Luke and Ali – Art Buddies in Art Partners

It’s 2011 in Bunbury, Western Australia, and an arts mentorship program is just about to be launched. Places have already been filled, but just before the launch, the program organisers connect with artist Luke Tymchishyn and his family. Once they see his portfolio – full of varied subjects in vibrant colours – they decide to create an extra space in Art Partners to accommodate him.  Edith Cowan University is contacted and they recommend Ali Jarvey as a possible mentor for Luke. Ali is completing a Bachelor of Creative Industries Honours Degree and is keen to develop some community connections.  Wanda Ariano, DADAA’s Regional Arts and Health Project Officer gets together with Luke’s mom and Ali and chat about a possible mentorship. This is Luke and Ali’s story.

“It was so clear from looking at both Luke and Ali’s portfolios that there were synergies,” explained Wanda. “They both showed a passion for painting and drawing animals.”  Wanda was struck by the fact that Luke was obviously fascinated with a few of the large African animals, particularly the elephant.

With additional funding from DADAA, Art Partners was able to accommodate Luke and Ali’s partnership in John Pasco’s class at the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries. The partnership flourished and the two enrolled in their second term of classes. They even had a series of private sessions in Luke’s home where they continued to evolve their arts practice.

Art Partners’ organisers were clear that Ali was a real asset to the program.  According to Wanda, “Ali’s a real gem, and has shown a terrific open-mindedness about evolving her arts practice to include working with people with disability.”  Wanda went on to explain that “Ali even coined the term ‘art buddy’ when referring to her partnership with Luke.  It’s a true egalitarian term which really describes the mentorship and their friendship.”  Wanda added that “Ali is gentle and patient, which are valuable assets for someone mentoring one of our youngest program participants.”

Luke and Ali spent their time exploring different types of painting. They experimented with found objects including grass, sponges, straws and paint scrapers. Ali explained how interesting it was to see different patterns emerge from these explorations.  She also mentioned that the process has helped the buddies decide on a new project with an underwater theme. At the time this article was written in 2011, Luke and Ali were working with a horizontal canvas and cutting out cardboard pieces to create fish. They hoped the journey would lead to explorations of texture, shape and colour, culminating in something very vibrant.

Luke’s passion for elephants was fuelled when Wanda travelled to South Africa and participated in an elephant feeding. Wanda’s husband was behind the camera and snapped a series of photos of the elephants and the feeding. A selection of these photos went into an album which was given to Luke. Wanda admitted that she’s “not sure if the photos inspired anything in Luke, but it’s wonderful to bring people just a little bit closer to what moves them.”

Art Partners hopes that Luke and Ali will continue their journeys separately and together and stay connected to the visual arts, which is something that clearly inspires them.

Art Partners was a mentorship program that was launched Bunbury, Western Australia, in May 2011.  Originally, four partnerships were enrolled in classes at the Stirling Street Arts Centre and the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries. More information can be found at the Art Partners website. This article has been edited for clarity by Arts Access Australia.