News

Since 1998, Woodside has partnered with the WA Museum to understand the biodiversity of northwest Australia in the Dampier Archipelago and the Kimberley regions. The Foundation for the WA Museum has become increasingly involved in the partnership since 2003 and has worked with the Museum and Woodside to explore project opportunities and develop and support the relationship.

The partnership has expanded to include more than 140 scientists from 25 countries, 19 Australian and international museums, 43 Australian and international universities, 17 State and Commonwealth government agencies, and 23 industry and private partners.

Researchers have surveyed 315 sites across 575,000 square kilometres of ocean off the Kimberley coastline, collected more than 55,000 marine animal and plant specimens, and discovered more than 700 species new to science.

The research has won 11 WA and national awards for excellence in science, environment, business and technology; and more than 50 million people worldwide have viewed the exhibitions, documentaries, publications, lectures, articles, live fieldwork feeds, websites and educational resources produced.

The knowledge gained is being used by managers, decision-makers and the community to contribute to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, and will help guide the future of sustainable development, business and conservation policies and the assessment of natural heritage values.

Material collected during the project partnership is housed at the WA Museum, and available to scientists and researchers around the world. Work to examine and identify the specimens collected is continuing.

This video celebrates Woodside’s ground-breaking 20 year partnership with the WA Museum, and its 25 year partnership with the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Image: Sea slug mollusc, Phyllidia coelestis (Scott Reef) is found in clear water on tropical Indo-Pacific reefs where it feeds on sponges. Clay Bryce, WA Museum.

In October this year the exciting new Tianqi Lithium Connections Gallery was framed! A 45 metre-long steel structure, weighing 30 tonnes, was carefully lifted into position to complete the frame of the cantilever gallery, a major feature of the striking New Museum currently under construction in the Perth Cultural Centre.

More recently the WA Museum revealed a video animation ‘fly-through’ taking viewers inside the $396 million project. Viewers are taken on a journey from Yagan Square, over the Perth Cultural Centre, through the New Museum’s public spaces and then are offered glimpses into the new exhibition Galleries. The iconic and much loved 24m Blue Whale skeleton can be seen, suspended through the triple-height ceiling space of Hackett Hall.

The animated video shows what an exciting experience the museum will offer locals and visitors with viewers given a sense of where each Gallery space is located. The Foundation for the WA Museum is currently engaging support from the local and global community interested in Gallery Naming Rights and the opportunity to partner in this once-in-a-century project.

The New Museum project is on schedule, with the building expected to be complete in 2019. Exhibition fit-out will occur over the following 12 months, ready for opening in 2020.

Watch the fly through    Watch the time lapse

Picture: WA Museum, Multiplex

3,200 Woodside staff have recently moved into their new 32-storey headquarters, which the company has named Mia Yellagonga. The name means “place of Yellagonga” and pays homage to the Whadjuk elder who interacted with Capt. James Stirling when the Swan River Colony was founded.

Mia Yellagonga hosted a range of activities for Woodside staff and their families over a full weekend in September. The weekend provided an opportunity to activate the new building with various engagement activities including a taste of The Antarctica Experience, currently showing at the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle.

Without question, the marine craft activity offered to children visiting the building for the first time and a touch cart providing a hands-on experience of the Museum’s Woodside Collection were highlights of the weekend. WA Museum Curators were on hand to talk to the key outcomes of Woodside’s 20 year partnership with the Museum which has focused on understanding the biodiversity of northwest Australia in the Dampier Archipelago and Kimberley regions.

Picture: Michael Wilson

At the State Arts and Culture Partnership Honours Awards held on Monday 8 October 2018 at the State Theatre Centre, two of the Foundation for the WA Museum’s long-standing community partners received acknowledgement for their support of arts and culture in Western Australia.

In its second year, the Awards acknowledge the outstanding contributions of individual philanthropists and businesses who partner with arts and cultural organisations helping create a vibrant arts and culture scene in our State.

Stan Perron of the Stan Perron Charitable Trust was awarded honours under the Individual Partnerships category, which acknowledges individuals who have contributed significant support to an arts or cultural organisation. Mr Perron’s ongoing contribution to the Foundation for the WA Museum creates a leadership statement:  his generosity over many years has significantly benefited the community and he is recognised as setting a new benchmark in untied private philanthropy.

In April 2018, the Foundation for the WA Museum was recipient of a $1m donation from the Stan Perron Charitable Trust toward the Foundation’s Discovery Endowment Fund. The fund supports a wide variety of WA Museum exhibitions, research projects, educational opportunities, outreach programs and acquisitions.

