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22/04/2019
Pastel drawing book of Edith Wallam, 28.5 x 22cm. The Myrtle K Benn Collection, 1947. Click image to see the whole front cover.
Author: John Stanton on 22/04/2019
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The Pastel Drawing Books

To begin with, the child artists used whatever pencils, pastel crayons and scraps of paper that were available at the Carrolup Native Settlement School. As the enthusiasm they expressed for their art was rapidly apparent, Noel White requested better materials from the Department of Education. Government Issue pastel […]
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17/04/2019
A pastel drawing, 28.5 x 22cm, by Dulcie Penney from one of her government-issued schoolbooks. The Myrtle K Benn Collection, 1947.
Author: John Stanton on 17/04/2019
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Did the Carrolup Girls Draw, Too? Yes!

People often ask me, ‘Did the girls at Carrolup draw, we only hear about the boys?’ There is a lot to say about this, much of it reflecting the punitive control the then Department of Native Affairs had over Aboriginal people’s lives, including those of the children. When […]
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10/04/2019
A pastel drawing, 28.5 x 22cm, by Keith Indich from one of his government-issued schoolbooks. The Myrtle K Benn Collection, 1947.
Author: David Clark on 10/04/2019
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Our Visit to Kojonup, March 2019

On 21st March 2019, John Stanton and I, along with my close friend Mike Scott, travelled down to  Kojonup to meet local farmer and long-term shire councillor John Benn at The Kodja Place. Mike and I, along with filmmaker friend Phil Strachan, had first met John two years ago […]
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10/04/2019
The frieze below the ceiling in the westernmost dormitory at Carrolup. Photographed by John Stanton (The Carrolup Story), 27th November 2018.
Author: John Stanton on 10/04/2019
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The Dormitory Frieze

One of the most remarkable artefacts surviving at Carrolup/Marribank today is one element of a frieze that encircled one of the bedrooms in the westernmost of the two children’s dormitories—the left one viewed from the front of the buildings. According to Carrolup artist Parnell Dempster, the frieze comprised […]
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02/04/2019
Photograph of Tony Davis from ABC Great Southern, 27th November 2015.
Author: David Clark on 02/04/2019
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Tony Davis, A Carrolup Story Advisor

One of the great pleasures I’ve had since starting this project several years ago is meeting Tony Davis from Albany. In 2016, I was working very closely with my close friend Michael Liu on a Revel Cooper project. Revel was one of the Carrolup child artists and it […]
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27/03/2019
Leaning tree by Milton Jackson, pastel on paper, 41 x 33cm, c.1949. Noel & Lily White Collection, Berndt Museum of Anthropology. [WU7568]
Author: John Stanton on 27/03/2019
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Milton Jackson’s Long Lost Drawing

For Milton Jackson, the last surviving Carrolup child artist, attending the opening of the Colgate University crates in Katanning in 2006 (noted in an earlier posting) with his daughter Merlene Meade brought mixed emotions. His reconnection with an artwork he drew about 55 years earlier also affected all […]
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20/03/2019
Mrs Rutter with Prince Rudy Dinah and a group of Carrolup girls. The girl second from the left is Mildred Jones. Photographer: Noel White, 31st July 1949. Noel & Lily White Collection.
Author: David Clark on 20/03/2019
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Cheryle Jones’s Mother, Mildred Jones, at Carrolup

One of the aims of our project is to connect with families of the Aboriginal children who were at Carrolup. We want them to be able learn about what we have discovered about Carrolup and the people who were there – if they so wish – and hopefully […]
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19/03/2019
Angus Wallam (Centre) unscrews the first crate of works from Colgate University, as Milton Jackson (Far Left) and Ezzard Flowers (Mid Right) look on. The ABC’s Message Stick program records the moment. Photograph by John Stanton, 27th February 2006. Courtesy of Berndt Museum of Anthropology, The University of Western Australia.
Author: John Stanton on 19/03/2019
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Carrolup Art Arrives from Colgate University, 2006

There was great excitement in the Katanning Gallery as preparations were made to unscrew the lid of the first of several crates flown out from Colgate University, Hamilton, New York State, for the Perth International Arts Festival exhibition, Koorah Coolingah: Children Long Ago. The crates had sat acclimatising […]
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12/03/2019
Department of Native Affairs file on James Cooper, father of Carrolup artist Revel Cooper (p. 1).
Author: David Clark on 12/03/2019
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Revel Cooper’s Early Life

Revel Cooper became one of the most famous, if not the most famous, of the Carrolup artists. However, he lived a troubled life, despite his success as an artist. Revel spent many years in and out of prison in Western Australia and Victoria. He also suffered from a drinking problem, […]
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06/03/2019
Pre-decimal Australian bank notes, Melbourne Mint, 1949.
Author: John Stanton on 06/03/2019
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Were the Children Paid for their Art?

