Future Ready Forum: Strengthening Perth’s global identity through its powerful creative and cultural ecosystem

A thriving creative and cultural ecosystem does more than enrich a city. It creates jobs and opportunities, attracts talent, investment and visitors, strengthens identity and contributes to the vibrancy and liveability that define great global cities.

Committee for Perth’s ambition is that Perth is consistently ranked among the five most liveable cities in the world. A strong creative sector will be fundamental to achieving this.

Our next Future Ready Forum: Strengthening Perth’s global identity through its powerful creative and cultural ecosystem, co-hosted by The Lester Prize at WA Museum Boola Bardip, will bring together leaders from Perth’s creative, cultural, business and government sectors to explore how creativity can transform the identity of greater Perth and strengthen the city’s economy, wellbeing and global reputation.

Parliamentary Secretary Cassie Rowe MLA will set the scene with an overview of the WA Government’s vision for the State’s creative industries and the opportunities ahead.

Moderated by Andrew Baker, Head of Vibrant & Connected Communities at Minderoo Foundation, the panel will feature Clothilde Bullen OAM, Manager, Art, Culture and Collections at Edith Cowan University and PICA Board Member; Ian Booth, CEO of Black Swan State Theatre Company, Creative Industries Taskforce member and Committee for Perth Board Member; and Kathy Reid, Deputy Chair of FORM and Managing Partner at MinterEllison.

Together, they will explore why creative industries are vital to Perth’s economic, cultural and social development, how arts and culture can contribute to Perth’s global liveability, and what is needed to build a thriving creative ecosystem for the future.

Following the discussion, guests will have the opportunity to tour The Lester Prize portraiture exhibition and continue the conversation over drinks and canapés.

Panelists

Clothilde Bullen OAM

Manager ECU Art, Culture and Collections and PICA Board member. Before joining Edith Cowan University, Clothilde Bullen held senior curatorial and executive roles at the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, where she was the inaugural Senior Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections and Exhibitions. Her award-winning exhibitions include Richard Bell: You Can Go Now, and John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new.

She has also contributed through board and advisory roles, including as Chair of the National Association for the Visual Arts and the Australian chapter of the International Association of Art Critics. She has written widely, co edited Artlink and championed pathways for First Nations writers and arts workers. In 2025, she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the arts, particularly Indigenous arts.  

Ian Booth

Ian is currently the CEO of Black Swan State Theatre Co, Western Australia’s major theatre company, a role he has held since 2022. He has over 25 years of experience in the Australian screen industry and is currently a director of film executive production company Indian Pacific Pictures and Home Fire Creative Industries, who developed and now manage Perth Film Studios. Ian is a Commonwealth Government appointed member of the Board of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, and Chair of its Finance and Audit Committee. He is also a member of Minister McGurk’s Creative Industries Taskforce.

Ian was CEO of Screenwest for over a decade, financing hundreds of screen projects, including Mystery Road, Breath, Red Dog, Satellite Boy, Paper Planes, Bran Nue Dae, Cloudstreet, SAS: The Search for Warriors, Outback Truckers, Lockie Leonard and many more. Originally a lawyer, Ian also worked at the ABC and has served on the Boards of national screen agency Ausfilm, Awesome Arts and the FTI.

Kathy Reid

Kathy Reid is the Managing Partner of MinterEllison in Western Australia and one of the state’s leading workplace relations advisers, with more than 30 years’ experience advising boards, executives and major employers.

Beyond her legal practice, Kathy brings a strong personal commitment to WA’s creative and cultural life through her role as Deputy Chair and Governance Committee Chair of FORM, the not-for-profit driving large-scale creative thinking, learning and cultural tourism programs across the state – including its work supporting Aboriginal art studios in the Pilbara. Kathy is a passionate advocate for the role business can play in strengthening Perth’s arts and cultural ecosystem.

Event Photos

About our host ‘The Lester Prize’ 

The Lester Prize is one of Australia’s most prestigious portraiture awards and an annual celebration of artists and their communities. 

Established in 2007 as the Black Swan Prize, it has grown to become Australia’s largest national art prize by total prize money, awarding more than $140,000 across its Main and Youth Awards and multiple categories. 

Guided by its ethos of “art accessible for all”, The Lester Prize showcases established and emerging artists from across Australia. In 2025, 40 finalists were selected from a record 1,124 entries, the largest number in the Prize’s history. 

The Lester Prize is managed by The Lester Inc, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing a platform for Australian portraiture and connecting artists and audiences.