The Future of Art in WA
Are you ready? It’s art like no one in Western Australia has seen before… Beyond the gallery walls, a new visionary plan is taking shape for the future of art in Western Australia. We invite you to join the journey.
Jacobus Capone, ‘End & Being’, 2025, Synchronised 4-channel 4k video with sound. Duration: 76 minutes. Courtesy of the Artist and Moore Contemporary.
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A cultural landmark in the making Imagine a place where art isn’t confined to the gallery walls, but lives on the outside of buildings, pulling you into new immersive experiences… That place is ECU City. A once-in-a-generation union of vision, location and ambition showcasing WA’s unique voice for the world to see. Here, art, technology, culture and education converge in a space that pushes boundaries, stimulates creativity and disrupts convention. A first for Western Australia: ECU City is an inner-city university campus bringing together, growing and elevating the creative industries, with dedicated gallery spaces, public artworks and large-scale immersive digital art installations inside and out that turn its very walls into a living breathing canvas. But bold ideas need backing. And that’s where you come in.
The centre of everything Art doesn’t flourish in a vacuum. It’s as much a part of our lives as it reflects it.
“ECU welcoming the Creative arts students into the city will drive demand and grow the reasonable expectation that the many under-used CBD spaces could host arts activities. CBD based students will rightly seek access underused spaces in the same way they are used in other cosmopolitan cities.” Peter Grant Artistic Director / CEO, Artsource
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From Oslo to Oxford, Bologna to Boston, a central university transforms the fabric of cities and communities. Streets are more vibrant and diverse. Retailers and restaurants are busier, and most importantly, the community is engaged in arts, culture and lifelong learning.
New life is coming to the heart and community of Perth. The opportunities are endless, from showcasing the collections of world-renowned artists to hosting children’s art labs. The future is here, it’s full of promise, and you can be a part of it.
There’s something extraordinary about art in WA. Since the 1970s, ECU has fuelled creative innovation, nurturing groundbreaking creative and divergent talents, shaping them to deliver far beyond our expectations.
You may be surprised by our artistic alumni. It boasts world-renowned artists, such as Graham Hay, Dr Sarah Jane Pell and Jacobus Capone. Each artist, who, despite their varying styles, approaches, and mediums, shares the common thread of ambition, captivating styles, and limitless imagination. Their art speaks for itself, from performance art that transcends our everyday world to breathtaking, immersive digital experiences, and enchanting sculpture and painting that invite us to question our view of the world. We provide the foundations, the tools, and the teachings that ignite their spark, and now the platform and opportunity to display their talent for the world to see. With your support, our ambitious vision of a future that embraces art at its very core and our mission to catapult Perth to the forefront of artistic excellence can take shape.
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Silent Pages (72,000 compressed pages, 1.8m high) by Graham Hay at the 2009 Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe Beach
Alumni Spotlight
Jacobus Capone
Stephanie De Biasi
Graham Hay
Sidney Myer Creative Fellow, Jacobus Capone, reflects on fragility, human and ecological, in his work. Mapping the connection between our internalised experience and the world around us.
Stephanie De Biasi is a Perth-based multidisciplinary artist whose work explores domestic commonalities, consumer culture, and environmental issues. Using discarded and everyday waste materials, she reflects on the impact of consumerism. Her notable works include the award-winning Sculpture by the Sea - Fossil, Blanket, a largescale public artwork made of 9,500 wine lids, and Shallow Waters, a coral reef-inspired installation at the Castaways Sculpture Awards. De Biasi also hosts sculptural workshops in schools and the community.
Internationally renowned artist Graham Hay has showcased his work at 181 exhibitions across sixteen countries, including seven biennales in Australia, the Netherlands, Argentina, Romania, and Venice, Italy. Much of his work examines the relationship between the individual and the collective, personal repetition and identity, ritual and social structures, cultural systems, and real social and professional network patterns. He is well-regarded for his technical innovations and expertise in paper clay and compressed paper sculpture, as well as his engagement with new technologies, video, and performance.
Bachelor of Visual Arts, 2007
Since graduating with a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2007, Jacobus has exhibited globally and nationwide, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Tarrawarra Museum, Australian Centre for Contemporary Arts, Taipei Fine Arts Museum and prestigious exhibition spaces in Germany, Finland, USA and many more. To learn more about Jacobus visit: jacobuscapone.com
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Bachelor of Contemporary Arts, 2018
To learn more about Stephanie visit: stephaniedebiasi.com
Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts: Ceramics), 1994
To learn more about Graham visit: grahamhay.com.au
ECU produces world-class artists, with alumni playing a crucial role in our Visual Arts program. These talented artists foster a vibrant community where creativity and innovation thrive. Their achievements not only bring prestige to the University, they inspire the next generation, ensuring ECU remains at the forefront of visual arts education in Western Australia.
