Fremantle revealed as WA’s creative capital according to new research

According to data, 0.62% of Fremantle’s total fulltime workforce consists of visual and performing artists, compared with 0.29% for Perth and 0.16% for the rest of WA.

The port city of Fremantle – known as Walyalup by the Noongar people and nicknamed ‘Freo’ by most West Australians – has the greatest concentration of visual and performing artists in the state, according to a new study by researchers from QUT and the University of Newcastle.

‘Fremantle has a strong creative DNA and punches above its weight in the creative services,’ said QUT Associate Professor Dr Mark Ryan.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts