Barkman Videography.
Annual Report
From the Chair
From the CEO
Expressing stories of Country and culture: the Roebourne Art Development Program Once upon a Sometimes : an immersive storybook from Stormie Mills Scribblers strikes gold ‘on the road’
Spinifex Hill Studio Creative Learning Scribblers FORM Gallery & Café Cultural Tourism Public
Wild Silence 7, David Charles Collins, 2016. Medium format print on smooth pearl paper.
It’s my pleasure to present the Annual Report for the 2024-2025 financial year.
Over the past year FORM has been approached to initiate several significant cultural tourism projects across Western Australia, demonstrating a pleasing confidence in us as the State’s preeminent organisation for creative projects of scale and impact.
FORM enters the new financial year on the cusp of significant and exciting growth both for our organisation and for Western Australia’s creative economy. The scale of the work and the relevant funding arrangements and stakeholder framework have been complex. Preparing our organisation for those opportunities has been a transformational exercise.
The Board continues to steer the organisation through the dual lens of financial sustainability and measured investment in organisational capacity, to ensure FORM can bring these big, bold creative plans to fruition. While we report a loss for the 2024-2025 financial year, revenue has in fact continued to grow and diversify across government, corporate and philanthropic funding sources, and we close the year with a strong balance sheet.
We have upped our investment in our most valuable resource, our people, through increased training, recruitment and a market review of our remuneration policy. We’ve made further investments in operational efficiency and effectiveness, engaging external consultants to implement system and process improvements and advise on effective growth and change management.
Critically, to mitigate future financial risk, we have rationalised our operations to focus on areas of our work that generate sufficient revenue to cover their full operating costs. For example, FORM Gallery now operates primarily as a showcase for the work directly connected to our projects. The financial benefits from this strategic shift in Gallery programming will be realised in the coming year. The first exhibition under the new model during 2024-2025 spotlighted our Roebourne Art Development Program, which supports the arts and professional practices of artists and art centres in the West Pilbara.
After a year of internal investment and program rationalisation, FORM’s projected financial position is secure. We enter the next financial year with significant forecast revenue growth, diversity of funding streams, a capable organisational structure, bolstered systems and process and several major projects secured.
As always, I thank my colleagues on the Board for their tireless support and commitment: Deputy Chair Kathy Reid and directors Peter Lee OAM, Stedman Ellis, Narelle Grinceri, Jenn Morris, Tom Rayner, Paul Kotsoglo, Ron Bradfield Jnr and Nicolette Casella. Likewise, our Patrons Paul and Sophie Chamberlain continue to offer FORM their unstinting support and we are so deeply grateful.
My thanks also to all the people on the FORM team, led by Tabitha McMullan. Your hard work and creativity never cease to amaze me.
Last but by very means not least, on behalf of the whole organisation, I thank all of you: our donors, supporters, partners and all the communities who invite us to work with them on building a strong, creative energy and economy in Western Australia.
The CEO
Tabitha McMullan August 2025
It is a pleasure to contribute my thoughts to FORM’s 2024-2025 Annual Report, capturing a year of growth, connection, and creativity across Western Australia and beyond.
As I reflect on this period, I get a tremendous sense of momentum. Around us we saw the launch of the new cultural plan for Western Australia, Creative WA; a renewed focus on Creative Industries through the creation of the Department of Cultural Industries, Tourism, and Sport; and many conversations about the future of education.
FORM’s response is to continue building towards big, bold, creative impact for communities. During this past year, we’ve prioritised relationships, community collaboration, and made tough decisions to ensure our future sustainability. While we report a loss for the period, our decision to invest in future growth and hold ourselves accountable to rigorous accounting practices will stand us in good stead to continue our impactful work long into the future.
True to our mission, FORM is poised to play a leading role alongside our colleagues, collaborators and partners in realising a stronger, more vibrant creative economy alongside a better resourced and resilient creative sector, and flourishing communities.
In Creative Learning our Creative Schools program has now delivered 209 programs across 121 schools, meaning over 10% of Western Australian public schools have experienced this transformative approach to learning. We took Scribblers ‘on the road’ to Kalgoorlie for the first time, reaching 2,395 people in just a few action-packed days.
The breadth of programming outlined in this report is only outstripped by its depth of impact. Our Cultural Tourism initiatives continue to demonstrate how place, people, and creative experiences can transform communities. In Esperance, we’ve taken time to listen, engage, and let community voices shape the vision. Meanwhile, our ambitious Albany 2026 projects will enable this special place to share its stories on a national stage.
FORM’s Arts and Cultural Consultancy delivered major public art and placemaking projects spanning three States and Territories, commissioning a total
of 23 artists: including nine Kariyarra artists for Port Hedland’s Spoilbank Marina, and five national and international artists for the River Country Art Trail in New South Wales, building on our legacy of giant murals in our PUBLIC Silo Trail.
Our commitment to Aboriginal and Islander Partnerships remains strong, guided by the wisdom and advice of our Aboriginal and Islander Advisory Committee (AIAC), chaired by Ron Bradfield Jnr, and of our Spinifex Hill Studio Aboriginal Council (SHSAC), chaired by Vickie Wagner. The stories of empowerment that emerge when communities, artists, and Cultural Custodians come together are inspiring; read on to find out more, or better yet, come visit us at Spinifex Hill Studio and share a story over a cuppa.
