Willie Weston is a profit-for-purpose business run by two non-Indigenous women in Naarm (Melbourne). Working in partnership with First Nations artists through First Nations-owned art centres, we develop collections of fabrics and wallpapers for commercial and residential interiors.

Willie Weston’s ambition is to celebrate the diverse artistic output of First Nations artists and to support its integration into the built environment. Co-founders Jessica Booth and Laetitia Prunetti consult with interior designers and architects to match great projects with sophisticated designs by First Nations artists printed on high performance products.

Jessica and Laetitia met whilst completing masters degrees in art curatorship. Following this, Jessica specialised in First Nations art, working with First Nations arts organisations in the Northern Territory, tutoring and lecturing at the University of Melbourne and conducting research as part of a six-year study on the First Nations art sector. Laetitia worked with a range of arts organisations, including Heide Museum of Modern Art and as co-director of the Melbourne Art Fair. These experiences instilled a passion for working ethically with artists and helping to facilitate commercial opportunities for their work.

Currently we work with fourteen artists (or their estates): Jean Baptiste Apuatimi (dec.), Leanne Black, April Jones, Elizabeth Kandabuma (dec.), Osmond Kantilla, Kathleen Korda, Jean Ngwarraye Long, Susan Marawarr, Colleen Ngwarraye Morton, Rosie Ngwarraye Ross (dec.), Amanda Smith, Lisa Waup, Lee-Anne Williams, and Annunciata Nunuk Wilson. See Artists for more detail about each of their backgrounds and artistic practice.

These artists are the heart of Willie Weston and they are paid for each metre of fabric or wallpaper we produce as well as receiving a share of our net profits at the end of each financial year. More about our model can be found on the Ethics page. This scalable and ongoing fee structure provides artists with regular income str­eams outside their main art practice. By working in this way, our aim is to contribute to viable livelihoods in First Nations communities across Australia.