Shara Clarke Aboriginal Culture & Education Centre

What do we do:

The Shara Clarke Aboriginal Culture and Education Centre is a registered charity that operates on the beautiful lands of the Kirrae Whurrong people in the Western District of Victoria.

We work to address the over incarceration of Aboriginal peoples by fostering music, culture and education for a better future with programs such as:

You can read the case for support here and check out our website here.

Who are we:

Founded by Kirrae Whurrong elder Uncle Lenny Clarke, the centre is named after the late Shara Clarke to honour and commemorate her and all the other Indigenous people who have suffered injustices.

Shara Janelle Clarke (Gunditjmara/Kirrae Whurrong) was the daughter of Uncle Leonard Clarke and Glenda Thompson and devoted mother of Levi, Kureen and Isabella.

Shara Clarke passed away on Thursday, February 19, 2015. Shara had suffered at the hands of police brutality and a state government system that had failed her and her family.

Our Projects:

The Shara Clarke Aboriginal Culture and Education Centre organisation is currently applying for funding to build a world-class facility to broaden our services and enable us to showcase Aboriginal culture and talent to a large national and international audience.

We invited RMIT Architecture students to prepare some preliminary visualisations of what this centre could look like. This was explored through RMIT Bachelors of Architecture Design Studios led by Dr Christine Phillips and Stasinos Mantzis. The following design was produced by RMIT students Kieran Merriman and Emma Croker and was a 2020 finalist in the Victorian Premier's Design Awards.

In 2023, we hosted a concert in support of the Yes campaign. We had over 600 people attend throughout the course of the day and many talented performers such as Boorook (Brett Clarke), David Arden, David Bridie, Shane Howard, Neil Murray, Lee Morgan, Andy Alberts and others on stage. It was an incredible, heart filling event that Uncle Lenny wants to host each year.

A new big idea is to create a music school for young people as a part of the model of an alternative to incarceration. We have big dreams of harnessing all of the amazing talent in our community and working in collaboration with RMIT TAFE as a partnership. Friend of the Centre, Christine, has been discussing this idea with her colleagues at RMIT and they are very interested!! Imagine hosting a future concert and showcasing the incredible talent of our students!!

Where would funds go?

We are seeking donations from members of the community to help cover costs of operations and events such as:

Any donations big or small would be greatly appreciated!