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Alma Toomath, Noongar artist, was born at Mount Barker in south Western Australia in 1940. Toomath was removed from her family in 1945 and taken to Carrolup Native Settlement near Katanning, in Western Australia. There she was taught by Lily White, the wife of headmaster Noel White, who is renowned for having encouraged the older children to paint and draw their surroundings. This led to the children creating high quality and sought after landscape works that were toured and sold in Australia and overseas in the late 1940 and 1950s. In the documentary Show us a light: the art of Carrolup (1991), Toomath describes her memories of being around the older boys as they created their work; she talks of the fact that the artistic tradition established by the Carrolup children artists has been an ongoing source of inspiration in her work and that of other Noongar artists.
After two years at Carrolup, Toomath was sent to Roelands Mission, which was to the east of Katanning, close to the Western Australian coast. As a child on the missions, drawing was a means for Alma to cope with the trauma of being away from her family. In Koorah Coolingah (Children Long Ago) Toomath describes her experience on the missions:

“We weren’t able to mix with our relatives or know our relatives because most of our you know our parents weren’t allowed to visit us…. So they more or less kept us there so we couldn’t be influenced by our people in any shape or form, and also we were forbidden to speak any Aboriginal language, we were only to speak English and to speak English properly, otherwise we were chastised you know.”(Pushman & Walley 2006, pg 17).

After she left high school, she undertook a bridging course at the Curtin University in Perth, and went on to complete a Diploma in Fine Arts at Claremont Technical College. One of Toomath’s first exhibitions was in 1978 at the Aboriginal Advancement Council in Perth. After it was transferred to the control of the Baptist Church in 1952, the Carrolup Native Settlement came to be known as Marribank, and during the late 1980s and early 1990s Toomath was associated with the Marribank Artists Cooperative, which saw Noongar artists receive training and create pottery, jewellery and fabric items, the sale of which provided revenue to the Marribank Family Centre. In 1991 Toomath exhibited sculptural pieces alongside the work of Bella Kelly and Michelle Broun at the Fremantle Arts Centre in Fremantle.

In 2000 her work was included in the 'Aboriginal artists of the South-West: Past and Present’ exhibition at the Lawrence Wilson Gallery, The University of Western Australia. In the exhibition catalogue, Stanton writes that Toomath had been “creating experimental works that reflect on the nature of the landscape and the manner of its construction, in mythological terms.” (Stanton & Hill 2000, pp. 16-17).

Toomath has been a book illustrator, has participated in public art projects and has facilitated art workshops as a means of teaching students about culture within the education sector.

Her work is in the collection of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University and the Berndt Museum of Anthropology.

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Writers:

Fisher, Laura

Date written:

2009

Last updated:

Nyungar artist and educator Alma Toomath was born at Mount Barker in south west Western Australia on 17 September 1940. Alma is the fourth child of Bill Cuttabutt and Nyungar Mary Ann Cuttabutt nee Parfett who was born at Donnybrook, WA. Alma’s parents were married in 1934 at Moore River Native Settlement, W.A. They had five children: John, Rose, Alma, Eric and Grady. Under the impact of government policies all the children were removed from their family and taken to Carrolup Native Settlement (later Marribank Farm School and Marribank Family Centre) near Katanning in W.A. about 188 kilometres south of Perth. Following the death of her husband in 1945, Mary Ann Cuttabutt joined her children at Carrolup. She subsequently married Jacob Mingo who lived at Carrolup and they had three children, Ken, Max and Shirley. At Carrolup parents of the children lived in separate accommodation and worked in the kitchen and the garden. Alma recalls that ‘All the senior people lived in a fenced compound separate from the children. We were never allowed to visit and if they caught us we’d get caned’ (Toomath, pers. comm. 29 March 2011).

To encourage the creativity of the children at Carrolup, the headmaster Noel White and his wife Lily developed educational programs in art, music, dance and story telling. Inspired by this level of support the senior boys produced drawings, pastels and watercolours that were expressive of their Nyungar heritage: complex geometric designs, evocative landscapes and dynamic corroborees. Senior girls, who learnt embroidery with Lily White, also used Aboriginal designs. Artwork by the Carrolup children was exhibited in Australia and overseas in the late 1940 and 1950s. In the documentary, Show us a light: the art of Carrolup (1991) Toomath describes her memories of seeing the older boys including Revel Cooper, Parnell Dempster, Reynold Hart, Claude Kelly, Barry Loo and her brother John create their work. For Toomath the artistic tradition established by the Carrolup children artists has been an ongoing source of inspiration for her own creative work.

