Billilla Residency

Lenton Parr was an assistant to Henry Moore prior to returning to Australia to become one of Australia’s foremost sculptors and educators.

This studio is in the grounds of Billilla mansion which was originally built by a successful miner from the Ballarat Goldfields but then passed into the hands of one of the original shareholders of BHP. It is now owned by the City of Bayside. The Lenton Parr Studio is the old coach house and is awarded to an artist via an application process.

I used the space entirely for stone sculpture. There were many visitors to the studio over the course of the eighteen months I was in  residence there, although successive lockdowns have meant it was inaccessible for long periods. It was  a great pleasure meeting local residents, conducting workshops, engaging with young students and participating in Council initiated projects.

One such Project was working with all the Primary schools in the City of Bayside to produce a body of work for the UPSTANDERS program. The project was called Stand Up and the overall program focusses on inclusivity and anti-bullying, issues that are very dear to me. The artworks produced, all 400 collagraph prints, were exhibited to much acclaim at the Bayside Art Gallery.