Peter Walker, the longstanding and much loved tutor of drawing and painting, recently retired from his role at FAC after 42 years of service.
Peter was born in Perth in 1943 and studied Commercial Art – Illustration in the early 1960s at James Street Technical School before working as a teacher in NSW, as a tutor at Fremantle Technical College and at the Art Gallery of WA as Education Officer, under Director Frank Norton in 1972.
Peter was invited to teach and work in residence at FAC by Director Ian Templeman in 1978. He exhibited at FAC on a number of occasions, which developed his growing reputation as a disciplined draughtsman. He was one of a group of foundation FAC tutors including Romola Morrow, Stewart Scambler, Ian Wroth and Gary Zeck. Through his association with FAC, he produced illustrated book covers for Fremantle Press (then Fremantle Arts Centre Press) including for Sir Nicholas Hasluck’s The Hat on the Letter O and other Stories (1978).
A headshot of Peter from a FAC exhibition catalogue, circa 1978
Peter Walker prior to his first solo exhibition at FAC, 1978.
Peter was an exhibiting artist and maintained a studio practice while employed at FAC. He also travelled widely for more than a decade through the FAC Arts Access program, which coordinated workshops in regional communities across the state until 1996.
It is through his extraordinary tenure at FAC that Peter shaped the lifelong learning experiences and art values of thousands of people across WA. He enjoyed consistently full classes at FAC for many years, attracting regular return students from Perth and overseas. A man of temperate nature, he had a reputation for quiet achievement, conducting classes in practical technique in pastels and watercolour, but also encouraging a heartfelt and sincere joy through study of traditional observational art practice as an affirmation of human experience.
Peter Walker, Mandarin Massacre, 1990, pastel on paper, City of Fremantle Art Collection
Peter Walker takes a worldly perspective in his delicately drawn segmented mandarin, which was instigated by the events associated with the massacre of student protesters at Tiananmen Square, Beijing in 1989. This work was commissioned as a cover image for the spring issue of the Fremantle Arts Centre Review, published in August 1990.
Hear from Peter
Peter Walker caught up with City of Fremantle Art Collection Curator André Lipscombe shortly after his last day at FAC, relating happy memories of his time teaching.
Listen to audio from the phone call below.
Share your Peter Walker stories
If you were a student of Peter’s we’d love to hear from you. Share stories, memories or the influce he had on your arts experience. Email artscentre@fremantle.wa.gov.au
We have a new podcast! FAC CHATS is a new avenue for us to connect our audience to the fascinating and talented artists we work with year round.
Listen for in-depth insights into the art making process across the spectrum of artforms. Get to know musicians, visual artists, craftspeople and the FAC team as you hear them discuss their process and projects.
We have these conversations all the time and now we’d love you to be part of them.
FAC CHATS is available everywhere you listen to podcasts.
Listen to the show below, with new episodes dropping very soon.
https://player.acast.com/5eb8e757189fe95a4186130d?theme=default&cover=1&latest=1
Click here to view the artworks discussed in Episode 3 with Andre Lipscombe
Rate, Review & Subscribe
To help other people find FAC CHATS we’d love if you could rate, review and subscribe the show on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play.
FAC CHATS is kindly supported by an Alby Made Community Arts Grant
Spinifex Hill Artist Gideon Gardiner. Image courtesy of Spinifex Hill
Gideon Gardiner is the son of Spinifex Hill artists Nyaparu (William) Gardiner and Kae Nalgood. An interest and talent for art clearly runs in the family, both his sisters and his brother also love to paint.
Gideon works with Spinifex Hill artists in South Hedland on Kariyarra Country in the Pilbara. He watched his father Nyaparu painting for many years before beginning to draw in the Spinifex Hill studio himself in 2017.
Gideon’s artworks are a record of his memories and his experiences of hunting, lore and initiation as a young man in the Kimberley.
Gideon had four works selected for the 2020 Revealed Exhibition. This emerging artist is developing a distinctive practice, evident in the selection of bold ink works on paper.