I’m particularly proud of how our Board and team has grown and evolved during this period. As we pursue our growth strategy, I have seen team members confront discomfort and willingly embrace the challenges that come with growth.
None of this would be possible without the extraordinary network of support that surrounds FORM. I want to thank the AIAC, and SHSAC, for their knowledge and leadership. Our patrons Paul and Sophie Chamberlain, FORM Directors, and our funding partners continue to believe in our mission and enable us to dream big. To the hundreds of creative practitioners, educators, and community members who bring our programs to life: you are the heart of everything we achieve.
Most importantly, I want to acknowledge the communities who have welcomed us, trusted us, and allowed us to walk alongside them in this work. You inspire us daily and remind us that creativity is not just about making art, but about making meaning, building connection, and nurturing the human spirit.
As we move forward into another year of possibility, I carry with me the words of one of our Scribblers participants: “all I saw was smiles all around... a chance for people to be creative and connect with people within the community.” This is the Western Australia we’re building together: big change, one creative connection at a time.
Our Mission
To be a leader in developing a vibrant creative economy for the benefit and wellbeing of all Western Australian communities.
Untitled, Dulk, 2024. RIver Country Art Trail, Mathoura, NSW. Photograph by Mitchell Barkman Videography.
Our Vision
The diversity and ambition of Western Australian cultural expression is expanded. We increase opportunities for artists—particularly regional and First Nations artists—to create new works; we broaden the scope of our international markets and our
connections to a global creative economy; we reach diverse audiences at home and abroad. Our work is world-renowned for its ability to catalyse unique cultural expression, arising from our State’s healthy and prosperous communities.
Scribblers on the Road Goldfields, Schools Program, St Mary’s School, 2025. Photograph by Leith Alexander.
Our Values
CREATIVITY
We embrace change with a sense of possibility and positivity, using the creative process to generate new ideas, re-imagine old ideas, and express those ideas to inspire others.
EXCELLENCE
We take pride in making the time to ensure our work is of great quality and value to its beneficiaries; in each endeavour, we understand the definition and measure of its success.
INTEGRITY
We are honest and true to our values. With the benefit of guidance from Elders and community across the State, we do what we say we are going to do, learning from our mistakes and making amends.
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT
We aim to embed self-determination, grounded in cultural awareness and respect, as the basis of our work in all communities. We recognise that, in all respects the Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia are the Custodians of their Country, their culture and their communities.
COLLABORATION
We can accomplish greater things together than any of us can alone. We embrace the power of diverse perspectives in achieving shared goals.
Where We Come From Family Activity, FORM Gallery, 2025. Photograph by Jess Allan.
Our Approach
• Self-determination for First Nations Australians and respectful partnerships with Aboriginal and Islander communities
• Encouraging sector resilience and sustainability through cooperation and collaboration
• Financial sustainability
• A better and deeper understanding of existing and potential audiences
• A risk appetite and mitigation framework matching our ambition
• Effective and efficient operations and communication
• Cross-disciplinary and cross-sector activity
• A grounding in research, discourse and thought leadership
• Community engagement
• Strong partners and supporters with shared values
• The right people, skills and talent to do our work
FORM’s Creative Schools I Have More To Say podcast program, 2024. Photograph by Dan Macbride.
Our Strategies
ABORIGINAL AND ISLANDER PARTNERSHIP
Cultural practice started and continues with Aboriginal and Islander peoples. We aim to ensure First Peoples’ perspectives, cultural authority, and right to self-determination, come first.
CREATIVE LEARNING
We empower young people to develop their creativity, sense of agency and wellbeing. We do this by designing and delivering programs that foster curiosity, a love of learning and young people’s ability to make sense of the world around and within them.
CULTURAL PROGRAMMING AND PRODUCTION
We connect communities with artistic collaborations and experiences of quality and excellence to achieve increased community wellbeing and cultural vibrancy.
CULTURAL TOURISM
We foster local and global exchange through world-class cultural tourism experiences at scale, while also helping to establish the building blocks of a Western Australian cultural tourism economy.
SECTOR AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
We build creative sector knowledge, capacity and infrastructure (hard and soft), to enrich communities and their places and spaces.
FORM’s Scribblers Schools Program, 2024. Photograph by Dan MacBride.
Our Programs & Services
• Spinifex Hill Studio
• Creative Schools
• Scribblers
• Cultural & Artistic Programming
• FORM Gallery & Café
• Curatorial Development & Exchange
• Creative Services
• Development & Relationships
• Arts & Cultural Consultancy Services
• Public Art
• Placemaking
• Cultural Infrastructure
• Cultural Policy & Strategy
Spinifex Hill Studio, 2024, Photograph by Phil Berrick
High VisAbility. FORM Gallery, 2025. Photograph by Ludvig Nilsson.
EXPRESSING STORIES OF COUNTRY AND CULTURE: THE ROEBOURNE ART DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
For nearly 20 years we have worked to support the creative community of Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region. Since 2008 this has included managing Port Hedland’s only Aboriginal art collective, Spinifex Hill Studio. FORM also has a long-running association with First Nations artists working in and around Roebourne, and since 2019 has collaborated with the artists and staff of Cheeditha Art Group, Juluwarlu Art Group and Yinjaa-Barni Art on artistic and professional development projects through our Roebourne Art Development Program. Already celebrated for their works on canvas, in 2024 these artists embraced the opportunity to express stories of culture and Country through new mediums, like glass and ceramics, and shared their work in Perth as part of the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial (IOTA24).
Yindjibarndi artist Wendy Hubert’s painting during Juluwarlu Art Group’s Perth Residency. Image courtesy of FORM Building A State of Creativity.
As children we used to play in the clay and cover ourselves in it. Now we paint our Country on the clay.
Allery Sandy, Yindjibarndi artist at Yinjaa-Barni Art
Yindjibarndi artist Wendy Hubert painting during Juluwarlu Art Group’s Perth Residency. Image courtesy of FORM Building A State of Creativity.
ONCE UPON A SOMETIMES: AN IMMERSIVE STORYBOOK
FROM STORMIE MILLS
Featuring artworks by Stormie Mills, this exhibition in late 2024 offered a rare and intimate look into the life of one of Western Australia’s most celebrated artists. With every artwork reflecting his challenges, ideas and self-discovery, it also gave us an opportunity to highlight Stormie’s involvement with FORM’s Creative Schools program, and his mentoring of students experiencing difficulties with school and mental health. Stormie had shared his sketchbooks and journals with these young people, modelling a powerful, intuitive yet also practical pathway they could also access to connect with their emotions and creativity, and reflect on their life and learning experiences.
I never really got into journalling before I met Stormie. It was good to express myself. I have these big feelings I couldn’t express myself. I’ve now learned to dump them through my journals. It helps me to sort through my feelings more.
Student
Running With a Tiger, Stormie Mills, 2025 Acrylic on Canvas
Opening of Stormie Mills’ Once Upon a Sometimes at FORM Gallery, 2024. Photograph by Phil Berrick.
Opening of Stormie Mills’ Once Upon a Sometimes at FORM Gallery, 2024. Photograph by Phil Berrick.
SCRIBBLERS STRIKES GOLD ‘ON THE ROAD’
We want creativity to be integral to the lives and education of all Western Australians; to empower young people to develop their creativity, sense of agency and wellbeing. Scribblers is part of our Creative Learning program, bringing authors, illustrators and experiences direct to schools and communities, and celebrating, promoting and building capacity in storytelling, literacy, cultural knowledge, creativity and arts. After success with Scribblers on the Road in the Pilbara in 2023 and 2024, we took Scribblers to Kalgoorlie for the first time in 2025. With 60 local and guest creatives we reached an incredible 2395 young people, families and educators in just a few short, action-packed days. And we’ll be back in the Pilbara later in 2025.
The Goldfields needs more events like this … all I saw was smiles all around, everyone was respectful and took the event for what it was, a chance for people to be creative and connect with people within the community.
Scribblers participant
Scribblers Goldfields, Schools Program, Kalgoorlie Boulder, 2025. Photograph by Leith Alexander.
Scribblers on the Road Goldfields, Schools Program, St Mary’s School, 2025. Photograph by Leith Alexander.
Scribblers on the Road Goldfields, Leonora District High School, Schools Program, 2025.
Photograph by Leith Alexander.
Projects, Programs & Services
Untitled, Dulk, 2024. River Country Art Trail, Mathoura, NSW. Photograph by Mitchell Barkman Videography.
Spinifex Hill Studio
Spinifex Hill Studio on Kariyarra Country in South Hedland is unique in Australia as an urbanbased, culturally neutral art centre representing Aboriginal artists from numerous cultural backgrounds. There is no dominant ‘house style’, rather the Studio supports an eclectic range of art practices in recognition of the diversity of Indigenous experience. A core group of around 20 artists paint on a regular basis, however around a hundred artists are associated with the Studio and will paint there when in town. Many of these artists are totally reliant on the Studio for their income.
During the 2024-25 financial year, the Studio and its artists curated and presented four group exhibitions: Land Rights, Sea Rights: A Celebration of Us Mob (Jun-Sept 24); Warrrkam (Sept-Dec 24); Timeless (Feb-Mar); and Healing (Apr-Jun 25). As usual, artists were represented in the Cossack Art Awards, and the Darwin
Aboriginal Art Fair, and the work of artists like Walmajarri artist Nyangulya Katie Nalgood and Manyjilyjarra artist Doreen Chapman continues to be in demand by gallerists and collectors.
From its beginnings in 2008 as a small group painting in temporary spaces, the Studio has evolved into one of Western Australia’s most dynamic Indigenous art producing centres. It is a member of the Indigenous Art Code, and of the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of Western Australia (AACHWA) and as such, participates in and contributes to a national sector of over 99 Indigenous art centres, which benefits the broader Indigenous artist population overall. In collaboration with FORM, the Studio’s staff and advisory Aboriginal Council is gradually working towards independence for the Studio and Gallery, and a future that is entirely First Nations led.
Artworks at Spinifex Hill Studio, South Hedland, 2024. Photograph by Phil Berrick.
Land and sea rights is the only thing that unites us all because we all live it every day. To me land and sea is a part of who I am. When we are on Country we have to remember we are all a part of the same world as the animals. Which is why we have to look after each other.
Rekeisha Goodwin, Thiin Mah/ Ngoonooru Wadjari artist and Operations Coordinator at Spinifex Hill Studio
Untitled, Beryl Ponce, 2024. Acrylic on Canvas
Creative Learning
Since 2016, Creative Learning has been an important organisation-wide strategy for FORM. We design and deliver programs like Scribblers and Creative Schools, which foster young people’s curiosity, a love of learning and their ability to make sense of the world around and within them.
Creative Schools trains teachers and creative practitioners to help children develop and use the Five Creative Habits of Learning—imagination, persistence, collaboration, inquisitiveness and discipline—while studying mainstream curriculum subjects like science and humanities.
Supported by internationally recognised creative learning mentors and scholars, Creative Schools transforms how students learn, teachers teach,
and creative practitioners use artistic expertise in classrooms. It changes how education policy makers and school communities—from principals to parents and carers—understand the value of creativity in building young people’s life skills, agency and wellbeing, and in supporting their readiness for the ever-changing world of work.
Since 2018, FORM has delivered 209 Creative Schools programs in 121 schools (public, independent and Catholic), in metropolitan and regional settings, across the age range from Kindergarten to Year 12 and in mainstream and special assistance (CARE) school settings.
This means that over 10% of Western Australian public schools has benefited from the Creative Schools experience.
Opening of FORM’s Creative Schools NOW I OWN celebration, 2024. Photograph by Dan Macbride.
[Creative Schools has] given me the opportunity to work on projects that inspire me. I know that I can use my voice and be confident in taking control of my future. Because this is my story. We all have our own story. Creative thinking has helped me become the author of mine.
CARE Student
TOP 10 SUSTAINED IMPACTS OF CREATIVE SCHOOLS 2018–2024
100% 89% 85% 83% 91% 14.2%
• of teachers, school leaders and creative practitioners think the program had a positive impact on student learning of knowledge and/or skills
• of school leaders think Creative Schools increased opportunities for student voice and agency
• of past teacher participants report the program had a lasting positive impact on their pedagogical practice
• of teachers think they will continue to use creative learning approaches
• of parents would like their child to participate in creative learning programs again in future of students enjoyed participating in Creative Schools of students say Creative Schools makes them feel happy of students say they have improved their collaboration skills of teachers think Creative Schools has a positive impact on student mental health and wellbeing reduction in students saying: “I am often bored at school.”
For the 2025 academic year we are focusing on professional development and training in Creative Schools pedagogy for CARE school teachers, rather than direct delivery of the program in the schools. That way, many more teachers will be skilled in this methodology, and able to bring positive change to students and schools.
FORM is proud to be an approved supplier of Professional Learning with the Western Australian Department of Education.
CARE Professional Learning at FORM Gallery. Image courtesy of FORM Building a State of Creativity.
CARE Metamorphosis Gallery Visits, 2024.
Photograph by Phil Berrick
With Scribblers, we focus on catalysing more informal encounters between creatives, kids, teachers and parents, often in their own communities, and with the additional participation of local storytellers and creatives. While Scribblers has always been about sharing the magic of storytelling in all its forms, our creatives are trained in the Creative Schools approach. So while Scribblers specialises in free, family-oriented events, and a more condensed delivery model in schools, all of these activities lean into the Five Creative Habits. Since 2023, we have had great success with taking Scribblers out ‘on the road’ into regional and remote areas. We aim for these experiences to:
• have a positive impact on children and young people’s creative capabilities, literacy, learning and wellbeing
• encourage children, young people, families and schools to value storytelling and creativity
• foster a sense of community, inclusion and belonging
• contribute to the strength and vibrancy of the creative sector and local community
When kids and artists meet there is opportunity for magic to happen
Author / Illustrator
10
Schools (including online across six campuses at Ngaanyatjarra Lands School)
813
Students
Teachers
39
Classes
Scribblers in the CBD (October 2024) reached:
7276
people (up 14% from 2023)
CALD (45% of total)
188 63 373
Aboriginal or Islander (23% of total)
2395
Total people
Alongside the continued delivery of Creative Schools and Scribblers during the 2024/25 financial year, our Creative Learning team has focused on broadening FORM’s advocacy through thought leadership. We’ve presented on our approach to innovation in learning and creativity at EduFest WA 2024, ReimaginED Fremantle 2025, and at the International Conference on Assessment and Learning 2024, co-hosted by the Australian Council for Educational Research in Indonesia.
In partnership with the Forrest Research Foundation, we’ve held Creative Learning Round Table thought leadership events bringing
together educators, policymakers, industry figures and philanthropists to understand and debate the importance of creativity in Western Australian schools. In November we hosted Education Minister Tony Buti, and in April, Sophie Howe, the inaugural Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. FORM’s Strategic Creative Learning Manager Laura Motherway also engaged the Department of Local Government, Sport and Creative Industries (now Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport) in a round table discussion to identify some of the key opportunities for schools and practitioners to develop better and more sustainable projects.
Writer and artist Zeno Sworder at Scribblers on the Road Goldfields, Family Fun Day, 2025. Photograph by Leith Alexander.
Scribblers Goldfields Schools Program, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Community High School, 2025. Photograph by Leith Alexander.
