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.

what we do.

Empowering creatives to connect, collaborate and succeed.

The Creative Corner is the first point of reference for engagement with the South West creative sector. Our aim is to create pathways for increased collaboration across the South West creative sector and map the South West creative ecosystem in collaboration with key partners, increase accessibility of resources, funding, and opportunities for South West creatives and assist in stronger relationships for the South West creative sector both across the state and nationally.

We offer the following support to our creative industry –

Membership Support
A connector for the South West creative industries. Connecting creatives to opportunities and assisting external organisations and individuals to connect with the South West creative industry.

Letters of Support
Providing letters of support for South West creatives for grants and job applications.

Auspice
Support local creatives, artists and collaborations to gain funding through auspice arrangements.

Advocacy & Lobbying
Speak strongly on behalf of or in support of the creative sector in the South West by advocating through relationship-building, making extensive use of evidence-based material and research with the intention of influencing our stakeholders. Lobbying is all about communication and the major consideration of our strategy is that issues, concerns and suggestions are heard by those who have the responsibility and the authority to address them and make a difference.

Partnership Events
Collaborate and support partnership events including Emergence Creative, Margaret River Open Studios and Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival.

Cross Promotion & Collaboration
Conduct cross promotion for events and projects from other local bodies such as the Shire of Augusta Margaret River, City of Busselton, City of Bunbury, South West Development Commission, Creative Tech Village, Margaret River Business Network and Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association.

Capacity Building Activities
Host events, workshops, networking functions and collaborative opportunities to support and nurture capacity building for South West creatives.

Social Media Communications
Communicate via the Creative Corner Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Threads accounts.

Newsletter
Distribute organisational newsletters to members, containing information about upcoming events, funding opportunities, exhibitions and events.

Contact Anita Pettit Creative Corner’s Manager at hubmanager@thecreativecorner.com.au or 0417 924 876 to get in touch with the Creative Corner.

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

|

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

|

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

|

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.
Anton Blume

Committee Member

|

Anton Blume

Blume is an award-winning artist with extensive experience collaborating with international and community-based artists. He founded Simply Designed, a creative freelancer network that operates in Germany and Australia. Blume serves as the Associate Director of Creality Arts and works with distinguished organisations such as Black Swan State Theatre Company, Regional Arts WA, Ausdance, Atelier SLOW Germany and Blues for the Bush Inc to name a few.
Danielle Fitzgerald

Committee Member

|

Wildfire Creative

Danielle is a photographer, storyteller, and creative strategist with a passion for visual narratives that amplify community voices. With a background in social work and media, she brings a unique perspective to documentary and portrait photography, capturing raw, authentic moments that inspire connection and awareness. As the founder of Wildfire Creative, Danielle provides inclusive photography services. Her work extends to social impact projects, photojournalism, and creative collaborations that highlight untold stories in WA.

Mark Hansel

Committee Member

|

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

|

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

|

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.

vision.

Our vision is to position the southwest as a region of excellence in creativity and innovation.

Creative Corner’s vision is to position the South West as a region of excellence in creativity and innovation, and have this recognised at a national level. By 2026, we aim to achieve the following long-term outcomes:

  • The first point of reference for engagement with the South West creative sector.
  • Create pathways for increased collaboration across the South West creative sector.
  • Increase accessibility of resources, funding, and opportunities for South West creatives.
  • Assist in brokering stronger relationships for the South West creative sector both across the state and Nationally.

mission.

Our mission is to foster and grow a sustainable creative industry across the southwest region.

Over the next three years, Creative Corner will focus our efforts to work both alongside and on behalf of the South West creative sector to ensure it is a growing and sustainable industry across the South West region of WA.

values.

Development focussed
Creative Corner is committed to growing the capabilities of the creative industries across South West WA through our actives and collaborations, building the sector and the knowledge within it.

Engaging
Creative Corner and our members, partners, and collaborators embody the creative soul of the South West. Through our actions and activities we seek to engage with others across the state, and nationally, to showcase the creative heart of the region.

Connecting
Creative Corner is community focussed, bringing together creatives from across the region to collaborate, share, and learn together in a safe, nurturing environment.

Inclusive
Creative Corner is community focussed, bringing together creatives from across the region to collaborate, share, and learn together in a safe, nurturing environment Creative Corner and our members, partners, and collaborators embody the creative soul of the South West. Through our actions and activities we seek to engage with others across the state, and nationally, to showcase the creative heart of the region Creative Corner is committed to growing the capabilities of the creative industries across South West WA through our actives and collaborations, building the sector and the knowledge within it.

Strategies
Expanding the range of offerings for our Creative Corner members to increase skills, access specialist services, and reap the benefits of having a local creative practitioner network across the region

Memberships
Expanding the range of offerings for our Creative Corner members to increase skills, access specialist services, and reap the benefits of having a local creative practitioner network across the region.

Activations
Working with Local Governments across the region to activate and stimulate their local creative sectors through both hands-on and consultative work to increase investment and engagement with the sector.

Collaborations
Encouraging collaborative projects for South West practitioners through increased network connections, key events, and also through Creative Corner’s collaborations across the State and Nationally, to bring opportunities to local creatives.

our history.

Founded in 2012, the start of the journey that is Creative Corner began in a most unremarkable and fortuitous way.

At leading documentary maker Richard Todd’s retreat a casual lunch was arranged with facilitation by the South West Development Commission (SWDC). Consisting of legendary glass blower Gerry Reilly, visual effects creator Mike Dunn, a music producer originally from Canada, Noah Shilki, and well-known film sector personalities Alan Lindsay and Jennifer Gheradi a conversation began to grow.

What was clear was that the South West was increasingly growing into an eco-system of creativity that could form a pivotal part of the regional community to assist creative industries thrive alongside the environment’s biodiversity, rugged coastline and surf and prolific wine region reputation.

It was agreed there was something unique about the ecosystem, and this band of diverse creatives and the round table agreed to develop a ‘networking group’ to start to leverage and build on this collective energy, and thus the Creative Corner was born, the name depicting the South West Corner of WA.

Within a few weeks the first networking event was staged at Caves House with a few special guests – the CEO of the WA Music Association Paul Bodolovich along with the Australian rep of the infamous South by South West Music festival and a micro documentary of the festival over 20 years was screened . Mat Lewis had an idea for a Global Marketing Conference for the region based off the diversity he saw in this early event.

Looking around the room the group realised marketing was too narrow a term and a lateral approach to creativity to honour the characters present kicked off a conversation around what a festival look like which landed on the Emergence Creative Festival, which launched in 2013 with an industry conference and satellite events showcasing the talent and the region. The festival ran between 2013 – 2024 and in 2016 the Creative Corner was part of the development of Cabin Fever which is now managed by AHOY Management.

Mat Lewis had seen the creative sector becoming an international priority. The music, film and art scene of the South West drove an economic study that validated the cultural and economic value to the regional economy, reinforcing the ideas that the group had already put into motion.

The informal networking group had quickly become a semi-formal organisation, with a small festival kicking off and a number of further networking events (fondly referred to as Creative Cleansers) in the pipeline, and it needed a logo. Along came Scott Robinson from HayShed Hill to the next meeting, and being a designer created the unique logo of the round circled Creative Corner (without a corner). This was kind of symbolic of the Creative Corner, with an unorthodox approach to driving an organisation let alone a creative movement.

With some seed funding from Regional Development Australia, South West Development Commission and Regional Arts WA the Creative Corner was able to engage a Manager. The Creative Corner is now partly funded by the Shire of Augusta Margaret River and has a dedicated Manager to co-ordinate the Creative Corner.