Isaac Huggins
Ivan Medrano
A Perth-based multidisciplinary visual artist, curator and arts educator, Isaac’s current work explores the psychological effects of advertising shifting boundaries between cultural capital and commodification. Huggins merges gestural abstraction with screenprinted imagery and typographic forms. His process-based experimentation aims to evoke the fractured nature of contemporary media landscapes, as well as the dissonance between historical artistic legacies and the aesthetics of consumer culture.
Ivan Medrano is a contemporary artist focused on the metaworld and dismantling the tangible human experience. His pieces interrogate the binary dualisms of the tangible and intangible, the mechanical and natural, the physical and virtual. Medrano’s work conveys a sense of disruption and turmoil, accompanied by the grounded solace of a digital oasis. Deeply interested in posthuman discourse, he promotes introspection about humanity’s evolving relationship with technology and its impact on the perception of the physical human experience.
To learn more about Isaac visit: isaachuggins.com
To learn more about Ivan visit: ivanmedrano.framer.media
Bachelor of Contemporary Arts, 2022
Bachelor of Design, 2022
Dr Sarah Jane Pell
Doctor of Philosophy, PhD Visual Arts, 2007 Performance artist Dr Sarah Jane Pell has devised a practice that extends from sea to summit to space. She has exhibited, performed, and published worldwide. Her themes of human-aquatic adaptation to other worlds and other extreme-performance interfaces are central to her work. She is best known for pioneering “aquabatics” that is performed underwater or shown in museums as films and artifacts. She also designs civilian space-analogues, produces speculative fiction, live art, and novel experiments, undertakes expeditions and contributes to exploration science and outreach. To learn more about Sarah visit: sarahjanepell.com
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The possibility of digital art is infinite In the past, our imaginations were limited by the tools on hand - the plaster, the paint and canvas. But now as we enter a new digital age, crossing new boundaries in space and depth. Exploring beyond, led only by our imagination. Limitless.
“I’ve never felt as empowered as I do now with any other medium [compared to digital]. I’ve always felt roadblocked. There was always a dissonance between what I wanted to create and the capacity of the form I was working with.” Ivan Medrano ECU graduate Bachelor of Design, 2022 and contemporary artist
Ivan Medrano, Bedlam_V, 2024 new media archival inkjet print
A Chrysalis and a Canvas: ECU City ECU City is both a digital canvas and a transformative chrysalis for the next generation of Western Australian artists. Not only will ECU City house a stunning art gallery on its ground floor. It will also offer future WA artists the chance to hone their craft in state-of-the-art project spaces and art studios, providing the opportunity to experiment with the latest technologies in dedicated spaces and with new mediums.
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With your help, and with all these foundational and experimental tools at their disposal, from painting on canvas to 3D digital modelling, these future trailblazers will have limitless opportunities to explore their creative potential and follow in the footsteps of our inspiring artistic alumni.
Isabella Lubcke, Bachelor of Arts 2024. Image by Paul Godfrey.
ELEVATING EXCELLENCE
Ways to give The milestone completion of ECU City provides a unique and exciting opportunity for visionary, creative leaders like you to shape the future of art in WA. Every gift, large or small, plays a vital role in positioning WA as a creative hub, attracting top artists, inspiring future generations, and ensuring that our brightest, most creative minds from diverse backgrounds thrive in the creative fields. All donors become valued members of our family, recognised and stewarded with the utmost care and respect. You will be invited to exhibitions, performances and events, and receive exclusive updates as we celebrate your support. Importantly, 100% of your donation will directly support students and programs that match your passions and priorities. 14
One-off Donation Support a specific program, research initiative, or scholarship with a single gift.
Regular Giving Provide ongoing support through monthly or annual donations, enabling long-term planning and helping us maintain the highest standards of excellence.
Gift in Your Will (Bequest) By including ECU Foundation in your estate plans, you will be giving a gift that transcends generations. We promise to work closely with you and your family to ensure that your gift will leave a legacy that reflects your passions and wishes.
Major Gift Level
Description
$30,000
Excellence and Equity Scholarships and Bursaries: Empower talented students with access to world-class arts education.
