Running alongside the Radical Futures survey exhibition, the 2026 WA Regional Visual Arts Summit will take place at John Curtin Gallery from 17–20 September 2026, bringing together artists, curators, arts workers and organisations from across Western Australia.
The Summit is an opportunity to connect with colleagues from across the state, share ideas and explore the future of regional visual arts practice. The program features keynote presentations, panel discussions, artist talks, networking events and professional development opportunities, alongside optional activities including Pitch Sessions, Mentoring Circle, Bus Tours and Art Making.
Presented as part of the WA Regional Arts Triennial 2025–26, the Summit celebrates the creativity of regional arts communities while strengthening connections, collaboration and future opportunities across the sector.
Explore the program below to discover the sessions, speakers and opportunities available throughout the Summit.
Please note: This program is provided as a general guide and is subject to minor changes as planning continues. Additional session details and speaker information will be uploaded soon.
Panel Discussion – 2pm – 3pm @ Lecture Threatre
Facilitated by: Laetitia Wilson
Panellists: Rebecca Brookes, Amy Rumble-Bennet & W. Sze Tsang
As technology continues to impact and shape how we create, communicate and imagine futures, artists have an important role to play in asking the urgent questions of our times – concerning agency, environment, ethics and responsibility. In a moment marked by both excitement and anxiety around artificial intelligence, creative practice can offer ways to think critically about the systems that increasingly mediate our lives. This panel brings together voices from art, sound, research and law to consider how technologies are changing ideas of authorship, art making and the experience of art. Grounded in the themes of Radical Futures, the conversation asks what ethical, sustainable and imaginative futures might look and feel like in the age of AI.
Panel Discussion – 12pm – 1pm @ Atrium
Facilitated by: Fiona Sinclair
Panellists: Susanna Castledon, Anna-Louise Richardson & Sarah Roots
Curatorship is about creating a container for connections and conversations: between artists, audiences and ideas. Join Prof Susanna Castleden, Sarah Roots and Anna Richardson to discuss their roles in Radical Futures and the changing exhibition form across the Regional Arts Triennial project.
Networking – 1:30pm – 3:30pm @ Atrium
Looking to put faces to names, ask the questions you’ve been sitting on, or simply find out who’s doing what across the visual arts sector? Bringing together organisations from across WA for a series of relaxed one-on-one conversations with delegates.
Whether you’re seeking funding advice, professional development opportunities, partnerships, or just want to better understand the support available to artists and arts workers in regional Western Australia, this is your chance to connect directly with the people behind the organisations.
Drop in, have a chat, and leave a little more in the loop.
Panel Discussion – 11 am – 12pm @ Northern Gallery
Facilitated by: Maxxi, Minaxi May
Panellists: Chelsea Hopkins Allen, Alex Desebrook & Peter Grant
Unpack diverse residency models for artists at all career stages.
Explore a selection of programs such as social engagement, community connection, research, studio, and city-based programs. Hear about how they function, helping you identify and secure opportunities to activate your practice.
Art Making Activity @ Kattidj Nagar
Open throughout the Summit when the Room is Available
Seeds for Tomorrow is a quiet, reflective making space that invites people to pause, connect and contribute to a collective exchange of ideas.
nspired by the theme of Radical Futures, the activity draws on the meaning of a radical as the first shoot to emerge from a germinating seed. Participants are invited to consider the ideas, hopes and acts of care they wish to nurture within their own communities and creative practice.
Panel Discussion – 12:30pm – 1:30pm @ Lecture Theatre
Facilitated by: Cathy Cummins
Panellists: Dora Griffths, Japneet Keith & Wiggy Matsuda
Building stronger regional connections while shaping and celebrating our unique identities.
The session will explore how each region developed its own unique interpretation of Radical Futures, the insights curators gained through cross-regional exchange, and the lessons that emerged from engaging with their local communities and contexts.
