"You are invisible until your story is told."
– Sandra Krempl, Executive Officer/CEO of CAN, 1996–2003

For 40 years Community Arts Network has been collaborating with communities to amplify their voices and stories.

On Thursday 13 November 2025 we gathered on the banks of the Derbal Yaragan (Swan River) to celebrate the significance not only of those stories but of our own. The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of a special video, showcasing CAN’s story and celebrating the impact of CAN’s work.

CAN’s story began in the 1980s, when community arts pioneers Jenny Beahan and Ali Sumner decided it was time for Western Australia to have its own Community Arts Network, based on models they had seen in the Eastern States.

Jenny and Ali founded CANWA – as it was then known – in 1985, as an advocacy organisation with values firmly grounded in social justice and activism. Right from the beginning CAN celebrated community arts as a movement rather than a consumer experience; as a genre that has the capacity to effect change in the lives of participants.

In the years that have followed CAN has been, variously, a peak body, a registered training organisation running professional development programs for those working in community arts and cultural development, a key player in the establishment of the King Street Arts Centre, and an arts producer running projects and programs across Western Australia.

But while the shape and role of CAN has morphed and evolved over its four decades of operation, the organisation’s commitment to community arts' capacity to make change – by platforming stories, histories and experiences that reveal the depth and diversity of our world – has been the common thread that ties each iteration to the previous one.

Anyone who works in the arts knows what an achievement it is for a community arts organisation to have reached its 40th anniversary. The fact that CAN has not just survived, but thrived, is a testament to that legacy, those values, and the ongoing commitment to that purpose, as well as the many individuals who have supported and driven the organisation over its 40 years.

It was such an honour to be joined by our friends and supporters for a cocktail party at the Nedlands Yacht Club, to celebrate not just this milestone but the impact of our work. The video was warmly received, its poignant final moments moving many to tears.

Thank you to CAN Cultural Advisor and Aboriginal Advisory Group (AAG) Chair Geri Hayden for her wise and generous Welcome to Country, to the Hon Ayor Makur Chuot MLC, who spoke so movingly about her own story of finding her voice as a Black woman in politics, to CAN Chair Lorraine Keane for providing insight into CAN's history and impact, and to The Hon David Templeman, former member for Mandurah, Australian Labour Party, MLA, for his hilarious video message.

We thank all our guests too – Shelagh Magadza (Executive Director, Aboriginal Cultural Centre Project, Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport), CAN founders Jenny Beahan and Ali Sumner, former CAN CEO Monica Kane, Geri Hayden, Lorraine Keane, the many artists and arts workers who have collaborated with us over the decades, and CAN board directors, AAG members, friends and supporters. We are thrilled that you joined us to celebrate CAN’s milestone birthday, and honour the many arts leaders and workers, artists and community participants who have helped us reach it.

Lastly, thank you to our ongoing supporters, the West Australian Government and the Federal Government, as well as major project supporters Lotterywest, Healthway and the Federal Government’s Indigenous Languages and Arts program, who have, over the years, invested millions into the wellbeing and creativity of communities across WA through CAN, ensuring that we can continue to tell stories that make the invisible visible.

Pictured top: CAN's 40th anniversary at the Nedlands Yacht Club // credit Edwin Sitt