I’m afraid the answer to this question is ‘No’! The child artists were minors at the time, as well as Wards of the State, so they couldn’t receive any money until they turned 21, the age of majority at that time. The funds earned from sales of their […]
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27/02/2019
'Katanning celebrates children's art return' article in the Great Southern Herald, March 1st, 2006. [Please click to see the full image]
Author: David Clark on 27/02/2019
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Katanning Celebrates Children’s Art Return

One of the main reasons we have developed this website and are working on a book about the Aboriginal child artists of Carrolup is that it is essential that this story does not wither away or become distorted. You might think that this is unlikely, but many important […]
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26/02/2019
Mrs Rutter with Prince Rudy Dinah and a group of Carrolup girls. The girl second from the left is Mildred Jones. Photographer: Noel White, 31st July 1949. Noel & Lily White Collection.
Author: David Clark on 26/02/2019
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Mrs Florence Rutter Visits Carrolup

One of the fascinating elements of the Carrolup Story is that the Aboriginal child artists had an ‘ambassador’ for their work, a 71-year old Englishwoman, Mrs Florence Rutter. Mrs Rutter was given permission by the Western Australian government to exhibit and sell the children’s art, first around Australia […]
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20/02/2019
Carrolup School, main building. Photographer: David Clark, 16 November, 2016.
Author: David Clark on 20/02/2019
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Importance of the Carrolup Story

“The first step in re-establishing healthy communities is to acknowledge and understand the impact of the colonial legacy on the lives of Aboriginal people today and the various pathways necessary for healing from historical trauma, using both cultural and contemporary understandings and processes.” Pat Dudgeon, Helen Milroy and […]
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13/02/2019
An element of the exhibition depicting ceremony and dance, in the Janet Holmes à Court Gallery, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery. Photographer: John Stanton, 12th February 2019.
Author: John Stanton on 13/02/2019
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Berndt Museum Exhibition ‘Carrolup Revisited’ Opens

The 8th of February saw the formal opening of the Berndt Museum’s new exhibition, Carrolup Revisited, at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, The University of Western Australia, which will last until the 29th of June. It was an emotional occasion for families of the child artists present, and […]
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12/02/2019
Exhibition of Carrolup art at Boans department store, The West Australian , 23rd October 1947. The boys from left to right are Claude Kelly, Barry Loo, Reynold Hart and Parnell Dempster. Noel & Lily White Collection.
Author: David Clark on 12/02/2019
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Early Public Acclaim

How did the drawings of the Aboriginal children of Carrolup first become known to the general public? Here is a summary of some of the initial ‘successes’ of the children, which you can follow in more detail by reading the newspaper article to which we have linked. You […]
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06/02/2019
Document showing the expenditure for individual children of Carrolup when they attended the Katanning Show in November 1946. Click on image to see full document.
Author: David Clark on 06/02/2019
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Carrolup Children at Katanning Show, 1946

Yesterday, I had a very moving and stimulating phone discussion with Dale Jones, whose father Warrick Jones was at Carrolup during the time that Noel White was teacher at the school. I was also communicating on Facebook with Cheryle Jones, whose mother Mildred Jones was there during that […]
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01/02/2019
Doris Flatt, one of Florence Rutter's daughters, during her interview with John Stanton at her home in Williton, Somerset, UK, in 2006.
Author: John Stanton on 01/02/2019
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Interview With Doris Flatt: Part 2

Doris Flatt was one of daughters of Florence Rutter, the self-appointed ‘ambassador’ to the Carrolup child artists. Over 100 years old at the time of the interview, Doris had strong memories of her mother’s great enthusiasm for their art, as she was determined to bring it to the […]
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29/01/2019
Francis Galton pioneered the concept of eugenics in this laboratory in London in the late 19th century. Flickr/Science Museum London
Author: David Clark on 29/01/2019
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Racism and Social Darwinism

This is the third of a series of articles focused on the social, political and cultural context in which the story about the Aboriginal child artists of Carrolup took place. [Please note, some people may find the ideas described in this article to be upsetting and offensive]. A […]
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