As we embed ourselves deeper into this region, our vision to engage, grow and empower regional creative industries is being realised. From a dynamic and diverse annual program, we have selected 12 highlights to share; 12 stories for 12 months as told by our team, which best illustrate The Junction Co. at this place in time.

Our programs and exhibitions have grown ever more robust, with a sophisticated creative professional development offering that has strong emphasis on online delivery to be accessible to audiences anywhere regardless of geography.  Participants from across the state have this year taken part in programs like COMPASS, EDIFY and EVOLVE, building their technical skill and their capacity for creative enterprises to be an occupation rather than purely a passion. The opportunity to showcase work in our exhibiting platforms, like launchpad exhibition Radius, has changed the game for so many regional creatives.

We believe The Jury Art Prize is Western Australia’s most innovative arts award and for the second consecutive year, our live-streaming of the opening night was a standout, bringing fresh, exciting work to an audience spread around the world.

Within the Courthouse Gallery we have expanded our stockroom and revamped our retail space. The Gallery is a platform for Australian artists and makers, and our audience reflects that – we sell right across Australia through our physical and online stores.

The growth of our online offering is a clever response and a happy side-effect to that insidious challenge, COVID. As state borders opened in early 2022, our team planned for the possible impacts of illness, isolation and most importantly, supported each other through the anxiety of the unknown.

Our planning meant we were well prepared and able to deliver high quality programming despite restrictions; the only major impact was that acclaimed Australian artist Alana Hunt was unable to travel from the Kimberley for the opening of her exhibition All The Violence Within This. It was an honour to work with Alana and share her important work, and while it was disappointing to not have her physically with us, true to form we moved quickly and arranged online ‘Meet the Artist’ sessions to ensure we made the absolute most of our time with her.

We have continued to enhance our financial sustainability, establishing a connector model of service delivery and cementing our social enterprise approach through product initiatives such as Portside soap. Importantly, during the financial year we renewed key partnerships with Town of Port Hedland, BHP and Regional Arts WA, providing security for our organisation and our team into the future.

The Junction Co. continues to take a leading role with Regional Arts WA in the Regional Arts Network which brings together arts and cultural bodies from each region in the state to facilitate growth, stability and structural integrity within the organisations themselves. We’re proud contributors to and beneficiaries of this network, and we know that our involvement helps to cement our future and that by sharing our knowledge within the network we help to cement the future of others.

The strongest asset of The Junction Co. continues to be the people who built it and shape it.

Our team combines people who have lived in the Pilbara for many years with those who are new to the region; half of our employees speak English as their second language, and they come from a wide range of backgrounds… from WAAPA Graduates to fine art degrees, to professions as wide-ranging as community development, photography, marketing, communications and design. This diversity brings a richness in experiences and ideas and colours the offering of The Junction Co. in the most wonderful way.

As a true Pilbara organisation, our team understands transience is something to be embraced rather than fought against. We have retained enormous talent by offering remote and flexible working opportunities to team members whose lives have taken them away from the region, and we continue to take an innovative approach to attracting new team members – offering high-quality professional development opportunities and the ability to facilitate and lead projects makes The Junction Co. a stand-out employer.

We secured our employer-of-choice status this year, most notably adopting a parental leave policy which includes superannuation payments to team members during their leave period; supporting flexible work arrangements particularly through COVID; and introducing an employee assistance program providing team members access to a psychologist and support services.

At the Board level, while we have farewelled some integral founding members over the course of the year (thank you Shelley Blatch and Dani Airton), we have welcomed new voices (hello Dr Gemma Booth and Patrycja Rosinska). We have a strong and stable leadership team made up of dynamic, highly skilled women who volunteer their time generously, and we are very proud of what we have created.

Executive Officer Katie Evans took parental leave in the latter part of the financial year and Patrycja Rosinska stepped into the role in April.  Katie has been the lynchpin of The Junction Co. since its inception, an activator and leader in establishing The Junction Co. and pursuing creative endeavours across the region.  Patrycja has worked incredibly hard and delivered amazing results, with  great depths of enthusiasm and dedication. We are grateful to both Katie and Patrycja for their innovation, creativity and untiring commitment to the vision of The Junction Co.

Finally, to you – our community, our audience, our advocates – thank you. We are ever grateful for your support.

Miranda Cecich
Chair