Art has always been close to Claire Wright’s heart, but she never thought it would be something she could pursue at university.
“Art has always been there since I can remember; I’ve always loved drawing things around me,” Claire said.
“My childhood was hard, so my art was the only thing I had.
“It was only when I went to college, and was getting Bs and As in art, that teachers asked if I’d thought about going to university — I didn’t think I could because no one before me in my family had gone to university.”
And there was another limitation. Art materials are expensive.
“When I looked into courses I was stressed because I thought I didn’t have enough materials. I was limited to very basic things.”
All of that changed when she was awarded the Kate Robertson Scholarship in Fine Arts, made possible thanks to generous seed-funding support from Frances Tyler, who previously donated her late husband’s collection of predominantly Romanian art — The Tyler Collection— to the University.
Named in honour of former Executive Director of Advancement, the late Kate Robertson, the scholarship aims to support a talented student who could benefit from financial assistance to study fine arts at the University.
“I think finding a talent in somebody and then seeing it flourish is just the most beautiful thing to watch,” Frances Tyler said.
Now at the end of her first year, Claire said one day she wants to be that person who can sponsor a scholarship.
“I know how much she has done for me; I want to be able to do that for someone else.
“It just means so much to me that someone has believed in me enough to support me, someone who doesn’t even know me very well.”
Claire Wright
“Because of the scholarship I’ve started to experiment with more materials. I’ve started experimenting with oil paints.
“Also, I haven’t had to worry so much about having a lot of debt afterwards because I’ve been paying for some of my tuition.”
Claire said going to university for art has been completely different from what she thought, but in a good way. “It has been therapy,” she said.
“I took a subject in ecology this semester — it was about attachment to place.
“I went back to this rock that I hadn’t seen since I was four years old. I spent two days looking for it. I just knew it was somewhere near Wynyard, but I didn’t know where.
“As a child, I thought it looked like a mermaid and it inspired me. I made everyone stop the car to see it.
“That’s where my passion for art started and, doing that university course, I felt like I’d gone back to the start of my journey.
“Now I am pursuing my passion and it’s healing. Going back to that place — mermaid rock — and to that feeling that started as a child, that’s what I am chasing in my art.”
Frances Tyler said she was so impressed with Kate Robertson, who worked as Executive Director of Advancement at the University through her treatment for cancer, that she wanted to make a gift to honour her, in partnership with support from the University. Kate formerly worked in fundraising in the United Kingdom, the Tate, the Royal Academy of the Arts and the English Opera. Her passion for art is reflected in the scholarship and lives on in students like Claire.
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Frances Tyler’s late husband Geoffrey Tyler completed his Bachelor of Science at the University of Tasmania in 1949. Frances and Geoffrey bequeathed Geoffrey’s substantial art collection to the University.
Many of the paintings are by the Romanian artist Corneliu Petrescu. Frances is a regular visitor to the University of Tasmania. She worked as the head of publications at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.