Leanne Tobin

Leanne Tobin is a multidisciplinary artist of Irish, English and Aboriginal heritage, descending from the Buruburong and Wumali clans of the Dharug, the traditional owners of the Greater Sydney region. She grew up in Western Sydney.  

Leanne is a descendant of Maria Locke, one of the first students at the Blacktown Native Institution, a residential school for Aboriginal students who were often forcibly removed from their families. Maria Locke was a high-achieving student and went on to be the first Aboriginal woman to receive a colonial land grant.  When she died, the government revoked the land. Leanne has created several major works for a series of arts programs at the site of the Blacktown Native Institution.  

Leanne believes in the power of art to raise awareness and to heal. Her work is driven by a strong sense of truth-telling about the past and the present, and about what happened here on Aboriginal land.   

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We are Blacktown is a UTS Impact Studios production.
Producers: Britta Jorgensen, Jane Curtis, Celine Teo-Blockey 
Executive Producer: Olivia Rosenman
Sound design: Melissa May
Research: Jackie May
Podcast artwork: Alexandra Morris
Theme music: Beaming by FRIDAY