Parnell Dempster

01/02/2023
Parnell Dempster working on his first oil painting under the tuition of Mrs Rutter. Photographer: Vera Hack, January 1950. Noel & Lily White Collection.
Author: David Clark on 01/02/2023
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73rd Year Anniversary of a Special Visit

Seventy-three years ago yesterday, 71-year old Englishwoman Mrs Florence Rutter and her friend Vera Hack arrived for a two and a half day visit of Carrolup Native Settlement. This visit was not only special in its own right, but it triggered a series of important events that still resonate […]
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03/11/2021
Author: David Clark on 03/11/2021
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Parnell Dempster Writes to Mrs Rutter

After Mrs Florence Rutter returned to the UK after her second visit to Carrolup Native Settlement, she received letters from 22 of the Aboriginal children. In one of those letters, Parnell Dempster described how the settlement supervisor, Mr Sully, had stopped Noel White taking the boys to the […]
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14/10/2021
Landscape by Parnell Dempster, pastel on paper, 29 x 37cm, c.1948. Stan, Melvie and Gael Phillips Collection, Berndt Museum of Anthropology. [WU7303]
Author: David Clark on 14/10/2021
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John Stanton Interview, Part 1

Here are three film clips from the interview I did with John Stanton about the Aboriginal child artists of Carrolup on the 6th of October 2017. Why the Carrolup Story is so Important: Teacher Noel White created a different atmosphere at Carrolup so that the Aboriginal children, who […]
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21/09/2021
Some of the Carrolup young artists. Front row: Reynold Hart (Far Left), Parnell Dempster (Middle) and Revel Cooper (Far Right). Back row, 2nd Left: Barry Loo. Do you know who the other boys are?
Author: David Clark on 21/09/2021
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Facilitating Healing at Carrolup, Part 2

I continue my article focused on the process of healing that occurred at Carrolup Native Settlement. These sections are taken from my eBook Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe. ‘Prior to November 1946, the children had been closeted away on the Settlement. However, they were taken to the […]
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07/04/2021
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 07/04/2021
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Boans Exhibition of Carrolup Drawings, Part 2

In a previous blog, I described how the Carrolup children’s art was exhibited in the ‘Crystal Section’ of Boans, the largest department store in Perth, from October 21 to October 24, 1947, thanks to the initiative of teacher John Stokes. The exhibition of over 400 Carrolup drawings was opened by Western […]
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22/09/2020
A pastel by Parnell Dempster adorns a wall at the Pastel Society in London in 1951, proudly talked about by Mrs. Rutter.
Author: David Clark on 22/09/2020
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Mrs Rutter in England, Early 1951

Today, I thought I’d try a novel approach to help me decide what I should write about from our book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe for this blog. I had an online random number generator select a number from 1 to 65 and I had to chose […]
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18/03/2020
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 18/03/2020
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Boans Exhibition of Carrolup Drawings

In an earlier blog, I described the early public acclaim the children of Carrolup received for their drawings and other work. John P Stokes, who had been editor of the Lord Forrest Centenary Booklet, in which five of the Carrolup children had their work included, asked the Department […]
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01/02/2020
Carrolup boys with teachers Mr Ingram (left rear) and Noel and Lily White. Photographer: Vera Hack, January 1950. Noel & Lily White Collection.
Author: David Clark on 01/02/2020
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70th Anniversary: A Special Visit

Seventy years ago yesterday, Mrs Florence Rutter and her friend Vera Hack arrived for their two and a half day visit of Carrolup Native Settlement. This visit was not only special in its own right, but it triggered a series of important events over the following two years, […]
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28/01/2020
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 28/01/2020
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Carrolup and Florence Rutter, Part 1

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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10/09/2019
Author: David Clark on 10/09/2019
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Little Black Fingers

Mrs Florence Rutter, a 71-year old Englishwoman, visited Carrolup twice—in July 1949 and January/February 1950. She returned to England soon after her second visit, having received permission from the West Australian government to exhibit and sell the Carrolup children’s artworks (mainly the boys’ drawings). A Trust Fund had […]
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22/08/2019
Mr and Mrs White with some of the Carrolup boys and the Peet family. Back row: Barry Loo, Mr. Peet, Noel White, Adrian Allen and Mrs. Peet. Middle row: Lily White and the three Peet girls. Front row: Parnell Dempster, unidentified boy and Reynold Hart. Photograph taken in 1949. Noel & Lily White Collection.
Author: David Clark on 22/08/2019
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Walking Alongside As Equals

In my last Healing blog Do Things With Us, Not To Us: Chris Sarra, I posted the words of one of the country’s leading educators talking about the interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Here are three key paragraphs: ‘I can assure you that we as Aboriginal people […]
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06/08/2019
Landscape by Parnell Dempster, pastel on paper, 29 x 37cm, c.1948. Stan, Melvie and Gael Phillips Collection, Berndt Museum of Anthropology. [WU7303]
Author: David Clark on 06/08/2019
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Carrolup Child Artists: Competition and Encouragement

Soon after we started our Carrolup project, I interviewed my colleague John Stanton about a variety of elements of the story. In this film clip, John describes how the boys were rather secretive whilst doing their drawings. However, once they had finished a drawing, there was a collegial […]
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30/07/2019
The 1948 Carrolup School football team with their teacher, Noel White.
Author: David Clark on 30/07/2019
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1948 Carrolup School Football Team… and Art Display

Last year, I posted a blog about the ‘never ever beaten’ [1] Carrolup School Football team, describing their trip to Perth in September 1949 where they twice beat Thomas Street School at Subiaco. Here is what we know about the Carrolup School football team from before 1949: There […]
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16/07/2019
Some of the Carrolup young artists. Front row: Reynold Hart (Far Left), Parnell Dempster (Middle) and Revel Cooper (Far Right). Back row, 2nd Left: Barry Loo. Do you know who the other boys are?
Author: David Clark on 16/07/2019
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Child Artists of Carrolup: Reflections

Mary Durack Miller, in association with Florence Rutter, wrote a book about the Aboriginal child artists of Carrolup entitled, Child Artists of the Australian Bush, which was published in June 1952. Florence Rutter met the child artists through her two visits to Carrolup in 1949 and 1950 and exhibited their artworks […]
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19/06/2019
Author: John Stanton on 19/06/2019
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Meeting Parnell Dempster

I first met Parnell (‘Parnie’) Dempster in mid-1985 at the town of Williams, when I was commencing the Carrolup Project. He was living there at the time. Pat Nunn at the Marribank Family Centre had told me that he was one of only two surviving child artists of […]
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04/06/2019
Author: David Clark on 04/06/2019
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Silencing the Doubters

In June 1948, three of the Carrolup boys caused a sensation in the south coast town of Albany. Here is what happened, as described in our forthcoming book The Aboriginal Child Artists of Carrolup. “Education Inspector Charles ‘Sammy’ Crabbe organises a Convention of Departmental Teachers in Albany in […]
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07/05/2019
A pastel by Parnell Dempster adorns a wall at the Pastel Society in London in 1951, proudly talked about by Mrs. Rutter.
Author: David Clark on 07/05/2019
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Carrolup Art Reaches Europe

Just a reminder that you can find links to a summary of the Carrolup Story in 12 parts here. These summaries start with the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal people and end with the ‘missing’ Mrs Rutter collection of Carrolup art being permanently returned to Noongar Boodja (Country) […]
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30/04/2019
Some of the Carrolup young artists. Front row: Reynold Hart (Far Left), Parnell Dempster (Middle) and Revel Cooper (Far Right). Back row, 2nd Left: Barry Loo. Do you know who the other boys are?
Author: David Clark on 30/04/2019
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Noelene White’s Memories: The Art

Noelene White, daughter of Carrolup teacher Noel White, has worked closely with us on our project. In fact, John and Noelene have known each other for nearly 35 years. In an earlier blog, we included a section from the chapter Noelene White’s Memories in our forthcoming book which focused on […]
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