Gideon Gardiner, Annunciation (detail), 2018, copic marker on paper, 42 x 60cm
Gideon Gardiner, Rainbow Serpent, 2019, copic marker on paper, 42 x 60cm
Gideon Gardiner, Agreement, 2018, copic marker on paper, 57 x 77cm
When he’s not drawing, Gideon is also a skilled guitarist, playing with rock bands.
This is the first time his works have been exhibited.
View the 2020 Revealed Exhibition Online Catalogue
From today, discerning shoppers around the country will now have the opportunity to own quality products made by WA’s most talented makers as FOUND at Fremantle Arts Centre launches its online store.
FOUND has a long and proud tradition of showcasing the best in local design and craftsmanship, stocking Perth’s biggest range of homewares, artwork, jewellery, clothing, textiles, books, toys and gifts made by WA artists and designers.
These products are uniquely Western Australian, of the highest quality and represent the best in contemporary craft and design trends.
“FOUND represents more than 130 artists from across Western Australia and we’re absolutely thrilled to broaden the shop’s reach,” said Fremantle Arts Centre Director Jim Cathcart.
“With today’s launch, local customers will have the added convenience and flexibility of shopping online when it suits them and customers from outside WA will be able to get their hands on these beautiful items, in many cases for the first time.”
With around 300 products available, FOUND online features works by Shaun Tan, Julie Holmes, Robin Wells, Blue Lawn Designs and many more. The range will expand in the coming months to showcase more artists and mediums.
Blue Lawn Designs is a local Fremantle business which designs and prints linen tea towels and tableware featuring images of Fremantle and Rottnest. Their designs are very popular with locals and visitors alike.
“We have been selling through FOUND for more than a decade,” said Chris McDonald, Blue Lawn Designs co-owner. “It provides an excellent place to showcase our work.”
“A national online presence will bring the work of the state’s artisans and creatives to a receptive audience more broadly. Having our own work showcased for a national audience, beside the work of other designers and makers will, we think, contribute to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Launching just in time for Mother’s Day, FOUND online offers standard and express national shipping, and free click and collect options for those in the Perth metropolitan area.
FOUND is online now at shop.fac.org.au
Top image: photography by Bo Wong
Despite galleries being closed nationally, Australians will have the opportunity to experience a generous and varied collection of artworks by 120 of the most exciting new and emerging Western Australian Aboriginal artists when Fremantle Arts Centre launches the 2020 Revealed Exhibition online at 9am AWST Wednesday 22 April.
Revealed is an annual program funded by the WA State Government which showcases WA Aboriginal art through an exhibition, art market and program of professional development for artists and art centre staff. It is an essential platform for nurturing and celebrating the next generation of Aboriginal artists and generates vital income.
This year’s highly anticipated Revealed events had to be cancelled to protect public health and the safety of the artists involved, many of whom travel from very remote regional communities.
Although we cannot hope to match 2019’s Revealed sales of more than $600,000 in these circumstances, Fremantle Arts Centre remains committed to supporting the sector.
“Our doors may be closed but the FAC team is still dedicated to bringing audiences the Revealed Exhibition,” said FAC Director Jim Cathcart. “We’ve developed a comprehensive catalogue for the exhibition which will be available on our website so that people can view all the works, find out more about the artists and art centres and hopefully, generate sales to support them through this very difficult period.”
The 2020 Revealed Exhibition features independent and Noongar artists from metropolitan Perth and the South West alongside artists from WA’s remote and regional art centres. They were selected by an expert curatorial panel comprising Carly Lane, Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, and Charlotte Hickson, Curator at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Each artist created new works for Revealed which span a breadth of styles and mediums including painting, installation, video, textiles, photography, print media, jewellery, carving and sculpture.
2019 Revealed artist Cora Lynch said being part of the program has had a lasting impact on her career.
“It’s opened my eyes to the arts industry and opportunities as an Aboriginal artist… I have gained some inspiring friends and mentors as a result.”
Fremantle Arts Centre has waived all gallery commission on Revealed sales, ensuring that 100% of profits return to the artists and art centres.
The Revealed catalogue and detailed instructions on how to purchase artworks will be available at fac.org.au from 9am AWST Wednesday 22 April.