Alma Toomath was removed from Carrolup in 1947 and with other girls sent to Roelands Interdenominational Mission, east of Katanning, where she attended the mission school. Alma recalls that ‘lots of kids wanted to draw and paint’ (Toomath Interview 31 April 2011). She always tried to get hold of art materials and drew frequently with charcoal and pencil ‘as a means of coping with the loneliness of being separated from my parents’ (Toomath, Interview 19 August 1992).Later Alma studied at Bunbury High School—the first high school in W. A. to admit Aboriginal students. At Roelands Mission Matron Murray had encouraged the girls to take up nursing and after leaving schoolAlma trained as a nurse’s aid. She worked for a while at the Mt Henry Home for the Aged alongside British child immigrants from the Fairbridge Farm School at Pinjarra, however was not happy there.

After leaving high school, Alma lived in Perth. Here, she went to the Coolbaroo Club to dance and socialise. But in the wider community she experienced racism and discrimination. Alma worked in various situations: in hospitals, factories and hotels but found it difficult to gain employment. In 1961 Alma was living with her brother Grady and sister Shirley together with friends from Roelands: Marjorie and Margaret Newell and Mary MacIntosh in a house at Scarborough. One day she met the artist, activist and entrepreneur Bill Onus together with his son, Lin Onus, Bruce McGuinness and Harry Williams, all of whom were staging a display of boomerang throwing on the beach. When Alma showed Bill Onus her landscapes and portraits he invited to her join his firm Aboriginal Enterprises, the tourist outlet for Aboriginal art and craft he had established in Belgrave, Victoria in 1952.

Onus was an important catalyst in Toomath’s artistic career. By fostering cultural pride in his Aboriginal staff Onus contributed to processes of cultural renewal. Toomath recalls:

Bill Onus used to look after me like his own kid. He was just a wonderful person. He used to make things stick in your head. It was his forcefulness made me go and study so he never died really. He was a good bloke who gave you determination and a good cultural way and in those negative times, he made you think positively … When he saw my paintings he said they were wonderful and it made me think about selling them … The old boy had a great deal of respect for his culture and you can trust a person like that because you understand the Law with Aboriginal people (Toomath, Interview 19 August 1992).

At Aboriginal Enterprises Alma loved working with Paula Kerry, Onus’s chief designer who was ‘full of fun’ (Toomath, pers. comm. 29 March 2011). At Aboriginal Enterprises Alma decorated artefacts and furniture with pokerwork designs drawn from her cultural traditions.

In the mid 1960s Alma returned to Perth where she worked as a nurse and as a domestic at the South Perth Community Centre Hospital. On holiday she travelled to Port Hedland and Broome, hitchhiking with friends she met on the way. Alma moved to Broome where she experienced less racism than in the south east. She worked as a cook at the Continental Private Hotel alongside an all-Aboriginal staff. In 1970 she married Irishman John Toomath and in 1975 they returned to Perth with their daughter Kathleen (born 1970) and John’s two children from his first marriage to gain access to secondary education. Alma’s son William was born in Perth.

Alma enrolled in a Diploma of Fine Arts at Mt Claremont Art College where she studied drawing, printmaking, painting and sculpture. Alma’s graduating exhibition at the Aboriginal Advancement Council showed wood carvings and sculptures cast in Ciment Fondu. Alma subsequently applied to other galleries for exhibitions but they expressed little interest in Aboriginal art. Encouraged by Charles Perkins and Joe Croft who were visiting Perth with Arnhem Land dancer David Gulpilil, Alma completed a bridging course in Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University (known then as the Western Australian Institute of Technology).

During the late 1970s and early 1980s Alma was very active in education and arts administration. Alma and John Toomath worked for the Department of Education travelling to primary and secondary schools in Perth and in nearby country towns teaching Aboriginal art. They also taught Aboriginal Studies at Burringah Aboriginal community near Carnarvon, W.A. Alma also served on the Committee of Clontarf Aboriginal Music College in Waterford.
Alma has continued to maintain her artistic practice producing jewellery which she sold in various galleries including the Marribank Artists Cooperative. She has also illustrated several books: The great race: a traditional story (1982) and Djawal-Idi, Aboriginal Education Resources Unit, East Perth, WA (is there a date for this publication? Seems to be a periodical, perhaps state this). Alma’s paintings in acrylic on canvas relay Aboriginal myths and legends and are intended to teach children about their culture. With her daughter Kathleen, Alma has also collaborated on several public art projects including a mural at the Langford Shopping Centre and ‘Yoodoorup Boorna,’ a mural commissioned for Claisebrook Cove by the East Perth Redevelopment Authority.

In 1991 Toomath exhibited her sculptures alongside the work of Bella Kelly and Michelle Broun at the Fremantle Arts Centre in Fremantle. Alma’s talc stone sculptures of birds and portraits draw from imagination and real life. Strong, incised lines and the contrast of positive and negative spaces make these sculptures powerful and evocative. In 2000 her sculptures were included in 'Aboriginal artists of the South-West: Past and Present’ at the Lawrence Wilson Gallery, The University of Western Australia.

Alma Toomath’s work is held in the collection of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University and the Berndt Museum of Anthropology.

Writers:

Kleinert, Sylvia
kleins

Date written:

2011

Last updated:

2011

Status:

peer-reviewed