Andrew Forrest AO and Nicola Forrest of the Minderoo Foundation were awarded honours under the Arts Development category, which acknowledges collaborations that foster development within the arts and cultural community. The partnership between Minderoo and the Foundation of the WA Museum began in 2011 with a generous donation to the Foundation’s Discovery Endowment Fund to enable a secure sustainable source of funding to the WA Museum in perpetuity.

In 2018, the Foundation for the WA Museum used a portion of donation dividends to set up an annual Minderoo Grant. Four recipients of the inaugural Minderoo Grant received funding for key Museum projects which offer far reaching benefits and represent some of the WA Museum’s diverse disciplines in science, social and cultural knowledge.

In addition to these two prestigious awards, Nyamba Buru Yawuru was nominated by the WA Museum and awarded the honour in the Aboriginal Arts category. Thanks to the generosity of Tim and Christine Ungar of the Ungar Family Foundation, two young Yawuru people, Maya Shioji and Bart Pigram, participated in the WA Museum’s Emerging Curator Program. They worked with Nyamba Buru Yawuru curator Sarah Yu to develop the exhibition Lustre: Pearling and Australia. A book based on the exhibition has since been developed in consultation with Yawuru, Karajarri, Bardi, Jawi and Mayala Elders, and the wider pearling community. The exhibition is current touring Australia for a 3-year period.

The Foundation congratulates all who were nominated or awarded honours last night, with special thanks to Stan Perron, and Andrew and Nicola Forrest for their outstanding commitment to the arts and culture sector.

A butterfly can taste with its feet, ants tap each other with their antennae to talk to each other, and male stalk-eye flies attract a mate with their big round eyes. These are just a few fun facts shared by the WA Museum at various sites across Perth while the New Museum for WA is under construction in the Perth Cultural Centre. The Foundation’s partnership with Quadrant Energy has helped to create a transportable, secure, multi-use ‘Museum in a Container’ that has appeared at the Perth Royal Show and the Awesome Festival over the October school holidays. Kids of all ages had the chance to create and build their own bugs of all shapes and sizes.

The ‘Museum in a Container’ engages with local communities at various sites including festivals, fairs and other community events. Upcoming events include:

• Saturday 27 October, 10am to 4pm, 2018 Maritime Day, B-Shed, Fremantle
• Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 November, 10am to 6pm, Act Belong Commit Bonjour Perth 2018, Market Square Park, Subiaco

Jenny Allen FAIM hopes to be known and remembered in years to come as a caring, determined and dedicated individual who looked to help others and loved her family and friends unconditionally. On the basis of her multiple career achievements to date, there is little doubt of this happening.

Currently Foundation for the WA Museum Chief Executive Officer, Ms Allen previously worked at The 500 Club, which followed a successful 16- year stint with Youth Focus WA. Within this role she took the not-for-profit organisation from fledgling start-up to a significant contributor to the mental health and wellness sector for young people. During her time with Youth Focus, Ms Allen picked up a range of accolades, including the Western Australian of the Year Community Award in 2013 and a finalist placing for WA in the 2014 Australian of the Year Awards.

Ms Allen also cited some of the proudest moments of her career while working for Youth Focus. “I am extremely proud of the successes I achieved in looking after young people and their families, seeing them at the beginning of their counselling journey and then at the end,” she said. “It would make my heart sing.”

Ms Allen spoke to Leader about this and some other key insights from her illustrious career.

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
There have been many, but the success each year of Hawaiian Ride For Youth – its growth, its supporters and riders – and then two award wins in 2012 and 2015 for Best Charity Event at the Australian Event Awards were all thrilling achievements.

What has been most challenging and how did you overcome this challenge?
Heading up a not-for-profit with no money and little professional expertise was a challenge we overcame with the support of organisations and individuals in the corporate sector.

Do you have a mantra or work ethic that drives you on each day?
Enthusiasm and an insatiable wish to continue to learn and succeed in giving back.

How big an impact did your time with Youth Focus have on your leadership style?
The biggest impact was knowing if I could not achieve my goal one way, we as a team would work together to find another solution. I believe my compassion for humanity and its frailties made me a leader whose team’s loyalty and support gave me the impetus to always go further and beyond. I believe my 16 years at Youth Focus made me a better person and a strong and collaborative leader.

