Our own all singing, all dancing Wolverine had a brief stop-over in Perth on the weekend to announce the launch of the Jackman Furness Foundation For The Performing Arts. The organisation’s aim is to promote the performing arts in WA, with Jackman’s alma mater, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts at Edith Cowan University, Mt Lawley, being its first major beneficiary.
In a short press conference also attended by partner Jeff Michael and patron (and Australian acting legend) Jack Thompson, Jackman outlined some of the Foundation’s plans, hinting at big announcements to come and setting an initial fundraising goal of $10 million.
Jackman refused to be drawn on the implications of the recently announced Federal budget, which saw drastic cuts to both education and the arts, saying “I do want to focus on what the Foundation is about, which is being part of the solution in terms of funding for the arts and I think it’s impossible in a modern sense to rely completely on the government for anything and I kind of think that support should come from many areas.”
Photo by Alana Blowfield
