Foreword by Leyla Allerton

Foreword by Leyla Allerton

A spritely young man arrives on his first day of university, his mind bubbling and sketchbooks flowing with drawings and notes. Like his hero, Leonardo da Vinci, he dreams of creating beautiful sculptures and inventing brilliant machines, and he has come to art school in the hopes of making those dreams come true.

It is 1965, the year that my grandparents met as peers in the newly established sculpture department of Falmouth Art school in Cornwall. They have told me many enchanting and slightly unbelievable stories of their time as art students; stories of their eccentric lecturers and peers as well as their own hilarious misadventures. One lecturer in particular would take his students to the freezing cold shores of St Ives beach to cast sculptures in the sand. And, for my grandparents, a school excursion to visit museums and galleries in London meant hitchhiking for hours across the country and sleeping on the floor of a near stranger’s flat.

Decades later, on the other side of the world, I enrolled in my first Fine Arts unit at UWA. I mostly remember feeling nervous and confused as I navigated a whole new campus, trying to find the right classroom on the first day of semester. But once I was there and the lesson began, I was overcome with relief. For the first time since being at university, I felt like I was in the right place.

Personally, I have always worried that “being an artist when I grow up” was an unrealistic aspiration, and I know I’m not alone. Art can seem like a frivolous and indulgent pursuit, something often relegated to being no more than a hobby in your spare time. What I believe is particularly valuable about art school then, and probably the reason I felt so relieved to be there on my first day, is the unfaltering support and validation that it offers. It is a unique environment that celebrates creativity, idiosyncrasy and those crazy ideas. Through enthused discussions and insightful interactions with other people who take art seriously, across classrooms, studios and galleries, a network of encouragement evolves and confidence grows. As it was for my grandparents — and I hope that it will continue to be — art school is a place for doing nonsensical things in the name of art and for exploring and celebrating all of those creative impulses.

Leyla Allerton, Fine Arts Honours, 2022.

Fine Arts