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 is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts