Join us in the City of Vincent Library and Local History Centre to celebrate WA Seniors Week 2019 with a special morning tea following a performance by Barry Strickland of his talk 'Bush Boy takes on the Big Smoke...'
Yes, it’s true. Barry Strickland did indeed enjoy an idyllic childhood in rural WA – but, fortunately, it didn’t lack moments of high drama. In his talk Bush Boy takes on the Big Smoke, Barry will recount some of the more memorable incidents from his childhood, such as surviving a pig attack, and recall his early visits to the ‘big smoke’ that gave rise to a lifetime obsession with the lost ‘picture palaces’ of Perth. You can take a boy out of the bush, but can you take the bush out of the boy? Well, you’ll find out on Wednesday 13th November . . .
Please note that this event is for Seniors (age 55+). This event has been funded by a WA Seniors Week 2019 Community Grant from COTA WA (Council on the Ageing Western Australia).
Bookings essential.
Venue: Library Lounge
Cost: Free
How to Book:
Email: libadmin@vincent.wa.gov.au
Phone: 9273 6090
Book online
About Barry Strickland:
Barry Strickland has been freelancing as an independent consultant within the arts, culture, heritage and tourism arenas since 2000. He is formerly a Senior Project Officer with ArtsWA and a broadcaster with ABC Radio National.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, Barry was part of the team that created the original Artrage Festival and was later a co-creator of the hugely successful (but sadly now defunct) QFest: Cue Outback Festival. He was also a co-creator of the award-winning Golden Quest Discovery Trail and worked on the development of the National Trust’s Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail as well as Northcliffe’s Southern Forests Sculpture Walk.
While with ArtsWA (1995-98), he was responsible for the identification of the former Red Cross building as a potential arts hub, his concept resulting in the King Street Arts Centre. He also undertook an official visit to foster greater cultural interchange with South Africa and was later seconded to work with Americans for the Arts in Washington DC. His ArtsWA responsibilities included policy consultation and development, and a number of the programs and initiatives he helped shape served to greatly diversify the government funding agenda.
His numerous arts sector consultancies include clients such as the Ministry for Culture & the Arts, City of Joondalup, City of Armadale, City of Perth, City of Vincent, Shire of Narembeen, Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Committee for Perth, WA Ballet, WA Opera, Ausdance, etc, etc. More recently, he has assisted Black Swan State Theatre Company, Artrage, Awesome and Kulcha with their business planning, and has undertaken a review of writingWA’s Regional Development Program and Screenwest’s Regional Film Fund. Most significantly, he was intimately involved with the creation of the FRINGE WORLD festival which is now Western Australia’s biggest annual cultural event.
With ABC Radio National, Barry co-produced Sightings, Australia’s first weekly radio show devoted to the visual arts, and later produced, presented and co-wrote the 13-part Open Learning series, Writing the Nation: Australian Literature to 1950 (1994). He conceived and co-wrote the documentary films Hoover’s Gold (2006) and the multi-award-winning The Fabulous Flag Sisters (2008), both for SBS TV, and the ABC-commissioned The Waler: Australia’s Great War Horse for the 2015 ANZAC centenary. He is the author of Perth Sketchbook (UWA Press, 1985) and the Golden Quest Discovery Trail Guidebook (2003, 2015), and has contributed entries on the history of the Perth Festival and WA arts policy for the Historical Encyclopaedia of Western Australia (UWA Press, 2009) and an essay on Goldfields photographer J.J. Dwyer for An Everyday Transience (UWA Press, 2010).
In 2011, Barry was Coordinating Producer for HELIX, a solo dance work created for Daryl Brandwood, which won three WA Dance Awards, and two Australian Dance Awards.
Barry has served on numerous boards, including those of the Perth International Arts Festival, Deckchair Theatre, WA Chamber for Arts and Culture and Artrage Inc (Fringe World).
In 2013, Barry was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by The University of Western Australia.