ART venues across Perth are closing at an alarming rate but wife and husband artists Liz Marruffo and Campbell Whyte are taking a punt on a new space in Bayswater they’re calling milktooth.
They’re soon to start kids’ art classes there, but long-term they want to offer it as a space for emerging artists who can otherwise struggle to find venues.
Amidst the recent closures of galleries such as Venn, Greenhill Galleries, and the uncertain fate of Kurb, Mr Whyte says “all creative industries are in turmoil at the moment”.
“Everything is being flipped on its head, all the old walls crumbling,” he says. “It’s anybody’s game and it’s up to individual creators to make of it what they will.”
Ms Marruffo says “people have to act courageously, to do things that matter, to try to make their communities stronger and better”. “This could be a slow, quiet death or it could be a change and artists have to find new models and new ways of engaging and communicating with the audience.”
With kids’ classes to start in February, Ms Marruffo says, “I hear anecdotally that a lot of art is not there in our primary school system any more, in public schools,” and they want to provide another avenue for kids’ artistic development
“It’s just about being playful, and if art is missing from schools, the creativity is being lost.”
They’re starting off with primary school and high school ages, keen to maintain the love of creativity through a person’s life. “When people get older they develop a fear, there’s a fear of drawing, a fear of being crap at art. It’s really sad.
“Creating is so much fun. Any type of making, I think, is good for wiring that connectivity in the brain that helps with problem solving skills. It’s about being a really well rounded person.”
Their classes start on February 5 and there’s more info at http://www.milk-tooth.com
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
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