Media enquiries: please contact Communications Manager Andrea Woods
Image: Desmond Taylor, Martumili Artists, Niminjarra, 2020, acrylic on arches paper, 101 x 66cm each
As we all know, we are in the midst of an unprecedented episode of uncertainty about Coronavirus and the situation is changing almost daily.
In a measure to safeguard public health, the City of Fremantle has decided to close Fremantle Arts Centre, the Moores Building Gallery and other services from Monday 23 March until further notice.
FAC’s galleries and our shop FOUND will be closed and our Adult and Kids course programs will be suspended. All concerts have been postponed, with new dates to be confirmed when this is possible.
FAC’s grounds and Canvas Café are also closed.
Although our doors will be shut we will present a virtual tour of the upcoming Revealed 2020 Exhibition and will make the works available for purchase. Details and timings will be shared as they become available.
We will be exploring new ways to engage with you remotely and digitally including accelerating our plan to offer online purchases at the shop, providing support to the more than 100 WA artists and makers represented.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work through these unprecedented circumstances. We are extremely grateful for your ongoing support. We have an amazing community and we hope to welcome you back, in person, soon.
You can still reach us at artscentre@fremantle.wa.gov.au and via our socials.
We will keep you updated.
Jim Cathcart
Director, Fremantle Arts Centre
Update 24 March – Canvas Café is now closed.
Update 27 March – Effective immediately, FAC’s grounds are now also closed until further notice.
The cancellation of the 2020 Revealed Art Market will result in a significant loss of income for regional and remote Aboriginal art centres and independent artists across Western Australia. This event generates a large amount of revenue for these communities – in 2019 more than $500,000 in market sales went directly to artists and Art Centres across the state. While it was absolutely necessary to cancel this event to minimise the risk of COVID-19 being transmitted to our state’s most vulnerable communities, this and other measures currently being implemented will have a drastic impact on their capacity to generate income through artwork sales.
If you would like to support WA’s Aboriginal Art Centres and independent Aboriginal artists in this difficult time, you may consider purchasing artwork directly from their websites and social media platforms, as listed below.
Please note:
- FAC does not take any commission for the sale of artworks purchased through the Revealed Art Market or through direct purchases from artists’ or Art Centres’ websites.
- FAC is not involved in the sales or able to assist with purchase administration or artwork freighting.
- Many WA Aboriginal art centres operate with minimal resources and staff, and your patience will be appreciated when conducting online sales.
Art Centres
Cheeditha Art Group
Website: https://www.cheedithaart.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheedithaart/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cheedithaartgroup
Juluwarlu
Website: https://www.juluwarlu.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juluwarlu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juluwarlu
Ku’arlu Mangga (Good Nest)
Website: https://www.nosci.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kuarlumangga/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonOldSchool/
Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency
Website: http://www.mangkaja.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mangkajaarts/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mangkaja-Arts-Resource-Agency-1399823076912172
Martumili Artists
Website: https://martumili.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martumiliartists/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MartumiliArtists
Maruku Arts and Crafts
Website: https://maruku.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marukuarts/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marukuatuluru/
Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre
Website: https://www.mowanjumarts.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mowanjum_arts/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MASWAC
Nagula Jarndu Women’s Resource Centre
Website: http://www.nagulajarndu.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nagulajarndu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nagula-Jarndu-Saltwater-Woman-368076166626250
Ninuku Arts
Website: https://ninukumarket.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninuku_arts/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ninuku-Arts-196180530400645
Spinifex Hill Artists
Website: https://www.spinifexhillstudio.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spinifexhillartists/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spinifexhillstudio
Tjanpi Desert Weavers
Website: https://tjanpi.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tjanpidesertweavers/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tjanpi
Tjarlirli Art
Website: http://www.tjarlirliart.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tjarlirliart/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tjarlirliarts/
Works can also be purchased here: https://bluethumb.com.au/indigenous-art-centres/tjarlirli-art
Tjkurba Art Gallery
Website: https://tjukurbagallery.com.au/
Warakurna & Kayili Artists
Website: https://warakurnaartists.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/warakurna_artists/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warakurnaartists1
Waringarri Aboriginal Arts