FORM Gallery & Café
FORM Gallery and Café has experienced its own creative transformation during 2024/25. After several years of running the Gallery café ourselves, FORM passed the baton to the wonderful folk at El Cabro, a local business long established in keeping the Claremont community caffeinated.
The Gallery’s exhibitions during the second half of 2024 showcased Western Australian talent in contrasting ways. Channelling the marvel that is the natural world, Metamorphosis: Artists in Collaboration with Plants (May-July), a continuation of FORM’s Southern Exposure series brought together the imaginations and creative practices of David Charles Collins, Elizabeth Edmonds, Sarah Elson, Holly Story, and Beverly Thomson. Curator Andrew Nicholls asked these artists to respond to notions of physical transformation described in the epic narrative Metamorphoses by Roman poet Ovid: episodes whereby gods, plants, animals and humans change into different forms. Collaborating with the flora of Western Australia’s south, the artists explored this mutability through photography, sculpture, textiles and ceramics.
FORM Gallery is a vital part of the Western Australian visual arts ecology, providing a critical exhibition space for emerging, mid-career, and local artists.
Gallery visitor
For the love of God by Berndnaut Smilde in Storm the Gods and Shake the Universe, FORM Gallery, 2023. Kangaroo skull and artificial gemstones. Photography by Dan McCabe.
Lament of the Labellum - cusp, Sarah Elson, 2016 - 2019. Recycled silver.
Mara, Jinbi, Ngurra (Hands, Clay, Country) and Woven Together (August – September) showcased the results of 18 months of FORM’s programs and support for First Nations artists in the Pilbara to further their interest in craft practice. For Woven Forms, leading textiles practitioners Jacky Cheng (Malay-Chinese/ Australian) and Paula do Prado (African/ Charruan/Iberian) worked with the Spinifex Hill Studio artists in South Hedland on a variety of collaborative and independent pieces. Mara, Jinbi, Ngurra showcased the work of Yinjaa-Barni Artists in Roebourne. Porcelain master Sandra Black (Australian) mentored the artists in numerous ceramic techniques including hand building, slip casting, marbling, sgraffito, ceramic painting and decal decoration. Having premiered in South Hedland 2023, the exhibitions then premiered to Perth audiences at FORM Gallery as part of the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial (IOTA24). Artists participated in talks and tours, engaging with around 500 Western Australian-based and Indian Ocean artist-makers.
We
enjoyed looking at the work and thinking about how things were made and what local imagery and messages were portrayed. I was so pleased to hear visiting artists made a number of visits to build the relationships and share opportunities. Their talk was very respectful, and I think local artists trying new techniques is a good thing.
Audience member at Mara, Jinbi, Ngurra artist talk
Exhibition opening of Mara, Jinbi, Ngurra (Hands, Clay, Country) at FORM Gallery, 2024.
Photograph by Dan MacBride.
Once upon a Sometimes: an immersive storybook from Stormie Mills (October – December) shone a spotlight on this enigmatic artist’s inner world through a series of works expressing his experience of learning to live with ‘the tiger’ and manage conditions like anxiety. This blockbuster exhibition attracted 7366 visitors to the Gallery during its six-week run.
The idea of ‘feeding the tiger’ was raised in the context of when anxiety struck. It felt like you were sitting in a room paralysed by a tiger sitting next to you, demanding attention. Despite what was going on around you, the tiger became your sole point of focus.
Stormie Mills
Opening of Stormie Mills’ Once Upon a Sometimes at FORM Gallery, 2024. Photograph by Phil Berrick.
Samuel Johnson speaking at the opening of Stormie Mills’ Once Upon a Sometimes at FORM Gallery, 2024.
Photograph by Phil Berrick.
For FORM’s annual summer residency at the Gallery, Community Arts Network (CAN) took the helm in collaboration with the Sir David Brand School. High VisAbility transformed FORM Gallery into a vibrant and playful exploration of identity, place and what it means to be visible from youngsters with disabilities in collaboration with Yamatji artist Mandy White, artist Natalie Scholz and producers Tegan Jenkins and Michelle White. By showcasing the students’ work alongside the work of outsider artists (self-taught or trained in the arts outside of the mainstream institutions and includes artists who live with disability or difference) in a high-profile public gallery, this project gave each proud young participant the opportunity to be seen— highly visible—as an artist.
High VisAbility Celebration Event at FORM Gallery, 2025. Photograph by Ludvig Nilsson.
High VisAbility Celebration Event at FORM Gallery, 2025. Photograph by Ludvig Nilsson.
More collaboration with young people featured in FORM Gallery’s next exhibition, Happy Meals and Scooter Skids: art from the outer suburbs which premiered as part of the Perth Arts Festival, with a concurrent exhibition at Midland Junction Arts Centre, from February to May. Artist and educator Andy Quilty, was born, raised and lives in Rockingham. Over many months, he collaborated with students from high schools in Armadale, Midland and Warnbro resulting in expressive, graphic and highly personal takes on everyone’s experience of living in Perth’s fringes. This show then travelled to Armadale and Rockingham Arts Centre.
All images: Happy Meals and Scooter Skids by Andy Quilty and WA High School Students, Perth Festival x FORM, 2025. Photographs by Dan MacBride.
