News Archive

It was a big year for Perth.

In 1962, the people of Perth turned on their lights for astronaut John Glenn who dubbed us the City of Lights as he flew over in February.

Just as the rest of world was hearing the name Perth for the first time, we hosted the Commonwealth Games (known then as the Empire Games), which brought thousands of athletes and visitors from all over the world. We were ready for them with sparkling new facilities: Perry Lakes stadium, Beatty Park Aquatic Centre, the athletes' village in City Beach and the newly-opened Narrows Bridge, Perth International Airport and Fremantle Passenger Terminal.

Some people remember that time as the year that Perth lost its innocence, as Eric Edgar Cook was arrested in August after a seven-year crime spree, charged with eight murders and 14 counts of wounding.

But the year is more happily remembered as ‘when the Modern came to Perth'.

The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery celebrates the 50th anniversary of that auspicious year with a fascinating exhibition, Perth '62: Empire and Universe . It's a must-see for baby boomers. As curators of public and academic programs at the Gallery, Baige Zylstra and Vyonne Walker noted, every baby boomer who sees the exhibition has a story to tell.

Winthrop Professor Ted Snell, Director of the Cultural Precinct, escorted boomers Kerry Smith and Winthrop Professor Tim Ackland through the exhibition. As well as being the right age to get the most out of it, they are both involved in sport, working in the School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health.

Kerry was at boarding school at Loreto Convent in Claremont during the Commonwealth Games. "A wealthy patron of the school donated a big old black and white TV and the nuns allowed us to watch the Games," she recalled.

Tim was only four years old but luckier than his colleague as he remembers going to Perry Lakes with his family to watch the athletics live.

Their stories and reminiscences bubbled up as they toured the exhibition, starting with 20 minutes of film footage of Perth, shot in 1961 and distributed around the Commonwealth, urging people to come to Perth the following year.

The sunshine and relaxed lifestyle are portrayed with what now seems like an inordinate number of people smoking When the Modern came to Perth cigarettes. A relative (by marriage) of the Vice-Chancellor, artist Geoffrey Allan, features in the video.

Another Perth artist, Guy Grey-Smith, is also shown, painting outside his stone studio in Darlington. Works by artists who were on their way up in 1962 are part of the exhibition. There are paintings from Robert Juniper, Brian McKay, Tom Gibbons and Guy Grey-Smith and a sculpture by Margaret Priest.

A portrait of Robert Juniper by Wim Boissevain shows a confident handsome young man. Photos taken by Richard Woldendorp of artists and other well-known people capture the social life of Perth. Painted panels depicting native plants, birds and mammals by Howard Taylor are shown decorating the walls of the new Fremantle Passenger Terminal. There is an original cartoon by Paul Rigby from The West Australian on 21 February the day after John Glenn flew over. And a sketchbook with drawings by Cedric Baxter is preserved in a glass cabinet, just near his Commonwealth Games poster.

A model of the new Perth City Council building and two oil paintings of the Games by Guy Grey-Smith, The Hurdlers and Before the Race , complete the show that runs until 6 October.

Published in UWA News , 3 September 2012