Founded in 2012, the Creative Corner is a not-for-profit, membership-based organisation representing the professional creative sector. The Creative Corner focuses efforts to work both alongside and on behalf of the South West creative eco-system to ensure it is a growing and sustainable industry across the South West region of Western Australia.

our focus.

Empowering creatives to connect, collaborate and succeed.

Want to connect with other creative legends in Perth and the South West? You’re in the right place.

Get opportunities, funding, and support. No more going it alone, we’ve got your back.

Looking for workshops, events, or a reason to get out of the house? We’re always up to something.

what you can do with us.

If you want to know more about us, download our Capability Statement, or Contact Anita Pettit, Creative Corner’s manager at hubmanager@thecreativecorner.com.au or call her on 0417 924 876 to get in touch.

meet our committee.

The Creative Corner Committee is a dedicated group of people elected to consider, decide upon and oversee the strategic planning, operations, management and performance of our organisation.

Jon Riccardione
Jon Ricciardone

Chair

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Bureau 42

A communications and advertising professional, Jon Ricciardone leads a small but experienced team at bureau42, a Marketing Agency located in the South West.
After graduating from Curtin University, Jon spent a year working in London before returning home to Western Australia, specialising in digital media within some of Perth’s leading Media Agencies.
In-part through his involvement with the Emergence Creative Festival, Jon decided to relocate with his young family to the South West, where bureau42 was founded as a partnership between The Box creative agency, AMD Chartered Accountants and Jon as Managing Director. Working with a diverse range of local businesses, SME organisations and national brands, Jon and the team provide marketing solutions tailored to their clients specific needs.

Mia Burley
Mia Burley

Vice Chair

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Apparatus

Mia has been working in public realm design space for over 15 years. Specialising in interpretative design and curatorial planning, she has highly developed conceptual and creative skills and extensive experience working in a collaborative multi-disciplinary team environment. Mia has experience in stakeholder consultation, community engagement and the facilitation of consultative workshops. She also has considerable experience in managing projects from end to end including detailed design and documentation for fabrication and installation, quality management, costings and budget tracking. Mia has worked as a design tutor and educational content developer. Some award winning past projects she has worked on while at Arterial Design include Bina Parkland (City of Stirling), Wireless Hill War Memorial (City of Melville) and the Strathewen Bushfire Memorial.
Ian Smith
Ian Smith

Treasurer

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Arts Margaret River

Margaret River born and bred, Ian has always had a strong passion for the arts, having played piano since the age of 7 and joining the Margaret River Theatre Group when he was 10. A love of numbers saw him enter the banking industry for 12 years before returning to Margaret River to join his family’s winery business where he was the Marketing Manager for 13 years. An active Community Volunteer, Ian joined The Creative Corner in 2017 and became Treasurer of the organisation in 2018. Professionally, Ian is a bookkeeper and is also the Volunteer and Event Support Manager at Arts Margaret River. He is also the Treasurer at Radio Margaret River and presents his own radio show on RMR every Sunday afternoon.
Danielle Fitzgerald

Committee Member

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Wildfire Creative

Danielle Fitzgerald is a documentary photographer, artist, and narrative disruptor based in Margaret River. With a background in social work and advocacy, she brings a unique perspective to visual storytelling, blending documentary photography with portraiture and cultural commentary, to reframe representation and centre underrepresented voices. Her long-form documentary project Venus 8 explores backstage rituals and erotic labour, reframing representation within contemporary culture. The work has been recognised with three awards at the 2025 Australian Photographic Prize (Silver and two Bronze), where she was also named a Top 30 Documentary Photographer. She was a finalist in the 2025 Galah Regional Prize for her image 'Rinse' and has been featured in Dazed (UK). Danielle’s practice spans portraiture, social impact projects, and creative collaborations across Western Australia, connecting art and advocacy through stories rarely seen in the mainstream. 

Mark Hansel

Committee Member

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granddog - Design & Branding

Mark Hansel, a creative advertising and design professional with over 25 years of experience, heads up granddog - Design & Branding, a Margaret River-based graphic design consultancy providing both creative and strategic solutions tailored to each individual business's needs with a focus on creating impactful brands. Mark leverages his extensive marketing knowledge to ensure brand development aligns with overall business goals. He enjoys collaborating with inspiring clients, providing a supportive partnership as they navigate their brand's evolution.

Mat Lewis
Mat Lewis

Industry Advisor

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Creative Tech Village

Mat has recently been appointed as the Director of the WA Creative Tech Hub for Edith Cowan University for the state to foster collaboration and creative innovation. Over the last 9 years Mat has focused on the development of the Creative Sectors within the South West with the establishment of the Emergence Creative Festival and the Creative Corner. Mat was integral in the conception and development of festivals such as Strings Attached, Cabin Fever, Margaret River on Tour and the Pinot Picnic. He has worked the last 17 years at the South West Development Commission and has worked in partnership with Austrade (Australian Trade Commission) since 2005 as the TradeStart Advisor over this period until 2015 where managed the program. Mat has an extensive background export market development for the wine, food, tourism, creative and innovation sectors. Mat moved to Margaret River after graduating from his Bachelor of Business degree at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in 1995 and in 1996 developed the Margaret River Wine Club. Mat then returned to Perth to study Postgraduate Diploma in Multimedia at ECU and helped his vision become reality of developing a Marketing Agency in Margaret River called CREATIVE JUICES.
Anita Pettit
Anita Pettit

Manager

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Creative Corner Inc

Anita is a project and event manager working in the arts, design, travel and tourism industries. After studying photography she completed three Advanced Diplomas in Travel and Tourism and is now also a Certified Digital Marketing Professional which gave her a skill set to apply in administration, marketing and social media. From her career and travels around the world she has the ability to relate, connect and support people from different cultures and backgrounds. She has worked across all sectors including not-for-profit, private business, local government and has been successfully self-employed in her own business. As a project and event manager she has co-ordinated the Shinju Matsuri Acquisitive Art Awards, Shire of Broome Event & Sponsorship Program, MRIS 17th Annual Margaret River Art Auction, curated the Open Borders Emergences Exhibition at the Holmes à Court Gallery Vasse Felix, Festival Directed Emergence Creative 2024 and is currently the Creative Corner Manager in Margaret River.