The final exhibition of the 2024 - 2025 reporting period heralded the start of a new direction for the Gallery, via a more explicit exploration of the work FORM is doing with communities and with artists in Western Australia. Where We Come From: the artists of Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi Country focused on the capacity-building collaborations that have been happening since 2019 in the West Pilbara through the Roebourne Art Development Program. Year on year, three Aboriginal art centres and now also several independent artists have been helping FORM shape a bespoke program of professional, arts and admin skills development, supported by mentorship and exchange on Country and in Perth with experts in various artforms. The long-term aim is for sustainable and robust art centres and art practices, diverse income streams, healthy economic outlooks, upskilled arts workers living locally in Roebourne and increased opportunities for Aboriginal artists to share their culture and generate a sustainable income from artmaking.
During 2024, the Roebourne Art Development Program’s activities (which reached 43 artists and arts workers over 66 days of delivery) achieved the following results:
81% 79%
100% 100%
approval rating by participants of the program’s effectiveness to provide access and connections to local amenities in the community
agree to feeling healthier, happier or more comfortable as a result of the program
agreement that the program improved each art centre’s capacity to deliver programming/activities to First Nations artists
approval rating of art centres’ improvement of management processes because of the program’s support
Yindjibarndi artist and Elder Allery Sandy giving an artist talk at Where We Come From Artist Talk, FORM Gallery, 2025. Photograph by Jess Allan.
Where We Come From, Exhibition Preview & Tour, FORM Gallery, 2025. Photograph by Ludvig Nilsson.
Cultural Tourism
Places, people, and creative experiences. The energy these generate—together—can transform how communities see and express themselves, and how they share their many stories with the world. We help this energy happen by working with communities to help them figure out what creative and cultural experiences best embody and express their uniqueness. From there we develop and deliver cultural tourism experiences.
Much of our Cultural Tourism team’s efforts go into conceptualising, scoping, planning, and budgeting potential projects for delivery around the State. There can often be many months until a project is green-lit, and community engagement can begin, well ahead of delivery, so that the community has a say in shaping the final outcome.
An example of this co-collaboration has been happening for the last couple of years with the people of Esperance/Kepa Kurl, on Wudjari Country on Western Australia’s southern fringe. In late 2022, they invited FORM to help them explore the potential for a world-class sculpture trail responding to the area’s dramatic land and seascape. Since 2024, we’ve journeyed collectively with Esperance through a revelatory and rewarding ‘Discovery’ phase. We’ve reached consensus that community supports this project and is keen to see it come to life, if it is done the right way, with local knowledge and involvement informing every step. We’re now ready to embark on the next phase.
In 2026, the southern port city of Albany commemorates a milestone in its ongoing story, and we are excited to be returning to Albany for the first time since staging Bruce Munro’s Field of Light: Avenue of Honour in 2018-19. FORM’s creative ideas have been commissioned as part of a year-long program of activities and ceremonies to commemorate ‘Albany 2026’. We’re producing three signature events: Lighting the Sound with international light artist Kari Kola (Finland); Albany Is, an immersive, location-aware sound experience exploring the voices, stories and atmosphere of Albany; and finally Carrying the Fire, potentially one of the largest single performative gatherings yet staged in Western Australia.
Savage Beauty, Kari Kola, 2020.
Photograph courtesy of Kari Kola.
Public Art & Consultancy
It’s been a big year for FORM’s Arts and Cultural Consultancy, which offers professional expertise and strategic advice to clients on placemaking, public art, cultural infrastructure and cultural policy and strategy. During the reporting period, a variety of projects have achieved or are nearing completion. Several have involved the use of FORM’s Land.Mark.Art program, which supports First Nations artists in the design and delivery of public art pieces.
Chris Collard, a Noongar artist with Wardandi and Wilmen heritage, designed a large-scale Banksia seed pod sculpture for Paris Grove, a workforce accommodation facility in Australind.
A major new recreational and boating area, the Spoilbank Marina, officially opened in Port Hedland in November 2024. FORM devised, managed and delivered the public art strategy, commissioning nine Kariyarra artists to make work informed by their deep connection to saltwater Country. The artists featured are Mrs Alone (dec.), Willara Barker, Larissa Brown, Bobbi Lockyer & Skye, Sally Mack, Beryl Ponce, Sharon Warrie, and Wendy Warrie.
FORM is close to completing the River Country Art Trail in New South Wales: a sequence of murals on water towers in five towns—Barham, Mathoura, Moama, Moulamein and Tooleybuc— close to the Murray River. The artists commissioned are DULK (Spain), Heesco (Mongolia/Melbourne), Gus Eagleton and Stuart Green (both from Australia), and Twoone (Japan/Melbourne).
Global mining company Gold Fields enlisted the help of FORM Consultancy to help deliver an art project spanning over 1000kms of Western Australian landscape and destined for huge wind turbines near Kambalda. Six schools and 200 students from Geraldton to Kalgoorlie, via Laverton and Leinster (the road taken by the turbines en route to their installation) participated in workshops led by FORM. The children created artworks by interpreting wind as an energy source. Their final designs will be enlarged and applied to six 130m tall wind turbines as part of Gold Fields’ St Ives Renewable Energy project. Ngadju, Wangkatja and Esperance Nyungar artist Sara Riches has created a work for a seventh turbine, and the final project will be unveiled later in 2025.
The wind is warm when it’s happy and cold when it’s angry. If you could see the wind, it would be all the colours.
Participating student
I wanted to make sure my art reflected stories of local Ngadju people, which have been passed from generation to generation. I’ve tried to tell the story of how wind energy is relied upon for many of nature’s cycles, just as Gold Fields will rely on it to harness energy to power St Ives.
Sara Riches,
Ngadju artist
Up at Dawn, Gus Eagleton, 2024. River Country Art Trail, Barham, NSW. Photograph by Mitchell Barkman Videography.
Banksia Nut, Chris Collard, 2024. Photograph courtesy of FORM Building a State of Creativity.
Blue Crane and Friends, Twoone, 2024. River Country Art Trail, Moama, NSW. Photograph by Mitchell Barkman Videography.
FORM’s mission is to be a leader in developing a vibrant creative economy for the benefit and wellbeing of all Western Australian communities. We have in the past stimulated actions and debate about Perth’s capacity for entrepreneurial and cultural growth as a ‘creative capital’, and about the potential of communities to embrace art and place-making to enhance livelihoods and liveability. Over time, like-minded individuals and organisations have brought their talents and perspectives to the debate. Today, the State’s creative industries sector plays a much more prominent role in supporting economic and social development. FORM continues to contribute to sector and community development, and during the reporting period this has happened through:
TOTAL DIRECT PAYMENT TO ARTISTS (INCLUDING AUTHORS, FACILITATORS, CREATIVE PRACTITIONERS & PRODUCERS) LAST FINANCIAL YEAR:
$2,566,281
PROGRAMS THAT HELP STRENGTHEN SKILLS IN THE VISUAL ARTS SECTOR:
• Our Roebourne Art Development Program (see p.13) and Land.Mark.Art program (see p.39) has offered dedicated skills development for around 50 First Nations artists, enabling them to increase profile and earning capacity, bringing benefit back to community
Art Practice Development Residency in Perth with Cheeditha Artists, facilitated by Denise Pepper, 2024. Image courtesy of FORM Building A State of Creativity.
OUR CONTRIBUTION TO A STRONG CROSSDISCIPLINARY CREATIVE SECTOR THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS, AND INDUSTRY AND OUTREACH EVENTS:
• For the second year running, FORM hosted a highly successful Perth Design Week industry event which attracted over 100 people from the local design world to mingle and network. The evening at FORM Gallery featured a panel discussion between Canadian-born, Melbournebased light artist Bruce Ramus (whose work appears at Optus Stadium, Yagan Square and Boorloo Bridge), Anthony Brookfield (Principal, Landscape Architecture at Hassell) and FORM CEO Tabitha McMullan
• We have partnered with the Forrest Research Foundation to host round table events with the Forrest Thinkers in Residence
• Guest presentations at industry network and creative thinking events like the REMIX Summit
STRATEGIES TO CONNECT PRACTITIONERS WITH PEER NETWORKS, COLLECTORS, AND PROFESSIONAL AND INCOME-GENERATING OPPORTUNITIES:
• Our Consultancy has procured designs and commissioned 23 artists for major public art development schemes
• Our Creative Schools program has contracted 35 creative practitioners from all disciplines to partner with teachers on delivery of 16 weeks of classroom-based action to over 1500 students, while our Scribblers activities during the reporting period have engaged nearly 200 national and local authors, illustrators, performers and storytellers
• As one of the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial (IOTA24) exhibition venues, FORM Gallery provided a platform to connect Pilbara artists with international craft networks and around 500 peer artists
Untitled (Vase), Melissa Sandy & Sandra Black, 2024, Untitled (Vase), Justina Willis & Sandra Black, 2024. Image courtesy of FORM Building a State of Creativity.
Bruce Ramus speaking at Placemaking through Innovation, Perth Design Week, FORM Gallery, 2025.
• www.form.net.au
• www.spinifexhillstudio.com.au
• www.creativeschools.com.au
• www.scribblersfestival.com.au
Media
FORM, its programs and events featured across a wide variety of broadcast, print and digital media outlets, achieving a high volume of free editorial coverage, which in turn contributed to the positive impact on the communities, creatives, partners and collaborators we work with.
RONALD JAMES CHRISTOPHER BRADFIELD (RON BRADFIELD JR) Community Engagement Coordinator, John Curtin Gallery
NARELLE GRINCERI Director, ZAYA Capital & Finance
PAUL KOTSOGLO Managing Director, Planning Solutions
JENN MORRIS
Non-Executive Director
THOMAS RAYNER
Non-Executive Director
EXECUTIVE / OFFICE
Chairperson (Appointed July 2021)
Deputy Chairperson (Appointed December 2021)
Director (Appointed August 2011)
Director (Appointed August 2013)
Director (Appointed February 2022)
Director, (Appointed May 2023)
Director (Appointed May 2023)
Director (Appointed May 2023)
Director (Appointed August 2023)
Director (Appointed March 2025)
High VisAbility Celebration Event at FORM Gallery, 2025. Photograph by Ludvig Nilsson.
Audit & Risk Committee Report
FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2025
The Audit and Risk Committee is pleased to present its report for the financial year ended 30 June 2025. Over the past year, the Committee has overseen FORM’s financial reporting, internal controls, compliance, and risk management, while supporting the organisation through a period of growth and development.
This has been an important year for FORM. The organisation has deliberately invested in building its long-term capacity and sustainability. Largely due to this investment in growth, FORM has reported a loss for the financial year. The result includes the planned development expenditure, together with the impact of the deferral of revenue received to the 2025-2026 financial year. Contracted revenue can only be recognised once the relevant performance obligations are met, in line with AASB 15 (Revenue from Contracts with Customers).
With the increasing scale of FORM’s operations, the Committee has seen steady improvement in financial systems, governance, and reporting processes. These changes build on an already solid base and will support the organisation to manage growth with greater care and accountability.
At 30 June 2025, FORM held total assets of $6.1 million and has a total equity position of $3.8 million. The Board remains committed to strengthening financial sustainability, including through the ongoing development of a working capital reserve that is aligned to the organisation’s size and risk profile.
The external audit was conducted by Dry Kirkness, who confirmed that FORM’s financial statements gives a true and fair view of the organisation’s financial position and performance for the year. No material issues were raised, and the reports were found to comply with all relevant accounting standards. The Committee reviewed the audit findings in detail and met separately with the auditor to discuss the audit process, key risks, changes to compliance requirements and any issues arising.
Risk management has continued to develop during the year, with regular updates to the risk register and stronger integration of risk considerations into planning. The Organisational Leadership Team has played an active role in monitoring and addressing risks, which has strengthened FORM’s overall position during this period of change and opportunity.
The Committee acknowledges the commitment of the Organisational Leadership Team to high standards of financial management and accountability. Their efforts have helped keep FORM on a stable footing while laying the groundwork for future impact.
In closing, the Committee remains confident in FORM’s underlying financial Position, and in the integrity of its governance and risk management practices.
Government Grants
Membership and workshop fees
Fee for Service
Sale of goods
Sponsorships and supports
Donations
Other income
Total Revenue
Revenue from ordinary activities Expenses from ordinary activities
Cost of sales
Organisational Costs
Project & Program delivery
Depreciations
Lease/interest expenses
Total Expenses
2024-2025 Financial Year
$3,210,530.00
$52,887.00
$1,758,789.00
$696,380.00 $1,531,738.00 $220,688.00
$114,069.00 $7,585,081.00
2024-2025 Financial Year -$477,191.00 -$3,752,124.00 -$3,734,004.00 -$353,744.00 -$38,090.00 -$8,355,153.00
2023-2024 Financial Year -$518.169.00 -$3,448,202.00 -$2,607,500.00 -$353,903.00 -$37,155.00 -$6,964,929.00
2019-2024 Income & Expenditure
$9,000,000.00
$8,000,000.00
$7,000,000.00
$6,000,000.00
$5,000,000.00
$4,000,000.00
$3,000,000.00
$2,000,000.00
$1,000,000.00 $0
6,948,695 7,585,081 6,964,929 8,355,153
2019-2024 Surplus/Loss before depreciation
$3,000,000.00
$2,500,000.00
$2,000,000.00
$1,500,000.00
$1,000,000.00
$500,000.00 $0 -$500,000.00
Partners & Donors
Without the generous support of partners, patrons and donors, the work FORM does would simply not be possible. Those who contribute are not only investing in the organisation, but the broader arts sector, the next generation of young creatives, and the lives and livelihoods of fellow Western Australians.
Guests at FORM’s Thank You Event, MinterEllison, Perth WA. Image courtesy of FORM Building a State of Creativity.
Principal Partner (Pilbara)
Government Partners
Lead Partner
Creative Thinker Partners Major Partner
Supporting Partners
Hospitality Partners
Donors
Anonymous Donors
Cecile Crochu & Alan Ng
Don & Victoria Fini
Katrina & Craig Burton
Kathy Reid
Lorraine and Graeme Rowley (Rowley Foundation Pty Ltd)
Marilyn Burton
MEM Loton OAM
Mike & Monica Wertheim
Nadia & Johnno Lefroy
Nicolette Cassella
Paula Rogers & Phil Thick
Paul Kotsoglo & Alexandra
Horoch
Peter Lee OAM
Peter & Diana Hammond (Tropical Holdings Pty Ltd)
Randal & Monique Humich
Paul and Sophie Chamberlain (Spinifex Trust)
The Farm Margaret River Ltd
Thomas Rayner
Tim Shanahan
Stedman Ellis
Sue Fletcher & Richard Chapman
Sue & Gareth Bamford
Thank You
FORM thanks each and every person, organisation, agency and company mentioned in this Annual Report, all of whom have made welcome and valuable contributions to our projects in 2024 to 2025.
In addition to the talented creative individuals with whom we have worked, we reserve a special thank you to all our partners. FORM’s corporate partnerships in particular support us in seeking new opportunities and better solutions, while also encouraging the broader business sector to think differently and more creatively about the ways in which they contribute to the communities where they do business.
We are a member of the Indigenous Art Code, a system that preserves and promotes ethical trading in Indigenous art.
Untitled, Dulk, 2024. RIver Country Art Trail, Mathoura, NSW. Photograph by Mitchell Barkman Videography.
