Sculpture by the Sea is back for its 21st Perth exhibition this March.
Sculpture by the Sea made its Perth debut in 2005. After a successful 20-year run, the 2025 WA iteration was cancelled due to a lack of funding. While the state government had committed funds, a delay in federal arts funding made it impossible for organisers to proceed.
After the cancellation was announced – and following public outcry – the federal government intervened and committed $1.5 million to the event. It came too late to save the 2025 version but ensured it could go ahead in 2026 and 2027.
“It is thanks to the people of Perth that Sculpture by the Sea Cottesloe is celebrating its 21st exhibition,” founder David Handley said in a statement to Broadsheet. “They embraced the exhibition from the outset and, when we had to postpone the exhibition due to a lack of federal arts funding, the outcry was such that the prime minister heard and stepped in a few days [later] to fund this year’s exhibition.”
This year’s exhibition will run from March 6 to March 23. It will include more than 70 pieces from renowned local and international sculptors, which will serve as a beacon, drawing hundreds of thousands to Cottesloe Beach.
The event started in Handley’s hometown of Sydney in 1997 and is often seen as a quintessentially “Sydney” event, but he says, “as a percentage of population more people from Perth visit Sculpture by the Sea at Cottesloe than the people in Sydney who visit the Bondi exhibition”.
Over 235,000 people attended the 2024 event, with similar numbers expected at Cottesloe this year.
Sculpture by the Sea will run from March 6 to March 23.
