Funding declined for the second time by DEWHA

Our application for funding to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts has been declined for the second time in just over a year - or is it the third? The community is disappointed but I have to honestly say we are used to it (our regional area is persistently neglected) and that it won't stop us. The reason for this is that the WAP is a community based project, something that Warburton wants and has committed itself to for over twenty years. So we invoke the shade of Hannibal - aut viam inveniam aut faciam - to find a way or make one.

The next five years are important for Warburton in terms of development and for the Arts Project. I feel as though very few people are aware of how different a model of an "arts centre" the WAP is, or how effective it is in what it does.

In a recent interview with two public servants in Perth, whose concerns address viable Aboriginal Economic Enterprise, one expressed some views about passionate people routinely turning up in their rooms, and that we ought to get off “welfare” and pay our way. Firstly, you don’t trade in passion unless you have it in you, and secondly it wasn’t only passion that built the Warburton Art Project. What else could it have been, Jon? It's unlikely you will ever know because you never come here and have a proper conversation or a good look around. At the end of this year I hope to have a website up for people like you. Finally, “welfare” - the term you used in closing remarks to me in the foyer - might apply to people who are, for one reason or another, unable to work. We have plenty to do, and we never stop working; there's lots to show for it. These remarks are kindly meant.

I want to thank everybody who has helped us over the years, and who has seen the merit in our work. We really believe in our work here and that is why we are part of the community and have been here so long now, and we get support and encouragement all the time.

The data base project is going well, but in the opening stages - a grind to get the basic information of artist, accession number, image and core information. Next post will focus on this, also a profile on Cecil Bates our Arts Trainee. Mike O'Ferral arrives today to commence valuations and work on the project with us.

Cheers

gaz