Feature story Jan/Feb 2025: Forward motion at LWAG

Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery’s upcoming exhibition de-centre re-centre is the first Perth Festival show under its new director, Theo Costantino, and bears many of the hallmarks of its intended direction in a new era for the University of WA’s flagship art museum. It was December 2020 when then director of LWAG, Ted Snell AM CitWA (1949-2023), announced the University of WA had decided to dispense with a director of the Gallery permanently. While the art community was incredulous and deeply shocked by the decision, UWA cited its grim financial situation as a result of poor management by the university over the previous decade, compounded by the effects of the pandemic, leaving it no alternative than to make radical changes.

Since then, the gallery has been director-less, that is until April last year when Costantino was appointed. Costantino has an interesting meld of experience as an artist, an academic and, from 2020, was Executive Director of Art on the Move. Costantino says her first reaction to being awarded the directorship was to be simultaneously excited and intimidated. “I’m coming to grips with it now, and its a lovely team to work with,” they said. “It’s also the first time I’ve worked with a collection, or rather two collections, which is exciting. And as well as exhibitions, it’s a wonderful way to support contemporary artists.” 

The two collections, the UWA Art Collection and the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art total almost 5,000 works, creating storage challenges, yet are continuing to grow. The UWA Art Collection is nudging 4,000 works, and the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art, the result of a substantial gift of 400 works made by Sir James and Lady Sheila Cruthers to UWA in 2007, has grown to about a thousand works. Costantino says without a director, the growth of the UWA Art Collection had been slow. “For me, the Perth Festival exhibition is an exciting opportunity to acquire some significant work. Numerous bequests have been committed to UWA for the express purpose of building the art collection, so it’s a very privileged position to be in.”

Several exhibitions over the next two years were already in development before Costantino was appointed, but de-centre re-centre has been a development with colleagues at LWAG and the Perth Centre for Photography. It’s an exhibition marked by the diversity of practice in contemporary photography including staged image-making, analogue processes and video, as well as the inclusion of counter-narratives to marginalisation and exploring strategies for survival. The show also places emerging artists’ works alongside experienced artists, encouraging a sharing of knowledge and capacity building.

In a new slant on programming for LWAG, there is a current call out for exhibition proposals. Costantino says the beauty of having an open call is that staff are not working within their own bubble. “We’re going to cast a really wide net and hopefully get a range of projects,” they say. “As much as it is really good to develop things in-house and with other organisations, actually hearing from artists and collectives directly is important. At the very least you get to learn about other practices and projects.”

Lee Kinsella, curator of the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art, says the conditions for exhibition proposals are quite wide. “We are not requiring anything in particular, it could be a curator-led thing, can be creatives-led, or it could be artist-led. We know the university gallery is fantastic and we know the collections are strong, but it’s also opening it out to all sorts of different conversations. We don’t know who might be out there and what kind of conversation might yet be held – and that’s the excitement of it,” she says.

Moving forward, and with more stability, LWAG is in a better position to engage with the art community at large, as well as the student community and the School of Design, who are bringing back their Masters of Curatorial Studies. “Potentially if we align ourselves well, we can not only be a place supporting artists in the industry but also that training ground for the next generation of curators and professionals,” says Costantino. “What I bring from having worked in university education for a long time and then with Art on the Move is quite a strong focus on sector development. So, for me, if we don’t have that kind of broader link to supporting the sector and supporting the training and education of new professionals, and people coming into the sector, then we’re not fulfilling our potential.”

Costantino’s steps forward are measured and considered, but gathering the speed sorely missed at LWAG which only comes with a dedicated director’s role. “It’s really encouraging that the university committed to support a director role, particularly when so many university art galleries in the country are fighting for survival,” says Costantino. “Given the size of Perth’s art sector, to have some stable roles is absolutely essential.”

For Kinsella, an influx of staff is in complete contrast to the university’s position four years ago. “The director’s role was one of several staff that had been cut. So, it is a bit of a vote of confidence in the gallery, that the director’s role is in perpetuity now.”

de-centre re-centre is on show at Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery from 15 February until 3 May.