Was it difficult to leave Youth Focus and did you find it difficult to adapt to a new company?
In a word – yes. It had become part of me and my passion around suicide prevention and mental health was very real. I was not ready to retire and so made the decision to look for different areas that would give me challenges and opportunities to use my skills and experience gained as a CEO.

When you started working for the Foundation for the WA  Museum, did you have a goal you wanted to achieve?
Together with the chair and the foundation board, we wanted to achieve a substantial endowment fund to give our WA Museum the opportunities that government could not. To accomplish this we needed to look at structural and positive changes within the foundation, and these goals meant growing the brand, achieving DGR-1 (deductible gift receipt) status so the foundation could receive donations from a private ancillary fund and looking at the operation of the foundation in an exciting and innovative way.

What does the future hold for the Foundation for the WA Museum?
Excitement, education, advocacy. An ability to share and bring the community along to enjoy, learn and feel enormously proud of this iconic one and only state-of-the-art museum being built in our city with recognition throughout the international community of arts and culture.

Are there any major career goals you would still like to tick off?
I would love the opportunity to chair an important and recognised organisation to make a difference in the area of children and youth mental health initiatives. It is an additional passion of mine, as I have always had a great love of children and young people.

Do you have any pieces of advice for emerging leaders?
Although you may be the boss, you also need to have the trust and respect of all members of your team, which means open and honest discussions where everyone contributes. Remaining open to new ideas, listening and knowing when to step in and guide your team is also a valuable strength as a leader. You are only as good as your team and colleagues who surround you.

Article reproduced with permission. AIMWA Leader magazine, Fellow Q&A, Chris Thurmott, Issue #12, September 2018

Former Fortescue Metals Group CEO Nev Power will take over as Chair of the Foundation for the WA Museum Board later this month. Succeeding Justin Mannolini, who has held the role for the past 6 years, Mr Power is looking forward to steering the Foundation in the count-down to the new Museum opening scheduled for late 2020.

From 2011 to 2018, Nev was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, one of the world’s largest, lowest cost producers of iron ore. Fortescue is widely recognised for its unique culture and world class infrastructure and mining assets in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. During his tenure, Fortescue quadrupled its production to over 170 million tonnes per annum and positioned itself as the lowest cost supplier of seaborne iron ore to China.

Mr Power chairs Perth Airport Pty Ltd, the fourth busiest airport in Australia which operates around the clock, 365 days a year, servicing around 14 million passengers per annum as Australia’s western hub and centre for commercial and leisure travel in Western Australia.

Mr Power is keen to contribute to the growth and development of Western Australia and is passionate about the economic and community development of Northern Australia. His belief that we must create the right environment for passion with focus will ensure that his stewardship will support the Foundation to reach its goal of raising $35m for the Discovery Endowment Fund.

This Fund will enable the Museum’s ability to bring international exhibitions to Perth and our branch Museums; WA Maritime Museum, WA Shipwrecks Museum, Museum of Geraldton, Museum of the Goldfields and the Museum of the Great Southern.

Mr Power’s experience and profile at a national and international level will add value to the Board and strengthen the profile of the Foundation. He is keen to contribute to the cultural development of Western Australia through supporting the scientific and historical exhibitions and displays our Museums have to offer.

In accepting the role Mr Power said, “I am very excited to be working with the WA Museum and the Foundation Board to provide the opportunity for WA locals and tourists alike to experience and explore our rich history and insights into the future”.

Outgoing Chair, Justin Mannolini said: “I am delighted that Nev has agreed to take over as Foundation Chair.  His experience in developing and leading high performance teams, coupled with his reputation and profile at a national and international level, will add great value to the Board and enhance the Foundation’s ability to reach its fundraising goal in time for the opening of the New Museum in 2020.”

Also joining the Foundation Board is Michelle Tremain, Managing Partner of PwC Perth.  With more than 24 years’ knowledge and experience, Michelle leads PwC Perth’s National Indirect Taxes practice.  Ms Tremain is also actively involved at a National level as PwC’s national GST Government and Not-for-Profit sector leader.   Michelle has a demonstrated passion for culture and the arts and has been proactive in her personal support for emerging artists in Western Australia.  She is also a current Board Member of the Perth Theatre Trust and sits on the Curtin Business School Advisory Board.

Jenny Allen, CEO, Foundation for the WA Museum said that she was excited by the appointments and looked forward to capitalising on Mr Power and Ms Tremain’s personal and professional networks and corporate reputations to raise the profile and presence of the Foundation and to highlight the supportive work it does for the WA Museum.  “We have been fortunate to have a visionary Chair in Justin Mannolini and I am confident that Nev Power will bring his own leadership style and passion to the role: my team and I are very proud to be working under his leadership. Michelle’s vast experience and involvement with our sector will also contribute significantly to the Foundation’s strategy and governance.”

