00:00Well, there could be no sculptures to see by October 17, with Sculptures by the Sea
00:07requiring an extra $200,000 in order for the event to go ahead.
00:12That money needs to be secured in the next two weeks.
00:16Now, the organisation have put their hand out to the public with more than $120,000
00:22already raised.
00:24The not-for-profit organisation relies on a combination of sponsorships and government
00:28funding to run the exhibit that begins on October 17, as well as pay its artists.
00:34But Sculptures by the Sea says it was unable to secure funding from the federal government
00:39to support the annual art exhibit.
00:40Although smaller grants are currently available, the founder of Sculptures by the Sea, David
00:45Handley, says those available funds are simply not enough in order to run the art exhibit.
00:51But he's also said that Creative Australia have effectively refused to come to the table.
00:57We couldn't even get a meeting with Creative Australia, the only source of federal arts
01:01funding in Australia.
01:03We couldn't even get a meeting with them this year.
01:05They know full well our financial circumstances.
01:08And if they don't, they're not reading our letters or doing their job.
01:12But Creative Australia, the federal government's art funding arm, says organisers had not submitted
01:17an application for further funding for 2025.
01:21Organisers of the event say the funding had been drying up since the COVID-19 pandemic, with
01:26a million dollars in funding allocated in 2023, but practically nothing in 2024.
01:32Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke has also weighed in on the issue.
01:36However, he has echoed the position of Creative Australia.
01:40I've seen reports from Sculptures by the Sea and a message that came through me claiming
01:46that they'd been unable to receive funding, unable to get funding from Creative Australia.
01:52I checked with Creative Australia, they hadn't applied.
01:55Individual artists can spend up to $15,000 on their particular installation, with the entire
02:02event costing up to $3 million.
02:05They're expecting to see up to 450,000 people make their way across the Coastal Walk from
02:11Bondi to Tamarama, but that is, of course, only if the event goes ahead.
02:16With more than $120,000 raised of that $200,000 target, the difference has to be made up by
02:23October 17.
Comments