Beck Ferguson, Business owner

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Resident of Seddon

Local business owner of Little Creatures Collective

I was born in New Zealand, and grew up in Canterbury as my parents relocated to Melbourne. I might run a fine arts school now, but believe it or not, I have an Associate Degree in Biotechnology and Innovation and was previously in the cytogenetics industry. I did research on pharmaceutical drugs while exploring its effects on people. It was an enjoyable role as I have always been good at science.

Between the age of 11 and 16, I was tutored in fine arts, learning how to paint and draw. When I was in VCE I did textile design, but realised it was a tough gig as I had to be confident as an artist and back myself. I was so young, and didn’t want to be taken advantage of so fell back into science.

In 2012 while living in South Yarra, my husband and I decided to buy a house. We looked at what was within our price range, and Seddon came up. I’ve never heard of Seddon then, but said to my husband “Let’s go for a drive!”

I fell in love with the suburb immediately – the landscape, the street art, the community, the village and the different types of people and shops.

I’ve always wanted to come back to arts and painting. When Bella was born, I realised there were no children’s arts schools around where I lived, especially the teaching of fine arts in the West.

Thus Little Creatures Collective was born.

Together with my team, we set challenges for kids to learn fine art techniques. We don’t water it down – confidence is built while teaching them to respect material, understanding the creative process while making something that is unique to them.

There is a lot of rigidness in the industry and my goal is to teach them to be more confident in their own process.

A few months ago, we moved into our new space here. It’s much bigger than our old space, which is just next door. I remember waking up one morning, saw this shop was for lease, and got it within 10 minutes. We moved really quickly based on the demand for the school.

It was important we keep it within Seddon so it’s within walking distance from local schools.

The business has always been funded from my own pocket. Last year, I realised I reached a point where a kiln is something the community needed. I didn’t want to save two to three years for it, and really believed in its potential to expose the community to another type of fine art.

I started a Pozible Crowdfunding campaign two weeks ago, and so far we have over 50% of our desired target. With less than two weeks left we have another $7,000 to go. I am confident we will get there.

My goal this year is to complete a few more pieces of work for my house, and pull back and spend more time with my daughter. Being your own boss isn’t easy; I work long hours managing social media and planning programs but this job gives me the balance and satisfaction of being a business owner and mother. I could never have done it in my other line of work.

Little Creatures Collective is a growing little art school with big potential. Four years in the business of teaching fine art to kids, as well as community engagement projects, have seen us achieve the greatest of great things. Our community has backed us all the way and we are beyond joy.

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