The introduction of the Foundation for the WA Museum’s inaugural Minderoo Grant, funded from the Discovery Endowment Fund, has generated an excellent response from the WA Museum’s scientists and curators in its inaugural year. Eleven high calibre submissions were received from a wide cross section of Museum research departments with four recipients receiving Grants for key Museum projects which would not otherwise be funded.

The projects selected offer far reaching benefits and represent some of the WA Museum’s diverse disciplines in science, social and cultural knowledge. The successful Minderoo Grants project include:

Mid-Cretaceous vertebrate from the Pillawarra Plateau

Palaeontology fieldwork expedition to find fossil evidence of toothed birds, marine reptiles, shark and rays from the Cretaceous period.

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of WAM’s historical, iconic and holotype specimens

Using cutting edge molecular DNA technologies to discover new knowledge on important and iconic biological specimens.

WAM 3D

Acquisition of 3D scanner to improve WAM’s Collections conservation abilities and enable 3D digital and tactile access to the public. The 3D capability will provide benefit across a number of Museum teams including Materials Conservation, New Museum, Learning and Creativity, Maritime Archaeology, Anthropology and Archaeology.

Preserving the past – securing the future of the WAM tissue collection

Supporting the Museum to conserve against molecular degradation (RNA and DNA) to one of its most invaluable biological assets – the historical terrestrial vertebrates ultra frozen tissue samples. Many samples within this collection are irreplaceable due to being endangered or extinct and comprise a fraction of the 70,000 tissue samples held by the Museum. Tissue samples are ultra frozen at -80C to preserve them for future decades of genetic research on WA’s diverse terrestrial animals.

The four Minderoo Grant recipients were announced at an event hosted by the Foundation for the WA Museum where the WA Museum awarded its highest honour to philanthropists Andrew and Nicola Forrest for their committed leadership and financial support over many years. The Forrest’s became Fellows of the WA Museum, an accolade awarded to only 17 others over the 127-year history of the Museum, with Nicola Forrest being its first female Fellow.

We were delighted to receive a wonderful surprise – a donation letter from The Stan Perron Charitable Trust advising that the Foundation would be receiving $1 million for our Discovery Endowment Fund.

As the CEO Jenny Allen said “It is not every day that something as wonderful and a surprise such as this arrives unexpectedly and causes much excitement.   To say that the Foundation is delighted is an understatement as we continue on our journey of growing the endowment fund to enable the WA Museum to attract international exhibitions, purchase cultural objects and be supported to carry out research projects”.

Growing the Discovery Endowment Fund is one of the major objectives of the Foundation as this will assist in delivering additional support to the WA Museum which is beyond the State Government’s funding.

Without families like the Perrons, this could not be achieved and we thank them for their amazing support.

Set amongst New Zealand’s outstanding natural beauty, in award winning accommodation, one lucky auction bidder at the Foundation’s Antarctica: Night at the Museum fundraising Gala will win the chance to drive an Aston Martin on Ice! Providing this incredibly exhilarating experience is just one example of Barbagallo Motor’s commitment to supporting the Foundation for the WA Museum in a creative and multi-layered partnership.

The partnership will integrate the highly respected brands of Lamborghini, Maserati, Rolls Royce, Jaguar and Land Rover across Foundation events and activities. The Barbagallo team are committed to culture and the arts in Western Australia, understanding the important role Museum’s play in creating a vibrant and liveable capital city, full of creativity, discovery and opportunity.

8,849 visitors at this year’s Channel Seven Mandurah Crabfest engaged with ‘Museum in a Container’, thanks to the generous support of Quadrant Energy. The ‘Museum in a Container’ project, took a simple shipping container and transformed it into an interactive museum filled with all kinds of marine facts.

Every person, regardless of where they live, deserves to have equal opportunity to access and be a part of our State’s story. The importance of providing exhibitions and public programs during the New Museum build has been embraced by Quadrant Energy. Partnering with the Foundation to support major exhibitions such as the current “Horrible Histories: Pirates” (now showing at the WA Maritime Museum), Quadrant Energy is also committed to delivering community based programs which travel across WA to engage with diverse, non-traditional museum communities. This commitment follows the success of ‘Under the Sea’, a marine environment engagement and educational program ran at Garden City Shopping Centre in 2017.