Website: https://www.waringarriarts.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waringarri_arts/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waringarriarts
Warlayirti Artists (Balgo)
Website: https://www.balgoart.org.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/warlayirti_artists/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WarlayirtiArtists
Works can also be purchased here: https://bluethumb.com.au/indigenous-art-centres/balgo-art
Warmun Art Centre
Website: https://warmunart.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/warmunart/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warmunartcentre
Yamaji Art
Website: http://www.yamajiart.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yamajiart/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yamajiart
Yinjaa Barni Artists
Website: https://yinjaa-barni.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yinjaa.barni.art/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Yinjaa-Barni-Art-475652832544478
Wirnda Barna Art Centre
Website: http://wirndabarna.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wirnda-Barna-Art-Centre-1309005019243331
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wirndabarnaartcentre/
Wilurarra Creative
Website: https://www.wilurarra.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilurarracreative/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wilurarra
Wangaba Roebourne Art Group
Website: https://www.roebourneart.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoebourneArtGroup/
Independent Artists
Awesome Aboriginal
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awesomeaboriginal
BY Danika
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bydanika/
Bradley Kickett
Website: https://www.bradleykickett.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradley_kickett/
Cox Family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/239774170388926/
Crawlin Crocodile (Tyrown Waigana)
Website: https://crawlincrocodile.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crawlincrocodile/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crawlincrocodile/
Deadly Denim
Website: https://www.deadlydenim.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/too_deadly_denim_/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Deadly-Denim-239962300009569
Gungurra
Website: https://gungurra.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gungurra/
Kiya Watt
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kwaboriginalartist/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kwaboriginalartist/
Litiyalla Designs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Litiyalla-Designs-370019623726233/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/litiyalla/
Ken Farmer
Website: www.KenFarmer.com.au
Following the Federal Government’s 13 March announcement on COVID-19 and the ban on public gatherings of more than 500 people we are compelled to make changes to this year’s Revealed program.
After discussion with the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries, FAC advises that the Revealed Art Market (3 & 4 April) and the Revealed Exhibition Opening Night Event (2 April) have been cancelled.
The Revealed Exhibition will continue as scheduled and will be open to the public from Friday 3 April, with works in the exhibition for sale.
The Revealed Professional Development Program has also been cancelled.
The cancellation of the Art Market will result in a significant loss of income to WA’s 25 Aboriginal Art Centres and independent Aboriginal artists. FAC will participate in discussions with the key stakeholders to identify other practical alternative sales opportunities that may be available.
FAC will also discuss with DLGSC and the sector alternative ways Revealed’s successful Professional Development program for artists in particular, might be delivered in 2020.
FAC will provide regular updates as plans develop.
Fremantle Arts Centre
Revealed is the State Government’s annual program that supports primarily emerging WA Aboriginal Artists and WA’s Aboriginal Arts Centres through professional development, exhibition and sales opportunities. FAC has delivered Revealed since 2016.
Full Name: Winifred (Rosanna) Reid
Art Centre: Tjanpi Desert Weavers
Preferred making method: Fibre art
Winifried Reid. Image courtesy Tjanpi Desert Weavers
When did you start creating artworks?
2006
What inspires you?
I love making Tjanpi because it’s a way I can show those people who don’t live out bush what it’s like. They can understand what sort of animals and plants we have and the things we do everyday. I love doing it because it’s relaxing too.
Tell us about your work in this year’s Revealed?
The work I made is a flat sculpture Ninu (Bilby). I wanted to make this one because I had never made a flat sculpture before so it was good for me to learn how. I made the Ninu after talking to the older women in Warakurna. I have never seen a Ninu out bush, there’s not many left anymore, and I wanted to make one so people remember them.
Winifred Reid, Ninu, 2019, tjanpi (wild harvested grass), raffia, wire, 2 x 70 x 65cm. Image courtesy of Tjanpi Desert Weavers
What’s up next after Revealed?
I am going to work on a large sculpture for Tjanpi that will go to a big museum in Canberra.
Revealed Exhibition: New and Emerging WA Aboriginal Artists opens 6:30pm Thu 2 Apr | RSVP to the opening
Artist Alana Hunt, a finalist in the 2019 Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, is based in Kununurra on Miriwoong country in the north-east of WA. She has recently been listed in The Guardian as one of 10 Artists Forging a New Political Future. We caught up to chat about her residency, what she’s been working on and what’s up next for her.
