Three ways to get ‘Arty’ in 2017

This year the Lawley Art Auction event on June 10 will provide our guests with a three ways to acquire a beautiful piece of artwork for your home. 

Thanks to the generosity of local artists, special items will be available through our silent auction and raffle. Students will be selling tickets, so please bring some spare change.

The Live Auction is always a highlight of the evening, with students displaying the pieces while experienced auctioneer Matt Donnelly works the crowd for the very first time at Mt Lawley.

A special gallery has also been created for those art lovers who would like to purchase a priced piece without participating in the live auction. (Viewing of all art begins at 5pm and the hammer goes down at 7pm.) This gallery has been named after much loved MLSHS teacher, Dr Dale Irving. Here are just a few comments from Dr Irving’s former students:

Dale Irving was a great influence and inspiration to my peers and myself from the early beginnings of the SVAPA program to my final years in the arts at MLSHS. Encouraging and genuinely passionate of individuality and creativity in young people she helped me explore my identity with the arts fearlessly, shaping the artist I have become today. Dale Irving has and continues to be an amazing asset in not only the education of young people but the arts community as a whole, I consider myself lucky to have been one of her students. Julian Peet, Graduated Student 2007, Music Specialist at Hale School, and lead guitarist of Old Blood, winners of WAM Best Blues and Roots Award 2016.

 SVAPA was home to a lot of us. People who didn’t quite fit in the mainstream, who were allowed to go in to the Tricycle theatre and make, and be trusted to make. Dr Irving always trusted our work and was proud of it and worked hard to defend our right to have the opportunity to make. I was one of the kids who just kept making and I now run an emerging theatre company. If it weren’t for the foundations of collaboration I learnt in SVAPA, thanks to Dr Irving, I wouldn’t be the artist I am today. Isabelle McDonald, 2011 Graduated Student, currently Director of Rorschach Beast Theatre Company and recent winner of the Martin Sims Award, Fringe 2017 for Bus Boy

 As both a student in the SVAPA program and WACE level drama I was fortunate enough to have Dr Irving as a teacher throughout my entire education at MLSHS. She is incredibly committed and genuinely invested in her students and their education – it feels as though you are her top priority. As a student, a class is always far more engaging and enjoyable when a teacher shows a genuine passion for their subject, and Dr Irving’s passion for the arts made her classes something to look forward to. Through my participation in the SVAPA program and WACE level drama, I have been provided with a lifelong love for the arts, as well as the skills and knowledge required for me to pursue a career in them. Being taught by Dr Irving was a true privilege. Hannah Cockroft, 2013 Graduated Student.

First glimpse of 2017 art

Outstanding Western Australian artists have now delivered their works in preparation for Mt Lawley Senior High School’s premier fundraiser  – the Lawley Art Auction.

Bill Stransky tells committee members about his piece

This year the committee has received entries from 88 artists, with a total of 115 pieces submitted. This is a record for the Lawley Art Auction and testament to the quality reputation of the event.

It was exciting to see some new artists as well as familiar faces who have supported the Mt Lawley arts and music students for many years.

William Stransky (pictured) told the committee that his latest piece has an Australian theme, but was also inspired by 15 years living in Japan, and his love of the emphatic use of black brush strokes in calligraphy.

“This piece is about the Australian bush,” he said. “It’s been scorched and tortured by fire and yet it survives with remarkable resilience, much like Australians themselves.”

All artists are invited to come along and enjoy the evening on Saturday 10 June.

Sponsors are an integral part of the success of this fundraising event. If you’d like your business to be involved, please email chair@lawleyevents.com We are very grateful for your support.

Lawley Art Auction 10 June