Acknowledging Sam Allen

Tasmanian Police Officer of over 10 years and Tasmania Fire Service volunteer of 25 years, Samuel Allen has a passion for protecting and serving the Tasmanian community. An incredible story of courage and perseverance, Sam has overcome his battles with cancer since 2014 but now, despite his immense optimism and zest for life, Sam’s prognosis indicates that he has not a lot of time left with us.

The idea for ‘Lutruwita, Behind The Scenes’ was generated by wellbeing support officers at the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management in consultation with Sam when it was identified that his printed photographs were stored in his garage ready to be framed.

Sam was keen to frame his artwork, however time and funds had not allowed for this and due to his life expectancy, our wellbeing team has facilitated this exhibition.

Thirteen of his photographs will be showcased from September 9 – 12 at the Sidespace Gallery at the Salamanca Arts Centre. Prints of each artwork in the exhibition are for sale to the general public with the funds going to Sam’s family and to Cancer Council Australia.

“Sam should be commended for the way he’s remained optimistic in his approach to life while confronting his own mortality,” said Matt Richman, Director of DPFEM Wellbeing Support.

“He’s given back to his community both as a police officer and a volunteer firefighter, and we wanted to support this exhibition in celebration of him, his life and his work.”

“DPFEM is looking at incorporating additional therapeutic art approaches in our wellbeing framework, because we’ve seen firsthand the positive effect artistic expression can have.”

“We’re committed to supporting the mental and physical health of our staff, which is why wellbeing support includes a comprehensive range of programs, together with intervention and response services, to ensure we can do this effectively.

“Our model is based on providing our people and their families with access to the most appropriate services for their needs at any given time - the right support at the right time.

“We certainly have future creative healing initiatives in the pipeline.

“Some of Sam’s photographic work, as well as photographs taken by other frontline workers will be purchased and displayed on the walls of the Wellbeing Support offices in the north, north west and the south of the state.”

You can find out more about the exhibition here:

https://mypulse.com.au/.../sam-allen-lutruwita-behind-the...

“My homeland of Tasmania, the small island state of Australia, is a blessing for landscape photography. As the natural scenery, untouched temperate rain-forests, world heritage areas and amazing coastal scenery is simply breathtaking. A plethora of famous walking tracks, well formed and sometimes not well known tracks within the island, lead to locations perfect for landscape photography, which I hope to showcase with my images.”

— Samuel Allen —