Published on Tuesday, 23 December 2025 at 11:36:19 AM
I want to take a moment to reflect and extend my heartfelt gratitude for your generous support of the BioSPHERE BOODJA Arts and Wild Things Festival that took place on September 28, 2025.
First and foremost, thank you for believing in the arts and their transformative power to shift perspectives. Your generosity has been like planting a tree—an act of altruism that will continue to grow and benefit future generations in ways that can never truly be quantified. What you have contributed to is not just a single event, but a living, breathing project that will resonate for years to come.
This festival, with over 3500 people registered and an estimated 4,000 attendees, was unlike anything Goomalling has ever seen before. It was a moment for our community to come together, to celebrate creativity, to break down old systems, and to see the world through new eyes. Your belief in this vision allowed us to bring people from all walks of life, from all backgrounds, and from all abilities, together. We created something magical—a space where we could experience wonder, creativity, and connection in its purest form.
This collective effort was about much more than one individual; it was about a community coming together. From the first time Goomalling’s two schools—the Catholic and State schools—joined voices in song, to the collaborative efforts that led to building puppets with children of all ages, this festival unpicked old boundaries. It allowed us to share new experiences and shift our perspectives on what’s possible. This is the power of the arts: to build bridges where none existed before.
The BioSPHERE BOODJA festival's cultural impact was profound. A series of pre-festival activities, including Fleur Schell’s artist-in-residence at both schools, engaged the students in creating endangered species creatures that were incorporated into the crop circle installation. The school holiday workshops invited the entire community to participate in hands-on art projects with professional artists. The puppet-making project brought together all the children from Goomalling Primary and Sacred Heart Catholic schools, offering them a cross-curricular learning experience that engaged their creativity and understanding of geometry, engineering, and storytelling.
One of the highlights of this collaboration was the Walyormouring Nature immersion, where Elder Aunty Tracey de Grussa, along with Professor Kris Warren and Dr. Barbara Hostalek, guided the students through a cultural and environmental journey, deepening their understanding of the connection between people and the land. Your support made all of this possible, creating an educational experience that transformed the lives of these children, their families, and the community.
The festival itself was a testament to the success of our collective efforts. The children performed with the puppets they had helped create, and the town community came together for a breathtaking ceremony, watching as indigenous spirits and an imagined wheat whale soared across the towering grain domes. It was an experience that left everyone in awe—a celebration of the arts, culture, and nature that brought people together like never before.
Your support also helped Goomalling Primary. Additionally, the educational documentary created by Steven Alyian captures the essence of this project and its deep impact on the children, the local community, and the artists involved. This documentary will continue to serve as an important tool for sharing the story of how the BioSPHERE BOODJA festival fostered creative learning and community connection.
In terms of economic impact, the festival boosted local tourism, providing an economic benefit to the region and local businesses. The festival itself showcased the vibrancy of Goomalling, and the continued legacy of the event will help attract future investment in both arts and tourism.
The impact of your support goes beyond just this event. The festival has already led to ongoing capacity building in the Western Australian creative learning sector, with Midland Brick committing to sponsor an arts residency at both schools in 2026. This residency will ensure that the momentum of creative and cultural learning continues in Goomalling, fostering long-term sustainability in the arts.
As we look to the future, the BioSPHERE BOODJA festival has set the stage for further cultural immersion and artistic expression, with plans for another crop circle installation in 2026 and continued collaborations with Indigenous artists. The legacy of the festival will continue to grow, and we are grateful for your role in making this possible.
This letter is to thank you for a magic that you helped create. Your support allowed a community to dream big and make the impossible possible. You have helped create something extraordinary, and for that, I will be forever grateful.
With all my heart, thank you.
Sincerely,
Fleur Schell
Creative Director
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