City of Fremantle Art Collection

City of Fremantle’s Art Collection has been housed at the Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) from 1973 following the first significant donation of forty-one Australian paintings by WA art philanthropist Sir Claude Hotchin in 1958. It gave the Collection exposure to a supportive audience and the impetus to accrue new works by local artists and craftspeople, many of whom were beginning to reside and work in the Port City.

The City has maintained its activity in purchasing artworks for the Collection, but it is through the principled way in which the Collection has conducted its relationships with artists and the community that laid the groundwork for attracting important bequests and a remarkable number of gifts and donations through the Commonwealth Cultural Gifts Program. Building upon the holding of Aboriginal Art from Western Australia is a priority for the Collection. It provides a valuable opportunity to appreciate Aboriginal and Indigenous experiences and knowledge of Australian history. A number of Western Australian Aboriginal artists in the Collection represent insights into Fremantle (Walyalup), placing kinship and culture front and centre within a deep and abiding connection to the land.