East Pilbara Arts Centre

East Pilbara Art Centre (EPAC) is a contemporary, flexible gallery and working space providing Martumili Artists with a purpose-built creative facility for cultural expression, education, public exhibitions and the sale of work. Martumili Artists is an organisation representing self-employed artists across seven Aboriginal communities in the Eastern Pilbara.

The centre opened in April 2016 and was described by architect and UWA School of Design senior lecturer Jennie Officer as an important milestone in the revitalisation of Newman.

EPAC is a transformational building for the town of Newman; a powerful demonstration of commitment to social, cultural and creative excellence and inclusion. The award-winning design exceeds the scale and limitations of the initial brief, allowing for future flexibility and anticipating uses further than those initially briefed.

EPAC was the 2017 winner of the coveted Sir Zelman Cowen award in the National Architecture Awards for Public Architecture.

The inventiveness of Jennie Officer’s design has yielded benefits to the artists and community of Newman, and was awarded more than $8 million in funding.

Designed as a large-span, steel-framed shed, with a thermally decoupled insulated gallery and support areas deep inside, EPAC is both constructionally efficient and a durable, hard-working casing around the gentle activities and accommodation related to the making, celebration and support of art and artists.