Panel Discussion – 2:00pm -3:00pm @ Lecture Threatre
Facilitated by: Caitlin Stewart
Panellists: Mitchella Hutchins & Sarah Roots
The Radical Grounding panel explores what happens when regional creatives begin with place. Through site-responsive practice, sculpture and installation our panelists reflect on fire, ecology, material memory and the grounded ways regional communities imagine, create and care for the future.
Round Table – 10:30am -12:00pm @ Atrium
Facilitated by: Emma Gibben
Where do you fit within Western Australia’s arts ecosystem, and what could we grow together? This playful, embodied session invites artists, curators and organisations to map the people, relationships and opportunities that shape our sector. Through conversation, movement and collective sense-making, we will explore our creative ecosystem, where new possibilities could take root, and how each of us can contribute to its growth.
Panel Discussion – 1:30pm -2:30pm @ Atrium
Facilitated by: Ricky Arnold (Executive Director, Art On The Move)
Panellists: David Doyle (Executive Director, DADAA), Representatives from Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport, and Lotterywest
Infrastructure development projects can be complex, expensive and long-term. This session hears experiences of organisations that have undertaken complex development projects, with discussion of the stages they’ve been through, the complexities around Local Government approvals, heritage assessments and risk, and budgeting. Aimed at managers who have ambitions for gallery upgrades, we will also hear from funders about the resources that are available to help you reach your goals.
Round Table – 1pm – 2:30pm @ Northern Gallery
Facilitated by: Kate Schaffner & Monique Williams
Creative work thrives when people do.
As the arts sector continues to navigate challenging ways of working, creating psychologically safe and healthy workplaces has never been more important. Whether you’re an artist, curator, producer, venue manager or arts leader, the way we work together shapes not only individual wellbeing, but the sustainability and future of our creative communities.
This practical and interactive session explores what psychosocial safety means in an arts context and how creative businesses, organisations and individuals can take meaningful steps to build healthier workplace cultures.
Together, we’ll explore some of the most common psychosocial hazards affecting the creative industries — from high workloads and insecure work to unacceptable behaviours including bullying, harassment and discrimination. Through practical examples and discussion, we’ll examine how these risks can be identified, managed and reduced, while building workplaces where people feel supported to do their best work.
Grounded in the principles of fairness, safety and respect, the session combines practical workplace guidance with strategies to support mental health and wellbeing. Participants will leave with practical tools, resources and ideas they can apply in their own workplaces and creative practice, helping to build healthier organisations, stronger relationships and a more sustainable future for the arts.
Indigenous Curators Session – 9am – 10:30am @ Kattidj Nagar
Facilitated by: Michelle Broun
The Regional Arts Triennial has created several dedicated spaces for Indigenous attendees to connect and yarn and contemplate Radical Futures.
This session will allow emerging and experienced curators to come together to exchange information, explore ideas to collaborate, discuss opportunities for career pathways, funding models, new technologies, cultural safety, as well as projects, mentorships and models which support Indigenous curators. It will support the cultural safety of Indigenous attendees and curators.
Art Making Activity @ Kattidj Nagar
Open throughout the Summit when the Room is Available
Seeds for Tomorrow is a quiet, reflective making space that invites people to pause, connect and contribute to a collective exchange of ideas.
nspired by the theme of Radical Futures, the activity draws on the meaning of a radical as the first shoot to emerge from a germinating seed. Participants are invited to consider the ideas, hopes and acts of care they wish to nurture within their own communities and creative practice.
Panel Discussion – 9am – 10:30am @ Atrium
Introduction by: Jane King (AMAGA WA) & Fiona Sinclair (Southern Forest Arts)
Facilitated by: Denice Kickett (Yirra Yaakin)
AMAGA WA, in collaboration with Yirra Yaakin, presents an opportunity to have your say in what Western Australia’s Bicentenary in 2029 will look like. As well as informing the next iteration of the Regional Arts Triennial and helping shape capacity building activities for the sector over the next three years, your views and ideas will feed into the community feedback collated by Yirra Yaakin on behalf of the Premier’s Bicentenary Planning Committee. Your voice is important!