$30,000 – $50,000
Community Outreach Programs: Engage school students from diverse communities and regional areas by supporting ECU Visual Arts workshops in the regions to broaden access to the arts.
$50,000+
Artwork Commissions: Support local and national artists by commissioning artwork or public art projects for ECU City that engage and inspire the community and offer students unique opportunities to engage with and learn from practising artists.
$100,000
Art Exhibition and Publication: Enable the commissioning of a mid-career or established artist to deliver an exhibition at ECU Art Gallery to engage the community and build ECU’s national and international profile.
$100,000 – $300,000
Artist in Residence Program: Enhance students’ educational experience and strengthen ECU's connection with the community and broader art world by enabling a residency opportunity for mid-career and established artists.
$160,000 – $300,000
Groundbreaking Research: Drive innovation in visual arts by funding pioneering projects that advance artistic excellence, knowledge and practices.
$100,000 – $5 million
Visionary Futures Fund: This special endowed fund has been established to generate sustained annual income for ECU’s School of Arts and Humanities and public engagement program. The steady stream of annual interest will empower ECU to strategically allocate resources across various initiatives, ultimately supporting our commitment to excellence, internationalisation, and long-term sustainability.
ELEVATING EXCELLENCE
Make a transformational impact Transformational gifts supporting the visual arts to flourish at ECU City will be honoured with the opportunity to name key creative spaces at ECU City, including The ECU Gallery, Spectrum, Whitebox, Painting & Drawing Studio, and more.
These venues will be in the heart of creativity and the centre of Perth – inspiring countless generations of artists, students, visitors and the WA community for decades to come. The following pages outline just a few of the select visual arts spaces available for naming opportunities.
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ECU
Art Gallery ECU Art Gallery is a new and dynamic public-facing gallery, located on the ground floor of ECU City at the bustling intersection of Roe Street and Yagan Square. The Gallery stands as a beacon of artistic excellence and experimentation on the doorstep of Perth’s cultural precinct. Available for naming opportunity
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Our 268 sqm gallery space, which can host up to 130 people, will serve as a dynamic exhibition space for local and national artists’ work, as well as innovative educational programs and activations. Designed to showcase 3D, 2D, and digital art, the ground floor gallery’s expansive windows invite the entire community to connect with art, culture, and performance in the heart of Perth at Yagan Square. The City campus presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rewrite the entire landscape of art and culture in WA, and we want you to be a part of it.
Where bright sparks ignite
From photography to printmaking, motion capture to painting and drawing, the suite of new visuals arts and design facilities will offer world-class teaching and learning experiences. Spread across three different levels, The White Box and Spectrum are just some examples of the inspiring spaces that will nurture the next generation of creative leaders for our community.
THE WHITE BOX Every breakthrough begins with a blank canvas. The White Box studio offers Visual Arts students their own dedicated creative sanctuary – 2.5m2 of pure possibility where experimentation thrives, boundaries dissolve, and artistic vision takes shape. In this collaborative environment, emerging artists work side-by-side with peers and mentors, transforming inspiration into mastery.
Available for naming opportunity 20
A place where risk-taking is encouraged and artistic development is visible with students having opportunities to test ideas with real-life audiences.
SPECTRUM Spectrum will provide WA’s emerging artists with a much-needed exhibition space for experimental work, work integrated learning and public engagement. Students will learn about the practical aspects of curation, gallery and exhibition practices so they graduate with the skills to thrive in the arts industry. This vibrant and inclusive space will host exhibitions, talks, interactive teaching, artist-in-residence programs, visiting scholars and more. Through these activities, Spectrum aims to cultivate WA’s next generation of creative practitioners while also providing a welcoming and inspiring new community space within the University.
Available for naming opportunity
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Our promise to Art and WA ECU City’s striking architecture cannot be ignored. It challenges passersby to absorb the art it displays. The digital walls invite comment. And you can be a part of our promise to shape the artistic future of WA. Start the conversation.
“The new ECU City campus is exactly what visual arts students, and the Perth arts community are looking for at this time. [It] will be a great platform for artists, experimentation, and collaborative outcomes.” Corine van Hall Director, Indarra Public Art
Renders are for visual purposes only.
“Art is too important not to share” Romero Britto
Susan Schofield Director, Development and Alumni Relations CRICOS Provider No. 00279B RTO Code 4756
TEQSA ID PRV12160, Australian University ECU.EDU.AU
M. 0401 087 882 E. s.schofield@ecu.edu.au