State Buildings and COMO The Treasury are honoured to announce their 2026 Artist in Residence: Dr Richard Walley OAM and his daughter, Rickeeta Walley. Titled Makuru, the Noongar word for the rain season, the residency will take place Monday 13 to Friday 24 July 2026, situated within the heart of the State Buildings precinct on Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar.

For the duration of the residency, Richard and Rickeeta will establish an open studio in The Mark, located in Postal Hall at the State Buildings, open from 10am to 2pm. Visitors are invited to witness the creation of a new cross-generational artwork celebrating Noongar Boodjar (Country), this precious, bold and beautiful Western Australia, and the knowledge carried across generations. Yarning sessions, storytelling, and song will be woven through the public program, opening the practice of the residency to all who pass through.

Both Nyoongar artists, Richard and Rickeeta bring distinct yet interwoven practices to this collaboration. Richard’s visual art draws from a lifetime of cultural leadership and lived connection to Country, translating story and place into contemporary form. Rickeeta’s practice attends to the quieter registers of landscape, insects, seeds, texture, the layered surfaces of the natural world, revealing the complexity that sits beneath what is immediately visible. Together, their work speaks to what is inherited, observed, and passed forward.

A father and daughter in practice together, this residency speaks to the living continuity of Noongar culture, knowledge passed between generations and made new in the making.

COMO Conversation: Weaving Workshop Saturday 18 July, 10:00 – 11:30am The Mark, State Buildings. An intimate, hands-on weaving workshop led by Rickeeta, sharing cultural yarning and design. Those who join will learn how to create a unique piece based upon traditional Nyoongar weaving practice. $35 per guest including ginger tea on arrival and all materials.

COMO Conversation: Yarning Session Wednesday 22 July, 6pm The Mark, State Buildings. A yarning session with Richard and Rickeeta. In the tradition of yarning, this is a space for storytelling, deep listening and open conversation, knowledge shared in the way it has always been shared on Country. $20 per guest including ginger tea on arrival