Lesley Smith

As a mature age student Leslie's main intent in undertaking the degree of Art History was one of personal fulfillment, rather than a stepping-stone in a career pathway, and to this end the structure and flexibility of the course was ideal. The subjects she studied were Asian art, European art, British art and Indigenous art.

Selection of a subject for her final dissertaion was difficult as there were many areas in each of the subjects studied that she would have liked to explore more fully. However, it was the beauty of the Aboriginal textiles in the Art Gallery of South Australia which seduced and led her on the road to Ernabella on the Anaugu Pitjantjatjara Lands and to the two islands of Tiwi, Bathurst and Melville Islands.

While topic reading is a necessary part of research, it was the opportunity to undertake fieldwork, to meet and watch artists at work, to see the environment in which their work is created and to learn first hand the challenges which art coordinators and managers of remote art centres face in their every day work, that brought the subject of her dissertation alive. Currently Leslie is continuing her interest in Indigenous art by working as a volunteer research assistant at Flinders University Art Museum.

Dissertation abstract