Hi Alana, can you tell us a bit about your career as an artist and how you got started in the industry?
In short I studied Media Arts at Sydney College of the Arts. As soon as I graduated I was very lucky to receive an Australia Council grant to undertake a residency with the Sarai Programme in New Delhi. Co-founded by Raqs Media Collective, Sarai introduced me to a really unique community of practitioners from different fields, artists, architects, linguists, philosophers, graphic novelists, journalists, filmmakers, film theorists, activists, computer programmers, historians and poets. Sarai especially, and New Delhi more broadly, showed me an interdisciplinary way of working I had not yet encountered in Australia. It also showed me, at quite a young age, that the ‘art world’ was global and multifaceted. If the Sydney scene didn’t resonate with me, there were other worlds within reach that did. My time at Sarai, led me to undertake a Masters degree at Jawaharlal Nehru University and I ended up staying on in Delhi for almost three years. What I learned during this period, as much in theoretical courses at university as in my life at this time, has profoundly shaped my practice today.
I moved back to Australia and soon began working with Warmun Art Centre, where I remained for five years. This was another important period of learning, that has likewise shaped, in ways that I was not aware of at the time, what I do today.
In 2015 I became a mother and it was at this point, daunted by the task of mothering, working and art-ing, that I decided to make my art practice my full-time job. I was further motivated by the idea of defying the expectation that an engaged mother can’t also be an engaged artist.
I live in the town of Kununurra on Miriwoong country in the north-east of WA. Because there aren’t many ‘career’ options for me in the region I have had to forge my own. When I decided to commit to my practice full time, I started using Instagram and would compose a newsletter about my practice a few times a year. These have proven to be excellent ways to foster a community around my practice, that is dispersed around the world.
Alana Hunt, Faith In a Pile of Stones, 2018. Image courtesy the artist
Your current work is inspired by Fremantle Port and its role in colonising the East Kimberley. Can you tell us more about that?
I wouldn’t say that the Fremantle Port has inspired me. I am curious. There was a shipping line between Fremantle and Wyndham, that ran from the late 1800s until 2013. This shipping line played a central role in the colonisation of the north-west of Australia for over 100 years. So much so that I am not sure colonisation in this part of Australia would have been possible without it. I am trying to learn more about this.
Much of my work in the east Kimberley examines the everyday violence of colonisation where I live, both in a historic and contemporary sense, with the understanding that colonisation is not a past event but an ongoing structure. I am interested in turning the lens on white culture, on colonial culture, on my culture, to unsettle the casual sense of certainty that it is underpinned by.
Alana at work in her FAC studio
What’s been the best thing about your residency so far?
One fantastic thing has been undertaking this residency with my four-year-old son, working out how to do this, what works and what doesn’t. And how to balance my expectations with his.
The other fantastic thing has been meeting the historian Chris Owen who has written the important book Every Mother’s Son is Guilty, a detailed account of policing in the Kimberley between 1882-1905; and meeting Bu Wilson whose book The Politics of Exclusion about the Australian government’s approach to Indonesian fishing off the coasts of north-west Australia has been another key influence on my work in recent years.
Alana Hunt’s Studio Desk
After you finish at FAC, what’s up next?
I am currently finalising the publication of Cups of nun chai, a ten-year body of work that emerged in response to events in Kashmir in 2010. It will be published by the New Delhi-based Yaarbal Books. Yaarbal’s founder Sanjay Kak is a documentary filmmaker and writer with decades of work under his belt, and he will be presenting his 2017 book WITNESS in an exhibition form at the Biennale of Sydney’s NIRIN. We will launch Cups of nun chai together in Melbourne and Sydney in late May and early June when he visits.
I am also looking forward to working with SPACED 04: Rural Utopias, over the next year or two, and the body of work I will be producing here will engage the colonial dreams in the east Kimberley, their fragility, failures, and violence.
View Alana’s Instagram here and website here.
Alana’s residency with Fremantle Art Centre was supported in part by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
